Koji

Add two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024 and 2025) and the case for booking becomes clear. If teppanyaki is the format you want and you are in or near Paris, Koji is the reference point. The question is how to use it well.

What Koji is, who it is for

Koji sits at 34 Bis Rue Ernest Renan in Issy-les-Moulineaux, a short commute from central Paris. The cuisine is teppanyaki: iron-griddle cooking performed at or near the table, where the theatre of the cook is as much a part of the meal as the food itself. This format works well for special occasions and business dinners because the performance gives the table something to focus on together, the pacing is naturally controlled by the chef rather than the room. For a date or a celebration, that structured rhythm is an asset. The €€€ price positioning makes it meaningfully more accessible than the €€€€ fine-dining tier that dominates Paris's most-recognised restaurants, without dropping into casual territory.

The Michelin Plate designation; awarded in both 2024 and 2025, signals that Michelin's inspectors found the cooking worth flagging, even if it sits below star level. In teppanyaki specifically, where the category has a limited number of dedicated venues in the Paris region, that recognition carries more weight than it might in a crowded bistro market. If you are looking for a celebration dinner that feels considered and distinctive without the formality of a three-star room, Koji is a strong answer.

Planning across two or three visits

Teppanyaki menus tend to follow a progression, proteins, vegetables, rice, with the chef's sequencing doing much of the work. On a first visit, the priority is understanding Koji's own rhythm and range: how the kitchen handles its main proteins, where the meal peaks, how the pacing feels. Resist the urge to over-order or deviate from the recommended progression on visit one. Let the kitchen show you what it does.

A second visit rewards the diner who already knows the structure. With that baseline, you can make more targeted decisions: which courses justify upgrading, whether the opening or closing sequence is the stronger half of the meal, how the experience changes at different seating times. Teppanyaki counters often shift in atmosphere depending on whether you are eating at an early seating or a later one, that texture is worth testing across visits.

By a third visit, you are in a position to treat Koji as a known quantity for hosting others. The format is unusually well-suited to bringing first-timers, the theatre and the pacing carry guests who might otherwise need conversation to fill the room. If you are building a short list of reliable Paris special-occasion venues, Koji earns a slot at the €€€ tier that the €€€€ options cannot fill as efficiently.

For context on what dedicated teppanyaki looks like at a higher price point or in its home market, Hibana by Koki in Hanoi and Ishigaki Yoshida in Tokyo offer useful reference points for how the format scales in ambition and ceremony.

How it compares in Paris's broader dining context

The Paris fine-dining tier is anchored by restaurants like L'Ambroisie, Arpège, and Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen, all operating at price points and formality levels well above Koji. Kei and Le Cinq at the Four Seasons Hôtel George V are the more directly comparable options for a special occasion at a table-service format, both at €€€€. Koji offers a different proposition: interactive cooking, a more relaxed ceiling on formality, a price tier that makes repeat visits practical. For France's broader range of ambitious dining, Pearl also covers Mirazur in Menton, Flocons de Sel in Megève, Troisgros in Ouches, Paul Bocuse in Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or, Bras in Laguiole, and Auberge de l'Ill in Illhaeusern.

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