Paris has a lot of Japanese restaurants at all price ranges, but recently we’ve noted that the higher-end establishments have been using the word ‘fusion’ to show that they have inventive cuisine, much like Shiro that we tested for you last year.

Jun is a new Japanese fusion restaurant which grabbed our attention because of its vast space and exuberant interior design, and of course we wanted to know whether the cuisine was as interesting too…

If Jun‘s interior looks slightly familiar, it’s because the restaurant has taken the place of defunct eatery Cod House that we wrote about back in 2018. As it happens, many of the old fixtures and fittings haven’t even changed (the bottles over the bar, the seating and tables, the linen cushions…)

Jun has just removed some framed images and added a few Japanese touches like the saké barrels on one wall, new overhead lighting and a ton of fake cherry blossoms, something that is currently all the rage in Paris and, we hope, soon won’t be.

Nevertheless, the open and bright space is unusual and still just as agreeable to eat in.

The restaurant doesn’t seem to have a website, just an Instagram page with admittedly lovely photos and a link to book a table. To check out the menu, you have to watch their Insta story, and it’s here that we learn of the two-course Aki menu, available only weekday lunchtimes (excluding public holidays) for 38€. That’s quite a high price, showing pretty clearly where the restaurant wants to position itself.

We start our lunch with some edamame, served rather plainly without any sauce, but a touch of sea salt. Very tasty though.

One of use choose the Aki menu, which does not allow you a choice of starters, but instead offers miso soup, white rice and a tataki salmon salad.

The ingredients for these seem pretty basic, and the (copious) salad has only three pieces of salmon, but the ensemble is delicious nonetheless, with good seasoning.

Next we choose the grilled miso black cod (marinated in miso sauce) which is perfectly cooked and succulent. It’s funny to think that Jun has replaced the Cod House restaurant, but we are still eating cod there 😜.

The other main course is a California roll of jalapeño semi-cooked tuna, with a jalapeño vinaigrette (not very spicy) and crunchy batter flakes. It’s beautifully presented in a long row, very melt-in-the-mouth and accompanied by not-too-strong ginger. A success.

While the menu has a dozen different starters, the same number of California rolls and a vast choice of maki, meat, fish, salads and different sushis, there are surprisingly only five desserts, including a tiramisu that no doubt proves that the place really is ‘fusion’.

We choose another slight anomaly – a yuzu cheesecake which is excellent, albeit quite gelatinous, almost like a pana cotta. Only the biscuit base is a little hard to eat with the wooden spoon provided.

Our second dessert is three iced moshis (vanilla, mango, chocolate), all delicious and wonderfully presented. Both desserts are fairly highly-priced (12€).

Lunch at Jun was not a disappointment by any means, and while the prices are fairly high (expect to pay over 50€ each for lunch, without a glass of wine) they are explained by the care taken over the food, its presentation and the space itself.

If you’d like to discover Japanese ‘fusion’ cuisine and partake in an enjoyable meal in a designer space, Jun would be a good place to start.

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Jun (here) is open every day except Sundays for lunch and dinner

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

Online booking here

Instagram (no website)

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Une publication partagée par Jun (@jun_saintgermain)