Kodawari Ramen (Tsukiji) — Restaurant in Paris

READ THIS BEFORE GOING: To dine here, you have to join a queue by downloading the 'Skeepit' app and searching for the restaurant's name. You'll be placed in a virtual line and notified of the average wait time (which can be somewhat imprecise). Then, you'll receive a notification when your table is being prepared, and you have 10 minutes to arrive. I recommend starting this process at least 1/2 hour before your intended dining time (especially on weekends).

Now onto the review. My experience was disappointing, despite the food being really great. The main issue lies in the hype surrounding this place. They focus on managing as many customers as possible due to the enormous influx, diminishing the attention to the individual experience.

I arrived at 6pm, went through the explained procedure (which I wish I had known beforehand), and despite the app stating a maximum 120-minute wait, I waited until 10pm (4h total). I suggest going to Café de Paris nearby if you want to grab a drink while waiting.

When my turn finally came, I was seated in a corner, on a wonky stool, eating on a tiny counter. The vibe of the place is incredible as it truly feels like a fish market in Japan, but how can I enjoy it when I'm tucked away in a corner, facing the wall?

It was extremely disappointing, especially considering the long wait.

Regarding the food. The sea bream tartare was really good, with a delicate flavor, and a good kick given by both the sauce and the accompanying salted rice.

The ramen was also great. I tried the sea bream and lobster ones. They were intense due to the many seasonings, yet I was able to distinct each flavor because well-balanced. The quality of the ingredients was immediately perceivable. I'm not a ramen expert, but they seemed really on point.

The open dumpling starter was not good tough. The spicy sauce was overpowering, and I didn't appreciate neither the texture nor the overall taste.

Overall, the location is unique, and the food is amazing. But the management of the hype-induced crowd makes it a place I would not recommend, unless you're ready to face some challenges to gain your spot (and not even being sure you will sit comfortably.)

Finally, I believe you can find good ramen elsewhere in the city without having to scramble for a seat and being treated with more care during the...

To explain how the queuing system works - the QR code at the shopfront directs you to download an app to start the virtual queue. You can avoid heading down to the resultant by simply downloading the app ‘Skeepit’ prior to your visit, search for the restaurant name and join the virtual queue. The catch is that you still have to be in the proximity of the restaurant - no idea what the limit is (but we were able to join the virtual queue within 20min walking distance from the restaurant), so you can technically get on the virtual queue when you are shopping around the area. Once you join the virtual queue, you can walk around the area and head to the resto once your turn is up (you have 10 min to get there once so). Once you are back at the shopfront, join the queue that you see forming outside - the service staff regularly checks one by one to make sure you are part of the virtual queue, and will call your name once a table is available. You join the actual queue so that it is easier for the staff to make their checks, but you’ll still get to get to the front of the line once your name is called.

Food wise - I ordered the rich and creamy ramen with recommended chef toppings (pictured). The broth was great, but leaves a greasy and fishy aftertaste. Texture of the ramen noodles itself were meh. Lobster mazemen (not in picture) had a strong crustacean taste rather than lobster. So overall it was slightly disappointing, though the fish broth was really rich. Fish ramen is interesting, but nothing extraordinary.

Atmosphere - depends on where you are seated. The seats are slightly more spacious but the high tables/benches where we were seated were VERY tight and squeezy, with no space between other diners (from the side and back).

Lastly - the service was absolutely horrible. All the service staff were rude from the start to the end (we were there at 6.30pm). At the start we asked if we could change seats as the tables behind were fully cleared, and were told that it was for a group of 6 to be seated. But then he proceeded to seat three different couples at various intervals - we would have preferred a simple no, then being lied to our faces.

Overall, go if you are big on ramen broth and want to try fish ramen, but not if you are big on the...

This is the seafood broth concept of the Michelin Kodawari. We’ve been to the other location countless times and every time we’re in Paris we make it a point to go. This time we decided to give this one a try.

It was the most disappointing experience we’ve had. If he had come to this location the first time we would have never returned it tried the other location.

We ordered: Malagasy King Prawn Nuta- the flavors on this were delicious however, it was so salty it tasted like eating a block of salt. If you can get past that it had a lot of things going for it. Sardine shoyu ramen “original”- we added the tamago and chicken chashu. The sardine in mine was not fresh. It had a strong amino rancid seafood taste. The broth flavor was good but extremely oily. Even more than the normal layer of oil on ramen. The noodles were clumpy and unevenly cooked. The entire bowl was so salty I could barely finish. Lobster Masemen- the smoke flavor on this was good. However the entire texture tasted like sloppy dough. The noodles were clumpy and unevenly cooked. There was also no lobster in our bowl. I looked over to another bowl next to us and it looked like there was more lobster. Dessert- iced miso and coffee cream- this tasted like a sweet fermented tofu. Delicious and creative Dessert- scallop trompe L’oceil- raw scallop rice pudding. Very creative and good

The best thing about this meal was the dessert. Every thing else was disappointing and pretty gross. The ramen was so terrible I didn’t even bother to take a photo.

The staff were very rude and all together acted pretty annoyed at any request. Before even sitting down, while waiting in the queue the girl manning the list called my name and proceeded to sit someone else. When I told her that she sat the wrong person she just said oops and said wait. More than 5 minutes later she sat other parties and then when I said something again she finally sat us.

The decor of the place is very on point and contributes to the over all ambiance however, I would say they should re-evaluate some of the decor vs functionality. The staff were tripping over and running into the decor and lots of guests couldn’t even get into their seats.

The food was also...