Matsuri… And They Call That Sushi in Paris

Anthony's Restaurant Rating: 32/100 X

Welcoming:2/10 Menu Choices: 2/10 Food Presentation: 3/10

Food Temperature: 4/10 Food Taste: 2/20 Service: 3/10

Ambiance/Music: 3/10 Architecture/Interior: 7/10 Air Quality: 6/10

Total: 32/100

Matsuri… And They Call That Sushi in Paris

More about: Matsuri BoetieOver a year ago, a friend of mine living in Paris, invited me to Matsuri. Today, this place has become a very popular Japanese restaurant and is now available on every other street around the capital.Let me reconfirm how bad Matsuri is… I truly don’t understand how they have expanded…

Last year, I tried their Passy Avenue branch and I was shocked to discover that something like this is even considered a Japanese restaurant. I ate pieces of rolled soggy rice with no taste. Today’s experience was even worse: Today’s so-called dinner was disastrous. The worst sushi, imagine something worse than my last experience at Sushi Ko, Lebanon.Let me elaborate further. If the Japanese ambassador comes across Matsuri, he will surely oblige them to remove the Japanese tag from over the signs.The sushi bites are soggy, overcooked rice wrapped in an unappetizing way and rolled over ingredients that taste all the same. Unpleasant textures and compositions priced at more than 3€ each.

The concept is the same wherever you visit:

Chairs are distributed around a conveyor belt where guests grab plates of their liking, divided into five different colors depending on the price.
Complete silence in a dimmed space. We ate in less than 15 minutes and left.

If you crave anything else than the pieces on the conveyor belt, you can order from the menu that has no images and nothing seems to make sense. But I am not sure you will get what you want. We tried to ask for three items from the menu that were discontinued; and the best part is that they don’t know what “crispy” is. The famous Crispy California isn’t available here!So, take the menu and try to imagine how the pieces look like. As for the ones traveling around, no name or tag marks them.

The menu:

Salads
Tartars
Chirashi
Sashimi
Hot plates
Gunken
Sushi
Temaki
California
Maki
Uramaki

Before you start eating, here are some clarifications:

In front of each person is a container with individual wasabi bags and another for soy sauce
White ginger is self service in the small container facing every two guests
Prices are: Yellow 2€, White 3€, Orange 4€, Red 5€
Waiters don’t seem to be happy at their job: I was hoping for a smile all night

I won’t go into too much food details simply because there’s nothing to report. Everything tasted the same. Lebanese Rice and Yogurt (Riz wou Laban) tastes better.

The minuses:

Pieces are not rolled in a symmetric appealing way but harshly set like mountains
Rice has a dull and unpleasant taste
Menu needs pictures: why would the delivery menu have pictures and not the dine-in one?
No crispy on the menu? A part of the Japanese culture omitted
Pieces are so dull and lack flavor. They all taste the same with unpleasant textures and bizarre ingredients
The half-cooked salmon is disgusting: I spit the first piece and couldn’t even eat the second one

What I didn’t like:

The nylon laminated menu is very cheap for what is a considered a high-end restaurant
The staff is not welcoming and they give out an unpleasant vibe. They don’t know what a smile is
The wraps are disgusting. Rice and fish. Nothing special, nothing extraordinary.
Desserts are not what you would expect in Paris, where desserts are part of the culture.

I’m not being harsh but realistic: I’ve never eaten something so bad and I really don’t understand how people can even swallow their food. If you’re in Paris, I suggest you avoid it – it’s on every corner – you will notice the logo with a red fish.

Then again, we might have different taste buds, the French and us when it comes to Japanese.