Matsusaka - Paris 9e Arrondissement

This was to be expected: I was too tired to search for a restaurant with any decent recommendations and I just went in to a random one across the street from my hotel. I ordered a menu of sashimi and a beer. The beer arrived quite quickly. So far so good.... Too bad the beer was the only good part in this meal. Now how can you make a bad sashimi menu: First of all the miso soup was quite tasteless. OK. Maybe it is a matter of the chefs personal touch. Then the usual cabbage salad arrives. Again below par. And finally the main sashimi dish. And how do you think can anything go wrong when you serve raw fish and some rice? uhhhh... yes. Warm rice. Not Japanese sushi type rice but more like Thai jasmine rice. No taste of the usual rice vinegar. Burnt on the sides. Yummy! The fish (a selection of different fish) was not at its best. It was not smelly or toxic by any means. But you could feel by the texture that it was not as fresh as it gets. Surely you can find a better place.

I have never had such terrible service, try main issue being a lack of basic hospitality manners and caring about customers. It’s a 33c/98F day hot. Aircon was off so I asked for ice for our drinks. We received 3 ice cubes. 3. God forbid they waste their electricity on us The food was average no care in the presentation/cutting etc and when I asked for a take away container, the owner looked very put out and gave one for 2 meals. I asked for a second and she said she was going to charge for the containers (about 1 euro each) I asked ‘And if I’d had take away? Would you change?’ Whatever. Seriously, one of the worst restaurants ever. Prices were normal, but ridiculously high considering the rudeness. In short, don’t do it to yourself

Usually, I have lunch there after 1pm, because it's crowded and tables too cramped. They welcome everyone in a friendly way. The lunch menu includes different choices, all including soup, sashimi /suchi and a sour/ sweet cabbage salad, and when we think it's finished, they fetch a dish w 4 meat barbecues: chicken,beef,lamb and pork. They serve plenty of water (my fetiche) all for 16€. The food is tasty, the barbecue very seasoned, a feast for demanding people.

There are no words to describe the quality of the sushi served in this simple and certainly not expensive restaurant. The menu is diverse, the service is good, quietly attentive, the music is calm. We love this place and would dine there at least weekly if only we lived in Paris. Recommended beyond recommending, as it were.

They don't speak Japanese and we don't speak French, but we could order a good food and their attention was wonderfull.