Kei (Paris, 3 stars)

Long time reader, first time poster. For context on my post and opinions, I’m an avid home cook with decent skills, and I have a passion for fine dining experiences. I’ve eaten at a good mix of 1, 2, and 3 star spots (with over 50 stars worth of dining), as well as non-star restaurants with other accolades. Most of my fine dining is North America and Europe.

Recently visited Restaurant Kei, which is a 3 star spot in Paris. In summary, the food itself was exceptional from start to finish and on par with the best plates I’ve had anywhere. The service was very good, but not everyone on the team had great English, so I probably lost some of the nuances of the presentation and descriptions. The restaurant does not offer pairings, which I found odd especially for a 3 star spot, but the team still did a nice job recommending bottles and glasses that worked well with the dishes. Overall, I would strongly recommend this spot to anyone visiting Paris.

Restaurant was a very small standalone restaurant, and not in a hotel or famous building like almost every other 3 star in Paris. Small room with maybe 12-14 tables. Modern and fancy looking. Service was very good. I sadly do not speak French, and the team did a good job with English, but not every team member spoke it as strongly as others. At times, this limited the ability to fully interact with the team and probably resulted in me losing some of the nuance and detail in the explanations of dishes. It had really cool tables, glassware, and cutlery. Spoons, forks, and knives alternated between modern and antique.

Kei offers 3 different menus at 3 different price points. The differences are the number of caviar dishes and the main protein. Cheapest menu had no caviar and Iberico pork; middle level had 1 caviar dish and pigeon; the top level menu had wagyu and 2 caviar dishes. You can add caviar to either of the first two menus, though. My dining companion went for the wagyu menu, and I did the pigeon but added the second caviar course, so we had identical menus other than main protein.

Kei does not offer wine or beverage pairings, which I found strange for a 3 star restaurant and especially in a city like Paris. The sommelier suggested a bottle of white for the dishes prior to the main protein, and then pairing a glass of red with the main protein and, if we wanted, pairing something with dessert too. We opted for this approach, and were pleased with the bottle of white (Sancerre), the glass of red (100% Pinot from Bordeaux), and the glass of dessert wines (late harvest wine) that he recommended. Each worked well for their purpose, but it was still not the same experience as a curated pairing to work with each individual dish.

The food itself is where Kei absolutely shined. Up to the point where we started eating, the restaurant had been perfectly nice but nothing to set it apart either. But once food began to arrive, it was immediately clear that the Chef is seriously talented and that this place is special. Descriptions of each course below track the photos in order, except as noted.

The amuse bites were great. Started with a fried cheese bite that was meant to resemble a fried egg. Loaded with flavor. Then super fresh cucumber with black miso, which was cool, refreshing, and, thanks to the miso, also an umami bomb. Awesome bite. Then a fresh cream with a small bite of sardine.

Not pictured, bread served with butter and olive oil came next and was replenished throughout dinner. It was very good bread, but did not have me reaching for a second serving.

First dish was a cooked oyster (actually several oysters served in a single shell), with caviar, microgreen salad, mignonette jelly, and a tomato sorbet ball. This dish was insanely impressive—multiple textures, techniques, and flavors that were crazy concentrated.

Next up was a fried rice puff thing with caviar, red tuna tartare, and seaweed wrapping. All the flavors were there to make what should have been a great bite, but unfortunately the balance was off as the rice ball was the dominate flavor. This was probably the least memorable bite of the night, sadly. (This was also the second caviar dish, and the one I added to my mid-tier menu and that came with my companion’s top-tier menu.)

Up next (shown across 2 photos above) was a signature dish of chef that absolutely blew us away. It comes out as a lemon foam with some lettuce sitting atop, then a sorbet ball of red wine vinegar. There are some additional things hidden beneath the foam that we cannot see. Very modern looking techniques and presentation. But we're told to use our fork and spoon and mix everything into the foam and bowl very virogously until it turns into green dressing. Huh? There's nothing green (other than the lettuce) in this plate. But as you mix the foam, sorbet, and an oil at the bottom of the dish, it becomes like a green goddess dressing. This was legit the single best salad and dressing I’ve ever tasted. It would have been a standout dish just on taste alone, and that’s before adding in the very impressive and visually stunning presentation and techniques in this dish.

Next was sea bass with a puffed and super crispy skin. I did not catch all the details around the dish or sauce. The dish and sauce were both very good, but the only part that was exceptional was the crispy and puffed skin. I believe they actually kept the scales on to achieve this. That was remarkable, and to get it that crispy without overcooking the fish was impressive too.

Blue lobster up next (2 photos). Presentation was awesome. They cook it in a Japanese style grill pot, covered with a lid, to achieve a smoked effect. Burning hay, they gently grilled and smoked the lobster in its shell. They bring it out in the smoker and uncover it so you can smell the smoke, then go back to the kitchen to plate it. The dish comes out in the spine (first photo), and then they remove it the meat from the shell table-side before saucing the plate (second)6. Every bite of this was exceptional. Hint of smoke, sweetness from the lobster, and strong mushroom umami flavor from the sauce. This was one of the best iterations of lobster I’ve ever eaten.

Main protein course up next. My companion had A4 wagyu. (Interesting to note that Kei both served A4 not A5, which they explained was because the A4 is slightly less fatty than A5, it allows them to serve a larger portion of the meat and allows for nuance beef flavor that isn’t totally dominated by the fat.) The dish also included 2 bites of just grilled fat cap on the side, wagyu tartare, and a salad with fried onions to help cut all the rich fatty bites. It was a very good dish, but my general opinion is that Japanese Wagyu is always going to be very good (it’s basically a cheat code), but also very rarely going to stand out from all the other restaurants serving their own Japanese wagyu dish. This dish definitely fell into that camp—obviously delicious but didn’t stand out from the numerous other Japanese wagyu dishes I’ve tried.

My protein dish was the star of the meal, and another signature of the chef. Miso laquered pigeon, which takes about 48-50 hours to cook. Starts with a low sous vide where it's cooked in duck tallow and herbs/spices. From there, roasted and brushed with miso. Finally, high heat under the salamander where it's continually brushed with miso and achieves the laquer texture and crispy skin. It's like peking duck but pigeon. This was arguably the best main protein dish I’ve ever had in fine dining. It truly blew me away. Everything else on the plate was very intentional and served key roles, including cooked cherries and cherry jam, and a pigeon liver pate. If I remember correctly, the sauce was just a bird jus, but very concentrated flavor.

Not pictured because we had to eat it immediately, but palette cleanser of a basil sorbet bite served on a spoon. Also very good.

The traditional French cheese course was anything but traditional. A gorgonzola mousse with some olive oil drizzle, salt, fresh pepper cracked table-side, and possibly another element I don’t recall now. This was insanely delicious and very impressive techniques here. All the gorgonzola flavor, very concentrated, but in a light and airy mouthfeel.

Next was another signature dish: meringue in the shape of a sphere, which you break open to find lemon ice cream inside. Super delicious, mild lemon taste, while the outside shell remained crisp. The dish hit all the notes: crispy and crunchy from the shell, soft and smooth from the ice cream, cold, tart, refreshing, and not heavy.

Final bites were a pina colada ball and a bite of caramel in a chocolate tarte shell. Both great.

This was an all-star meal, with French cuisine at its core, strong use of a lot of modern techniques that were thoughtful and playful without being overdone for the sake of showing off, and accented with little touches of chef's Japanese roots.