Kodawari Ramen (Yokochō) — Restaurant in Paris

Short version: Positive: The restaurant's Japanese ambiance. Negative: The overall client experience needs significant improvement. The prices are too high for what is offered. Overall impression: restaurant overrated.

Long version: I usually don't write reviews, but this experience at Kodawari Yokocho left me so frustrated that I feel compelled to share it with others. In summary, the restaurant's Japanese ambiance is a positive aspect, but the overall client experience needs significant improvement, and the prices are too high for what is offered.

I had been eager to try this restaurant for a while due to its popularity on YouTube and recommendations. My girlfriend and I initially didn't realize that we needed to use a virtual queuing app for our first visit. Understandably, we couldn't dine in that day due to the long wait.

Undeterred, we decided to give it another shot. This time, we were well-prepared, monitoring the SkeepIt app from 11:40 AM while making our way to the restaurant. At 11:55 AM, we were not still able to join the virtual queue, which should have been expected since the app indicated that virtual queuing began 15 minutes before the opening at 12:00 PM.

We arrived at the restaurant at 12:01 PM, hoping they might allow us in without the app since we were slightly early. However, there were already 35 groups ahead of us in the queue by 12:02 PM, translating to a wait time of 76-118 minutes, according to the app. Despite our frustration, we remained patient as it was our second attempt.

We spent exactly 2 hours waiting at a nearby coffee shop before receiving the notification (in-app) that our table was ready, with just a 10-minute window to reach the restaurant. We didn’t receive any message nor email about the table being « ready » that the one of the restaurant waiters talked about; we let the app open on my phone, so that’s why we could see the « notification ». Being close by, we made it within 2-3 minutes, only to find ourselves waiting for another 16 minutes in front of the restaurant. Finally, after roughly 2.5 hours, we could start our meal.

As for the food, we had high expectations, given the extensive wait time. Unfortunately, the food didn't live up to the hype, and it was far from the authentic experience we had anticipated. I was far from impressed, and considering the prices, I expected much more value. Honestly, there are other restaurants in Paris which are less popular than Kodawari and serve much better and more...

After hearing about this place, my brother and I simply had to go. We love ramen, have both traveled to Japan and wanted a little break from European food. This place came highly recommended and we knew there would be a line.

We came just before open and stood in line, there was enough room for the two of us and filed in. Pretty quick service in good English but felt a bit like we were an inconvenience. We got a bit of everything and it all fell a bit flat.

To start, the kimchi pork mayo bowl was a small bite but actually quite tasty, maybe the best bite of the night. The chicken bowl my brother got had a strong butane flavor that was kind of smoky but not super appealing. Pretty one dimensional.

I ordered the house special sesame sauce ramen. I love a sesame ramen and don’t mind black garlic at all but this was a dark, dark bowl and the flavor of the soup did not wow me. The star of the show was the noodles which is great to have that be the best part of the bowl. The chashu was pretty tasty as well. The spicy sauce that came chef recommended didn’t add much and kind of muddied the flavor.

My brother got the chicken paitan and that was more of a bland bowl. Lemon slices and chicken chashu that was dry left a lot to be desired. Soup itself was pretty bland but that’s what he gets for ordering chicken based ramen.

The ambience was a bit overkill but fun for what it was, they pump in Japanese street sounds, they yell welcome in Japanese when you get in. It’s fun. Overall, I would not recommend or go out of my way for this bowl of ramen but I’m glad we got to try something different on our trip. This street has tons of other Asian restaurants that also looked good and I’m sure they’re delicious and don’t have a line.

It is worth noting that the draft Kirin was one of the worst beers I have had in a long long time. It was a diaceytl BOMB that tasted like pure butterscotch, absolutely horrible. This is coming from someone with 6+ years in the beer industry, and a Kirin drinker: that’s an off keg that should be refunded or your tap lines have not been cleaned in YEARS. Gross.

(I didn’t take a pic of my bowl of soup because I was hungry but here’s...

Long post alert! Table for two persons in the middle of January (-1C outside). We have been added to the virtual queue through the site. Estimation was about 1h 45m and was stating clearly that the time may vary and we will be informed via sms about the progress.

Note 1: there is a countdown of people before you and estimated time needed that is live Note 2: there 2+1 ways to enter the queue. 1 by their site 1 by scanning a QR code outside of the establishment and 1 unofficial that we don't know more information but you will understand later why it is stated Note 3: you receive 2 messages for progress

So we approached the area since the queue was getting smaller and the estimation was around 30m. We were visiting the shops nearby in order to avoid waiting outside on the cold and we received a message. It was our fault that we didn't read the instructions carefully and we went outside.

The first message demands you to confirm you want to stay in queue.

Anyway the time was showing 15 more minutes and 12 people before us so we decided to wait. After about 45m we received the final message that stated " you have 15m to show as we preparing your table". We have entered the establishment after 40 minutes of receiving this message

Atmosphere:5/5 Food critic: food was good in general specially entree and dessert. Ramen was a huge portion but was a bit lacking the kick we got from the entree. 4/5 Service indoor: 5/5 people inside are great. Job well done Service outdoor/ queue system: 0/5

After image: Great place to visit if you have patience and you are not hungry. The queue system mixes the two official queues and there seems to be playing favorites (unofficial queue) since some people were skipping the line while talking to the girl outside. The 3rd queue started above refers to a situation where some people after us that showed us their message (1h left) entered the establishment 10 minutes after us. When we asked what happened they said they shorted it out with someone (no further details). Also There was a 4 persons family that they didn't show anything and went inside almost directly.

Hope it helps. Thanks...