Hibiki

This teeny tiny izakaya managed to slip through Le Fooding’s radar! In other words, a Japanese bistro that’s just a few square meters in size, located on the ground floor of a red house, with rather nondescript decor (white walls that could use a fresh coat of paint, a tiny bar for three pairs of chopsticks), but where chef Jiro Yasuma makes sparks fly with his two hotplates. Like the other day at lunch, the extremely affordable menu featured all of the following: textural cubes of homemade tofu marinated in an incredible white sesame cream; good miso soup; yellow pollack fillet stewed in a slightly lemony broth, served with bok choy and four colors of crisp beans. At night, the chef ups the ante: salmon or white fish sashimi, minced lotus roots and carrots caramelized in miso and chilies; fried eggplant drizzled in tentsuyu sauce (soy sauce, mirin, dashi); grilled pork roll seasoned with five-spice powder; Kagua beer ice cream… Everything is 100% homemade and served with the house’s infectious good humor. // Gwen Jacquère 

FEELING THIRSTY? : The other piece of good news: in addition to craft Kagua saison beer (€6.50 for 330 ml), Suntory Hakushu whisky (€12 for 40 ml) and Ginjo Ki-ippon jumai sake (€7 for 90 ml), there’s a rather unexpected natural wine list – Les Pléiades, a Languedoc white from the Domaine Stella Nova (€6 a glass), a sharp sylvaner from Frick (€34 a bottle), and Muscana, an aromatic muscat from the Domaine Einhart (€28). 
PRICE: : Set menus €15 (lunch) and €28-36 (dinner), desserts + €6, à la carte €28-38 (dinner).