Reviews - Hinoki
Reviews summary
What Lucy Berger dislikes about Hinoki:
Les sushis sont formidables. L'itamae est disert sur son art, mais, aussi talentueux qu'il soit, est maniéré et fait montre de fausse modestie. Pour dire les choses simplement: il s'écoute parler.Vu le tarif élevé, je recommande ce restaurant aux connaisseurs et grands amateurs de sushi, mais à eux seuls. View all feedback.
Reviews from various users
Last update : 15.05.2026
So no, fine dining shouldn't cost that much. There are incredible restaurants, far better, for €100 per person (the price of the Hinoki menu a few years ago, by the way). I don't know why prices here have gone up so much, but the food, while excellent, doesn't justify it at all. €165 now seems like a rip-off.
So no, gastronomy shouldn't cost this much. There are incredible restaurants, much better for €100 per person (the price of the Hinoki menu a few years ago, by the way). I don't know why prices here have gone up so much, but the food, while excellent, doesn't justify it at all. €165 now seems like a rip-off.
A meal as relaxing as it was soothing, as surprising as it may seem. Excellent cuisine, and a chef who shared his knowledge of Japanese culture with us. In short, a perfect evening, go there with your eyes closed! We sincerely hope to be able to return.
The Hinoki restaurant is a real gem for sushi lovers. The quality of the fish is exceptional, varied and always very fresh. The chef has mastered the art of sushi to perfection, and seeing the sushi come to life under his expert hands is a spectacle in itself. The ambiance of the restaurant is calm and relaxing, providing an ideal setting to savor this gastronomic experience. The decoration, for its part, invites you to travel, with a refined aesthetic that subtly recalls the elegance of Japan. At Hinoki, everything is designed so that every detail contributes to immersion in this delicate and refined universe. The chef happily shares his knowledge on how to prepare fish or even real wasabi. These exchanges enrich the experience and add an educational dimension to this culinary immersion. Hinoki offers much more than just a meal: it is a complete experience, combining authentic flavors, exceptional know-how and friendly exchanges with a passionate chef. An essential address for anyone looking to escape for a meal in Brest.
Exceptional dinner, the quality of the dishes is extraordinary, and this includes not only the fish (which is of a great variety) but also the Wasabi, exquisite, brought and selected directly from Japan, the rice of exceptional finesse, the teas, sakes... The setting is magnificent, the superb welcome by Mr Xavier Pensec, his Japanese wife, the young person who participated in the service in perfect symbiosis with the spirit of the restaurant, all associated with valuable information historical and geographical information about Japan. The (very rare) people who have in the past criticized the high price of the menu surely have no idea of the work carried out upstream to find on their plates fish meticulously selected with passion, of impeccable freshness, and the years of experience to acquire such mastery in the preparation of sushi. Certainly a restaurant deserving not one but three stars for sushi as well as for rice, teas and Japanese alcohols...
Last update : 06.01.2026
The short version: if you want a proper omakase experience, consider skipping this and going for the real deal, which can now be found at several major European cities let alone Japan and elsewhere in East Asia . It may cost more but it will be worth it, whereas this will be omakase with several asterisks. The long version? Here we go. Hinoki has been known as a more or less 'conventional ' sushi restaurant in Brest for some time, until more recently, the French native chef decided to change to an omakase style sushi concept only *for a bit of background on this, scroll down . Unfortunately, this doesn 't quite work out for several reasons. Overall experience: On the day of the booking, we were informed that the entire service was postponed by the host by an hour. That is unorthodox in itself, but the even weirder, unsolicited explanation given during the service was that due to the heat, the chef had to drive to the fish market *earlier* to go shopping. Why that meant that the seating would start *later* for all guests remained a mystery. Mind you that spinoffs of some of Tokyo 's top omakase restaurants, e.g. in Hong Kong, will fly to the Tokyo fish market to shop certain products. Be assured they do not let this affect their schedule. In any case, no big drama. Speaking of unsolicited explanations, the chef gave many of those on the topic of sushi. Unfortunately, they often came across as teacherly and one couldn 't help the impression of dealing with a bit of 'an explainer '. Moreover, some information was just dubious. For example, the chef claimed his fresh wasabi root an ingredient that is admittedly hard, yet not impossible to find in Europe grew at 1.000m altitude and was the hardest to find in the world. However, a bit of Google research revealed that these are actually grown in Israel at 1000m and are commercially available, so I 'm not sure what to believe here. At another point staff explained that Junmai sake means that no flavours were added, which is incorrect as well. In any case, as a result, the whole experience felt like a workshop and was awkwardly focussed around the chef, who palpably basked in the attention and often sought eye contact with people who didn 't watch him or asked them questions to gain their attention. This felt obtrusive, theatrical and creepy and stands in stark contrast to the restrained professionalism of sushi chefs at Japanese counterparts, where the atmosphere is often surprisingly casual and relaxing. Overall dinner time was well over 3 hours. At similar restaurants in Japan these types of menus are often served in 30 45min, but never more than 2 hours. The food: The menu priced at 168 EUR contained 3 appetisers, around 12 or 14 nigiri and a dessert. Sake and tea pairings are available. Some wines are served by the bottle nothing is served by the glass. Our champagne was warm, and mediocre unfortunately. Drinks seem like bit of an afterthought despite this being France! . The uninspired appetisers – a