Hakuba - Cheval Blanc Paris

Rating: 17
Author: Gault&Millau

75001 PARIS

17/20
Prestige Restaurant

14 PHOTOS

Chef: Takuya Watanabe
Cooking: Gastronomic | Japanese
Style: Elegant | Exceptional setting | Romantic

Budget (€)

Indicative price per person (excl. drinks)

395 to 435

Gault&Millau's review 2026

Over the past few years, France - led by Paris - has experienced a real craze for fine Japanese cuisine and the complex art of sushi, joining New York and London. Hakuba ("Cheval Blanc" in Japanese) is distinguished by the association of two great chefs: Takuya Watanabe, who previously officiated at the pioneering Jin restaurant, and Arnaud Donckele, head of the LVMH group's top restaurants. A four-handed score is played out around the three counters, where the finest of the sea passes by: red tuna sashimi, lobster with caviar, marinated lily or grilled red mullet, each more subtle than the last as a prelude to sushi. All are exceptional, both in terms of the dosage and temperature of the rice, and the cuts and textures of the fish: An exceptional lobster marinated in kombu, before pageot, cuttlefish, yellowtail, sardine and tuna, each bite transports you closer to Japan. And finally, eel, served in the purest tradition on a bed of rice and accompanied by a broth, brings you to your destination. Chef Donckele then appears to bring this symphony to a theatrical close by scoring a few thin slices of fatty tuna with a hot saber. Japanese desserts revisited by Maxime Frédéric, such as ice cream and rice petals or strawberry futomaki, also demonstrate the evolution of this major table, which has its own personality, different from a purely Japanese sushi bar or omakase. An exceptional wine list, but above all, a highly advanced selection of saké perfectly matched to the meal, suggested by the erudite young sommelier Christopher, under the direction of in-house head sommelier Emmanuel Cadieu.