Isami

The food here was really good. Very fresh and very traditional. The edamame was hot and sprinkled with sea salt. The miso was perfect and the nigiri was great. The service however was more what I would expect on the Champs d’Elyse on a hot August day: surly and impatient. I would have given another star if the service would have been up to par.
It wasn’t a language issue as I ordered in both French and in Japanese and we got exactly what we wanted, but both our server and the Sushi chef were in apparent foul moods. The older lady that was working was much better though.
This place is not cheap and a low price bottle of Saki was 27euro. My hope is that when the food is great, that the staff would match.

Addicted to Japanese food is just an understatement when It comes to me…
Went two times to Isami thanks to the advice of a friend. Perfect spot for a date by the way.
It’s a tiny restaurant with only one room, a sushi bar and a few tables.
They only serve raw fish so Isami is really for people who loves this kind of food and already have experienced it numerous times before, don’t do your first experience there you would not appreciate it fully.
The decoration is nice, not great. The main thing is not the setting but clearly the fish.
You really have to make a reservation in advance. I would not recommend this place for a big party of people as It can get really noisy because of the small dimensions of the restaurant.
This place is run by a Japanese family with of course a full family-​Japanese staff.
Sadly, you really feel the difference of attitude of the owners towards native Japanese customers and the ones who are not.
When I was making the reservation by phone the lady started to talk to me in Japanese and when I switched back to French she really changed her behavior. I was asking her if we could arrive at 9:30pm on a Saturday night and she said very harshly that It was too late so I had to compromise for 9pm. That was not very polite or welcoming.
And when you have to tell your name to the waitress, so she can show you your table, you just feel that they don’t really care about being nice or friendly.
You’re just another European who clearly doesn’t know anything about Japanese culture.
The first time I went there, in March 2012, I had the menu called Joh Sushi Moriawase which is described as a deluxe choice of raw fish.
It is composed of :
1) Two amuse bowls of monkfish liver with a bitter sauce, and 4 raw escargots (It might seem weird for a French person to say so but I really don’t like snails).
2) A miso soup with tofu.
3) A large platter with different kind of sushis, for example yellowtail, octopus, eel (my favorite), tuna…
Delicious and so tasty. The whole menu cost 35 euros, this is really reasonable for a place situated in this area of Paris and with such a good quality of products. The fish is exquisite and well presented without any fancy decoration that would be useless.
When you eat at Isami it’s clearly to enjoy the freshness of those Japanese meals and nothing else.
The second time, 3 weeks ago, I ordered the menu Joh Sashimi Moriawase composed only of sashimis.
Same structure than the Joh Sushi Moriawase menu. It cost 38 euros, so a little bit more than the previous one. It was really good too, with more variety. I was still hungry though. So I ordered 4 Unagi (sushi made with eel) that I just can’t get enough. But here’s what happened, our waiter said :
–Oh, are you sure you want more? It’s going to take a lot of time to prepare… Like more than 30 minutes.”.
Really? More than 30 minutes for 4 sushis and the place was not even packed… I could see that the staff just wanted to stop cooking and serving but It was on a Saturday night at 9:45pm so I replied in a polite but very clear way :
–Well, I’ll wait then.
Finally after 30 minutes the Unagis appeared and It was definitely worth a little pushy attitude.
It’s kind of difficult for me to rate Isami as the food there is excellent and fresh but the owners’ behavior kind of spoils it. Compared to my friends I was treated with respect, this gives you an idea of the rudeness that can happen in this place that you would not expect when going there.
Will I go back? Maybe.
But It will definitely not become my go-​to place in Paris for Japanese raw fish and this is a shame because It could have been without this unacceptable attitude.
I’d rather keep searching.

Very fresh sashimi; delicious. Nice, intimate atmosphere. Nice view of the Sein river, lots of light inside the restaurant during lunch. Air-​conditioned. Medium to high price. Service is excellent, food came out fast. Toilet is clean

Finest sushi in France. Reservations absolutely required. Two seatings 19,00 and 20,45 are enforced: you must leave your 7pm table at 8:45. =) With six tables, I don’t blame them.
Set on the small Cite de Arts, this place shares the island with the best ice cream (glacé) in France, and a short jaunt takes you Tour D’Argent. One chef creates delectable, beautiful art in his dishes which celebrate the finest in high Japanese style preparations.
–Amuse bowls of bright red Ankimo (monkfish liver) with a bitter sauce, and
–Escargot (raw)
–miso soup’s tofu cube was a fusion of lobster and tofu which melted in your mouth
–sushi bests: o toro, scallop (soft as a cloud), mackerel and yellowtail.
–green tea dessert dumpling with sweet fruit filling.