Hey naf,
What do you think of the list from eater.com? My wife and I walked down rue Sainte-Anne once, and I remember being amazed by the concentration of Japanese places, with a few Koreans thrown in. But I didn’t remember where it was. Now it is starting to look like a “destination”.
From the list, I have been to the first one Kunitoraya, went a few times, their ramen were quite alright, not a lot of choice but they know what they are doing.
Most other places in Sainte Anne were okay, Okonomiyaki, ramen, grills. Some you have the feeling of local canteen, you need to get up and to fill your mug with the tea machine. Others places serve simple nice street food. Don’t come here to expect elaborate meal. There are a few more expensive places that I haven’t try out and no idea if they are interesting.
If you read about the history of rue Sainte Anne, it used to be a street where the gay gathered up until the 80’s, and starting from 2000, the Japanese restaurants replaced the gays (they go to le Marais now)… Slowly you see the Korean too.
If you like ramen, I recommended Ippudo, a new place opened last year, review here
When we crave for Japanese food, we usually go to Foujita 2, close to Tuileries. They have a bit of everything, sushi, noodles, rice, nothing particularly fancy but usually everybody is happy.
We usually visit Paris in a colder season to avoid the crowds, so hearty is good.
Also, when touristing we don’t always have the time for a long lunch. We will go to maybe one Michelin star place per visit, but that is two and a half hours done properly.
Finally, given a choice, I would much rather eat in Lyon than Paris. I think Bourgogne really has the best food in France. Provence, Alsace and Normandie are also good.
