Iodé, Paris's genuine affordable sushi bar

It's a well-known fact that there aren't many genuine Japanese restaurants in Paris, and even fewer genuine Japanese counters serving sushi and sashimi of all kinds, prepared to the minute by a qualified sushi chef. Most of the time, these addresses are expensive and reserved for well-filled wallets, and it's a whole area of Japanese cuisine that a large number of gourmets unfortunately can't afford, falling back on less expensive but less demanding addresses out of spite.

But that was before. Restaurant Iodé, recently opened in the 7th arrondissement, aims to become an alternative to these (too) expensive restaurants, without compromising on technique and quality. This traditional sushi counter - and its Japanese chef who wields knives like no one else - unveils affordable menus (for this culinary art, in other words, don't expect to pay €20 for a menu either).

To achieve this, Iodé focuses on the finest fish and shellfish from sustainable French fishing, sourced from the Breton ports of Le Guilvinec, Loctudy, Audierne, Roscoff, and even further south, from Vendée and the Bay of Biscay. Forget big boats and trawling, here the absolute priority is line fishing and diving!

Transparent sourcing, local fishing and respect for the natural cycle and seasonality of the catch, often ignored by chefs when it comes to choosing seafood for their menus. So many good points!

If the expression 'between tradition and modernity' is too often used to talk about the land of the Rising Sun, the formula is nonetheless ideal for defining Iodé. Far from the ceremony and silence imposed by traditional addresses, the restaurant is accompanied by a hip-hop sound track that desacralizes the experience. The modern side.

In the kitchen, on the other hand, tradition prevails under the nimble fingers of chef Jun Yoshikawa, who puts on an unparalleled show with his finely honed knives. Seated at the 9-seat wooden counter, you get a front-row seat to watch the dishes and appetizers being created from the finest delicacies - sea urchin, gurnard, red tuna and otoro fatty tuna, white cuttlefish, black mullet, langoustine and scallops.

For lunch, expect to pay €38 for sushi and chirashi, and €32 for sashimi. In the evening, the omakase menu costs 92€ and currently includes two starters, a soup, ten sushi dishes, a temaki, a fish soup and a mochi for dessert. But dishes can vary, alternating sashimi and chirashi, nigiri and gunkan, according to the chef's whims.

As a reminder, the omakase menu is a blind tasting menu, created according to the day's arrivals, and this one is particularly rich, varied and simply delicious: semi-cooked trout; crab and smoked cod roe; sea bream with cardamom sauce; chirashi with white cuttlefish, horse mackerel, black mullet, sea bream, sea urchin and bottarga; scallop, eel and raw langoustine sushi; semi-cooked gurnard with olive; scallop temaki...

• To be read
• Japanese restaurants in Paris
• Wrap'n Roll Sushi, the Japanese restaurant for generous, unusual and truly affordable rolls
• Yujin: the 2nd arrondissement restaurant in Paris that fuses Japanese cuisine and street food

Fine, fresh, balanced, brimming with iodine and other flavors. A delicate pleasure to accompany with a glass of sake or kombucha. A true voyage and ode to the sea that we can't recommend enough if you've never taken the plunge and tried a real Japanese restaurant in Paris.

This test was conducted as part of a professional invitation. If your experience differs from ours, please mention it in the comments.