Sous les Cerisiers means "under the cherry trees" and the name of the chef/owner, Sakura, means cherry blossom in Japanese. For about two years, she has successfully run this lovely restaurant that has all the touches of a small Japanese inn. The tableware is stunning and of the type you would see in some of the best kaiseki establishments. The room is beautiful and spare with a second room decked out with chairs that are decorated with costumes from the Opera! In addition, there is a cooking school.
For lunch, there are two menus. I went with my friend, Noriko, and we immediately found ourselves back in Japan. I had a lovely noodle salad with wasabi and wakame (a delicious seaweed) with fresh fèves (lima beans) and arugala. So delicate and well-balanced. Next came a steamed piece of succulent bass on a bamboo leaf with cherry-blossom salt. I don't know what that is, but it is good! It was garnished with musubi au gingembre or rice patties flavored with fresh ginger.
Noriko had shrimp tempura with arugala salad and tamari (soy)-sesame sauce: light and lovely.
We chose different desserts. Noriko had the Fromage blanc, sucre à la crème de marron et au thé vert and I had Sorbet orange et passion: that is, creamy fresh cheese mixture with chestnut and green tea cream; orange-passion fruit sorbet.
The atmosphere is refined and the prices are reasonable. At dinner, the menu is more complex and they have delicious sushi au foie gras as a specialty.
I love Lai Lai Ken. It is the first restaurant you come to when you leave either metro Pyramides or metro Palais Royale on the rue St. Anne. Unlike other popular restaurants on the street, this one is large enough to accomodate many people and there is rarely a waiting line. The restaurant serves Japanese "Chinese" food: gyoza, ramen, soba, curry dishes, etc. The menu is very long with many wonderful choices. The staff is efficient and pleasant.
There are so many possible ramen choices and my current favorite is 13b: miso ramen shisei--noodles in a miso broth flavored with ground pork in an extremely spicy sauce. It is red and gorgeous and if you like spicy food, is the thing to order.
In the summer, they have hiyashi ramen shisei which is a dish of cold spicy ramen with assorted vegetables. They also have curry ramen and even curry yakisoba (sautéed soba noodles with curry and vegetables). Before I discovered the spicy ramen dish, I went for ebi yakisoba--sautéed noodles with vegetables and succulent shrimp. Other restaurants on the street serve this dish but theirs is the best: not greasy, full of shrimp, sprouts and vegetables. Sublime.
They have fresh crab in a salad and cha han (Chinese fried rice) with vegetables and shrimp or crab. And there are many sorts of donburi--hot dishes served on a bed of rice. But as I said, the menu is long and you are sure to find something that will tempt you. Most of the dishes are not spicy--I am just particularly fond of spicy food.
Lai Lai Ken is open for both lunch and dinner and closes between 2:45 pm and 6 everyday.
After years of hearing about Taeko's restaurant, and walking by it, I finally had lunch there last week--wonderful. This was a stand in the Marche aux Enfants Rouges in the 3rd arrondissement off la rue de Bretagne. In the early days it was quite small, and you could get katei ryouri (family style cooking) and look for a place to sit. Now you will find that it has expanded with both indoor and outdoor tables. There are many choices and all are lovingly prepared by Taeko-san and her staff daily. The restaurant is open from 12-6 everyday except Monday.
You can choose your own main dish for the bento (box lunch) which comes with rice and a variety of fresh and salads and beautifully prepared vegetables such as eggplant with chopped pork, glass noodles with tofu, spinach with sesame seeds (ohitashi).
There is a sashimi plate and maki with either fish or vegetables. Moving down the menu choices, you will find about 8 donburi listed. Donburi are cooked dishes traditionally served on top of a bowl of rice. Taeko-san offers the savory grilled mackerel, sardines in a light spicy sauce, wonderful sautéed tofu in a tempura sauce, for example. All the donburi come with small portions of the day's vegetables. For desserts there are a variety of Japanese-flavored ice creams and green tea cake.
I chose boulettes de tofu aux crevettes in a bento and it was excellent. These were two fat tofu patties filled with fresh shrimp served along with the variety of vegetables I described and rice. I also ordered hijiki salad (a type of seaweed that I particularly enjoy) and had that as another side dish. Next time I will get a different bento or a donburi. (Can't wait!)
If you want to eat in the restaurant, Taeko-san will seat you and take your order. Everything is simple and authentic. For basic delicious Japanese food served in a picturesque locale, run, don't walk to Taeko's restaurant.
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