Basement Bento at OZU Paris

Proclaimed as the Best Japanese restaurant in Paris on their (largely unfinished) official website, OZU is the second offering from the same team owning the restaurant of the same name in London. The decoration is of little interest, a pan-world, Nippon dining room with lots of blond wood, and a latice-style ceiling, the big attraction here being the giant aquarium theatre located in space directly across from the main dining room. The aquarium, apparently closed for some 20 years before being reopened solely for OZU, is pretty cool (despite the fact that it draws hoards of annoying children around the supposedly VIP tables in front of the fish display, although the management assures me that , although Sunday lunchtime is often like this, in the evening, there is a different ambience altogether.

The 9 piece sushi plate was pretty good, although, at 38 Euros, and with only a tiny accompanying salad, was a bit of a stretch (I mean, the same price buys an entire bento box at Kai...).

The teppinyaki was pretty tasty, with accompanying rice, Japanese flan with (a little dry) chicken at the bottle, a decent miso. Not bad for a little less than 30 Euros.

Dessert, a green tea creme brulé, with a sort of pumpkin gratin and chocolate chip, was relatively tasty.

Is it the best Jap in town? Of course not. But maybe worth a night out if Kai and Kinugawa are fully booked.


Oh, and one last thing, watch out for the statue at the exit of the restaurant. It has hungry hands...