[Paris 1er] Izakaya Yasube

Yasube is situated in the centre of the Japanese town at rue Saint-Anne not far from Opera and le Louvre. The Izakaya is known for its skewered chicken. We had our dinner a week ago on a Friday night.

It was an early dinner, both of us were not very hungry.

Hatsu and suehiro- chicken hearts and tail (or ass?) yakitori. The tail was the very tender.
I wanted to order cartilages skewers, but they didn’t have it that night.

Kamo-negi - duck and leek yakitori.

Kaki Fry - deep fried oyster

Grilled eel

Grilled Sanma with salt- Pacific Saury, a small fish common on Japanese menu

Soba

And of course with beer and sake.

Cheese skewers

We didn’t try the sashimi. Food were quite good, we felt Issé we tried a week before was better, but they were not the same price range. Be warned that the restaurant was quite smokey. Their set lunch with bento looked interesting.

Yasube
9 Rue Sainte-Anne
75001 Paris

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Thanks Naf. Yasube is a favorite of mine, I go there regularly. Actually I just dined there tonight.
I had yakitori, as I always do: chicken livers, chicken skin, wing, and tsukune. Always excellent. And I always get a pitcher of their cold sake, simple but satisfying. The place is reasonably priced, too. A classic.

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Excellent :slight_smile: Was wondering about simpler Izakays in the city, we love Izakaya and Yakitori smelly places :slight_smile: and also nice possibilities for quite simple but fresh and tasty Sushi takeout, Would be glad to know what might be relevant nowdays, thanks !

There’s Izakaya Isse on rue de Richelieu, but I haven’t been there for a long time and don’t know what it’s up to right now. Last time, it was really delicious. Good, long sake list.
Although Yasube is defined here as an izakaya, I’ve never known that it describes itself as such, it’s more a very good yakitori place with an extended menu of various other small dishes that may be considered fit for an izakaya. However, the place has a rather short selection of sake. Other places have wider selections.
La Maison du Saké on rue Tiquetonne can’t be described as an izakaya properly speaking, being home to the superb gastro restaurant ERH, but it does include a small izakaya in the premises. Not sure this is still going on, but it was pretty dazzling the last time I was there.
There’s Jinchan Shokudo in the 12th, openly defined as an izakaya, never been there. Some friends rave about it, my most reliable Japanese friend doesn’t recommend it. To be tested.
High-end sushi places in Paris have izakaya-length sake lists, for instance Jin Saint-Honoré, but now it costs an arm and a leg, be warned.
Sushi B is no more but I heard rumors that chef Hanada is going to open his own sushi place in Paris again.

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Excellent information, thank you. I will definitely google what you mentioned, i knew about Isse in the past and i see now that they have a workshop/store, not cheap of course but interesting selection and i will visit maybe to collect some condiments from there. Yasube seems like a fun option to diverse a little bit the list of “modern places” i’m aiming for, want to try some more Asian cuisines places in the city, that we didn’t visit in the past, also dim sum is of interest, so would be glad to read about that too :slight_smile: Saw an unfamiliar place called Chez Ann in the 10th, looks simple and interesting

Oh, Workshop Isse as a store has been going on for many years. It is a luxury Japanese grocery store, yes, and everything you get there is outstanding. It is quite tricky to get out of the place with less than a 100-euro-check, which is why I tend to avoid the place unless I need something very specific. I was particularly keen on a plum-infused drinking vinegar that they had, and I think it’s been discontinued so I don’t go there anymore.
Additionnally, you can eat at Workshop Isse. There’s a counter and a lunch service, the dishes are quite simple, but you may order something from the well-stocked sake list, and I remember doing that while Mr. Kuroda, the founder, was still there, it was a delight to get information from him.
I don’t think there’s a counter anymore, but there’s an extension just across the street with tables and wooden seats, they do serve food and I think that’s where the lunch service went.

Yasube is particularly interesting for yakitori, one of the best in Paris I reckon. That’s mostly what you go there for.

Dim sum — just don’t look elsewhere, just go to Tricotin, avenue de Choisy. This spacious, casual restaurant is run by a Chinese-Cambodian family and their mastery of dim sum is really good. The wu gok (taro fritters filled with pork) are even better than what I got at some Guangzhou landmarks. You’ll be given other addresses but for me they never made it. And chances are that, in some, you get some bought frozen stuff.

As a rule, Vietnamese and Cambodian places are of good quality in Paris. I recommend Pho Muy, May Hong, Pho 13, Le Kok (no credit cards), all in the same South Paris (13th arrondissement) neighborhood. I know there are similarly good places in other regions of Paris, for instance the very delicious Thu Thu in the 18th (near porte de Saint-Ouen), but I am relying too much on the 13th, which is closer to my home, to be knowledgeable about other neighborhoods.

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Fantastic, thanks so much, exactly what i’m looking for :slight_smile: I ate a couple of times in the past at Tricotin, i think they might have or had another kind of branch in the close by area ? Not sure, anyway, last time might be almost 10 years ago, time flies, for sure liked it and i remember that value was nice per the moderate pricing, glad to hear it’s still a very solid option to consider. Also liked Likafo for chinese, back at the days it was widely mentioned on the chowhound board, but not sure it’s still a solid place to consider today, and i don’t remember them for dim sum, but general chinese/cantonese direction
And if we are already at it, maybe you will know :slight_smile: Back at those days, there used to be a fantastic pretty small roast meats shop, if i’m not mistaken opposite to Tang Freres, or a bit to the side (or parallel street :-)), did whole canard laque, roast pork etc. for take away, sounds familiar ? Anything like that still in the area ? Thanks a lot !

Izakaya Issé closed for good on 22 May.

I heard that quite a lot of places closing lately, in high connection probably to the pandemic issue, or not, don’t know, sad for sure. They operate as a shop now ? Or that closed too ? Thanks for the information

I just saw on their webpage that they were closed. Don’t know about the shop.

https://www.izakaya-isse.fr/

Restaurants are closing mostly because of the difficulty to find staff. I am pretty sure Workshop Isse is still going on.

Tricotin is remarkable for its consistency. In decades of going there (mostly for late-morning dim sum), I’ve never had a bad experience. There’s no fluctuation. It is still as good now as it was ten years ago.

Likafo, I’m sorry to say, has gone seriously downhill since the former boss resigned and the man who made the wonton behind the front window stepped down as well. It used to be my favorite Cantonese restaurant in Paris, now it’s gone somewhat sloppy and I don’t go there anymore. It never was a dim sum place anyway.

The roasted meats place opposite Tang Frères (if you mean the Avenue d’Ivry main location) is probably Hoa Nam, also a catering brand whose products like cha gio or nem chua are distributed in many nearby stores. It is of very good quality, like Tricotin: an old, established, reliable place.

If you’re into Cantonese roast duck, I also recommend Impérial Choisy and Fleurs de Mai, both on avenue de Choisy. Avoid Ang at all costs.

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Thanks, missed this message :slight_smile: Tricotin in plans and will check about the roast duck places…