If you’re sceptical about trying Japanese tapas in Paris, then don’t be!

Despite a few puzzlingly contradictory reviews on the web, we decided to go for lunch at The Cod House, a high-ceilinged stylish reastaurant that did not disappoint.

Here’s our review.

We’ve been past The Cod House a few times and attracted by its high ceiling, smart bar, mezzanine and cool interior design. And yet, there were also a few things that held us back:

1. Reviews on the web seem to be two-thirds super-positive, one-third really disgusted,
2. The space has changed hands repeatedly  over the years (often not a good sign). It was a cinema ten years ago, then a restaurant called Schmuck (Lord knows who had that great idea), then a different restaurant called Tigrr, and now The Cod House…
3. The restaurant belongs to a group which has seven restaurants in Paris, sometimes a sign that profits are more important than the food.

However, as soon as we stepped inside, many of our fears melted away. The interior design is lovely, we were genuinely and warmly welcomed (so simple, and yet so rare in a lot of places) and the menu is packed full of lovely-sounding dishes…

Despite the misleading name, there’s a lot more than cod to enjoy at The Cod House.

For exmaple, for lunch (weedays only) there’s a fixed price menu at 19€ – which is a pretty fair price – which includes miso soup, a bento with three little portions (Japanese salade, fried raviolis and either salmon or chicken), with white rice as an accompaniment.

The soup was tasty, the raviolis very crunchy and the salmon deliciously grilled. A great, ligh, balance midday meal.

And if the bento du jour isn’t to your fance, you can always choose your tapas from the à la carte menu.

We started with spicy eggs and mayonnaise, which had just the right amount of kick, as well as a little ginger for an unusual touch.

For 5€, we also wanted to try the bowl of ‘cucumber, pine nuts and miso sauce’. It was very fresh, and quite a generous portion.

When ordering the vegetarian Bao (also 5€), we were warned that it’s not to everyone’s taste. What arrive was a folded little white bread, very doughy, with a vegetable filling and a small amount of yuzu sauce. We found it a little chewy and not especially tasty, which was a bit of a shame.

Luckily, things were about to take a turn for the better. One dish that sounded extremely simple – ‘grilled aubergine with miso’ – turned out to be amazing, despite looking rather odd!

The aubergine was incredibly melty, and the sauce had a vey novel taste, slightly sweet but not at all sickly. We made a point of enjoying every single mouthful!

To finish off, we chose two desserts that didn’t impress us as much as we had hoped.

The crème brûlée with green tea was actually a little bland, as was the waffle with green tea ice cream.

Again, the waitress had explained when we ordered that the rice flour used for the waffle makes it a different experience to what is generally considered a waffle. Although the white colour didn’t bother us, we didn’t find the taste or texture particularly agreeable.

Let’s just say that the desserts weren’t what inspired us the most at The Cod House.

Despite this uninspiring end to our lunch, we have to say that it was a very enjoyable experience overall. The space is comfortable and bright, our waitress was lovely and smiley and we’d quite happily return in the evening to sample their cocktails.

If you fancy a meal that’s a little different and not too expensive, give The Cod House a try ?

The Cod House (here) is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner

Tel: +33 (0)1 42 49 35 59

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To check out all our photos of The Cod House, simply click here.

 

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Le mercredi c’est le jour des enfants, mais pas que ?? #thecodhouse #blackcodegroup #japanesefood Pic @saltnpeople

A post shared by The Cod House (@thecodhouse) on Oct 3, 2018 at 7:40am PDT