type of flan with shredded crab, a piece of plain sous vide over cooked octopus, and a bowl of fish broth – all offered little in terms of flavour and texture. By contrast, a shrill and somewhat distasteful aesthetic detail was that a prawns was added to each bowl of broth in the style of Mr Crabs sitting in a hot tub and leaning out on the rim – except that their lower body had been removed like in Terminator or Alien and they were – yup – still moving they were already dead, of course, but still showed contractions . I 'm not squeamish by any means but considering the insipidness of the dish, this was a twisted and unnecessary thing to add that disturbed some of the guests. The meat from the lower bodies were served later of course. The nigiris were... OK. Definitely better than your average sushi – but as far as omakase sushi goes, they were nothing to write home about. The chef 's technique seemed weirdly theatrical and unauthentic – there was way too much fiddling and the technique resembled nothing you will see from formerly trained Japanese chefs. Some nigiris contained unusual seasoning something that more unorthodox chefs like e.g. Kit from Undercover Amsterdam have developed quite successfully , but those were usually bland 'Bio lemon ', 'bio chives ', salt and poorly calibrated to the dishes. In general, all nigiri were way too heavy on the wasabi and while the chef did offer guests to adjust this on request, this is again a weird idea as the wasabi should simply be barely tasted at all in well crafted sushi in order to not overpower the taste of the fish. The dessert was some ice cream, which – home made or not – tasted of little else than cream or milk, lovelessly paired with 2 green plums that tasted of, you guessed it, nothing. This would have been a lovely gesture if served for your birthday by your 8 year old. A few other details that were just way off: Cheap disposable chopsticks: unacceptable at a restaurant of this profile The tamago an intricate and usually delicious dessert made of stirred egg baked into a cake typically served last was almost unrecognisable and carelessly added to the rim of a chirashi sushi ! bowl which was served as last course, oddly ; like the awful dessert, nobody would have missed this if they had omitted it – but it 's half hearted addition backfired and just seemed plain bad. Pickled radish was served instead of pickled ginger – apparently because their supplier was out of stock. There is nothing wrong with trying pickled radish per se, but pickled ginger is really easy to make at home, so admitting that they procured this from a supplier seemed embarrassing considering the profile of the restaurant. So what 's the bottom line here: If you are desperate to try omakase sushi and won 't be able to go to the established places that have been popping up in Paris, London, Amsterdam etc. for whatever reason – by all means stop by. It may well be the best sushi you 'll ever eat. That being said, for somebody familiar with sushi at this level, it is going to be underwhelming in terms of food – and plain weird and uncomfortable overall in terms of the customer experience. And while the overall price tag may seem OK compared to e.g. the Michelin starred counterparts, one could not help but feel weirdly ripped off at the end of it. An honorable attempt at omakase sushi by a chef who is without doubt passionate about sushi – but considering the many flaws, this would need a full reset to be truly attractive. *Omakase means that patrons usually sit at a counter around the kitchen and the chef serves a set menu, whereby they prepare each nigiri fresh and serve it piece by piece to each individually. Oftentimes there are a few warm appetisers first. This is considered the most refined setting to have sushi in Japan and is an art of its own, on par with the most advanced cuisines in the world. I have had sushi this way at some of the top restaurants in Japan, hence have a good reference to compare this with.
This is one of the restaurants you MUST visit in Bretagne. Very good quality and as always a nice performance .. the chef is a passionated Breton. The restaurant is a welcome home place!
Small and cosy restaurant located in the center of Brest. Once you open the door there is a good smell of fresh fish. Short menu , you don't have all the kinds of sushis, makis and sashimis you can find in a common and cheap sushi shop but the are all really good: fresh and high quality fishes, amazing rice. Nothing comparable. I would say : one of the best ones of my live and I tried many around the world). The high price is really worthy. The chef is really nice and ready to share and explain his passion.
As the french say, Superbe! The love of his art is present in every niguiri this sushi chef offers, choose the bar, and you'll discover the making of your dinner. The products are so fresh, the delicately chosen, that every piece is a delight. Amazing discovery in Brest!
Last update : 30.12.2023
A pure moment of happiness...
A fabulous culinary and gastronomic adventure!
An unforgettable evening! With all these distant and mastery flavours as well as friendly and warm contact. Thank you. We were celebrating the 28...
What a beautiful moment!
A delicious discovery! I strongly recommend
Last update : 22.03.2023
Biggest sushi in France! He gets best fish from locals much better than import from Japan.
Very good sushi restaurant. Good food. You see how original food is made before your own eyes, really amazing! Try it, I dare you.
The real art of nigiri sushi offered in France, in Brest, is magnificent (and good)! Performance, quality of products, diversity of fish and accompaniment, everything is mastered to make a remarkable culinary journey live. Eating Hinoki is a privilege, go if you can!
Best sushi in France.
Hinoki is undoubtedly in the top 5 of the sushi restaurants in France. Xavier is a wonderfully gifted man: skill and culinary techniques of very, TRÈS haut niveau; an association of perfumes to be damned; a fabulous selection of products; a will to share, a man rich in generosity and kindness. Thank you for this real experience. Thank you for getting us back to the kitchen and the use of our senses. We'll come back, that's a certainty. Two possible menus in the evening, a service, highly recommended reservation.
