ORIENT EXTRÊME

Repas excellent, le meilleur restaurant où manger japonais à Paris!
Ambiance familiale, conviviale et confidentielle.
Propriétaire chaleureux.

I was in the St Germain region of Paris for 48 hours, on a very special 50th anniversary software symposium, staying near the Université Paris Cité, and fancied Sushi on my first night. My first port of call had just opened, and no-one had yet arrived, but was "Complet" (fully booked), so I wandered around, finding the Orient Extrême Saint Germain at about 19:25 in the evening, with external lights off, but lights within, and the staff eating their pre-service supper.

(In French) I enquired about a table, and they replied, "en cinq minutes" (5 minutes). So I hung around outside, until all the lights were on. I was welcomed in, and as a sole diner, offered a lovely single table in the corner of the restaurant - always my favourite when traveling alone.

The service was very friendly, staying in French despite my lapses in grammar or vocabulary, but with none of that alleged "Parisian Sneer" when I got things wrong. But that hardly matters, because ...

My waiter tried to explain I could save money by ordering a "fixed menu", but I replied that I wanted some specific fish, and would remain "a-la-carte". The resulting sushi was absolutely superb.

I started with a simple tuna maki (6 pieces), followed a major round of "sushi" (the style we call "nigiri" (fish on top of rice)), including two pieces each of Maguro (Tuna), Hamachi (Yellowtail), Unagi (Grilled Eel), Hotate (Scallops) and Ikura (Salmon Eggs). And for "dessert", another tuna maki, and two more pieces of the incredible St Jacques - oops, Hotate/Scallops.

All accompanied by a wonderful cold Sake, a 50cl bottle of Kaika Kazeno Ichirin Sake.

Seriously, to my utter delight, this was Sushi Heaven, on a back-street in Paris.

I cannot praise this place to highly. And then to cap it all, as I requested "l'addition", my waiter came back to the table with a little plate of a "Nougat de Maison", which was utterly delicious, and "gratuit" (on the house).

Totally recommended - worth the price - so, while not "cheap", in my opinion, worth every Euro. Five Stars. Cinq Etoiles. *****

Restaurant très agréable et cosy. Le poisson est savoureux et la qualité du service est là.
Je le recommande à 100%.

Bonne qualité et prix raisonnable par rapport aux autres restaurants dans le quartier.
Le poisson était très bon et frais.
Le bento est très généreux.
Le cocktail de saké était très bon.
Le serveur est gentil et arrangeant.
Bonne ambiance, très chic.
Je suis venu ici de nombreuses fois et je reviendrai certainement.

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