Little Miss Geisha is a brand new restaurant (opened in January 2024) with interior design influenced by the machiyas of Kyōto and authentic cuisine “that will transport you directly back to the land of the rising sun” (or so says the website), whilst also allowing you to enjoy a sweet view of the Luxembourg Garden just opposite.

That’s quite the self-confident introduction! Let’s see how our lunch there went…

Can’t say we’re huge fans of the name Little Miss Geisha, but the restaurant does seem to have a lot going for it, including a terrace overlooking the amazing Luxembourg Garden (well, it’s over the road) that’s only minutes from all our hotels.

The interior design is intended to give hints of a Japanese geisha house, with tones so neutral – beige rubbing shoulders with off-white, parchment and magnolia – you may not even notice them. There’s also a lot of wood of different shades, giving the room a certain stateliness but also warmth. It’s an airy space filled with natural light, and you’ll find even more on the covered terrace. One thing that struck us though was the diminutive size of the tables, and how close together they are, which is a slight shame.

You might also like to know that you can actually visit at any time of day, as the restaurant offers what it calls a geisha tea-time between lunch and dinner, with mocktails and both sweet and savoury snacks. Whatever time of day you decide to go, it’s best to book ahead (here) as the place fills up quickly.

We went down for a quick lunch, and decided to skip the starters (one of which, to be shared, is made up of seven pieces and costs 49€). Our eye was attracted to the Edo-style sushis (Edo being the former name of Tokyo).

The one named Oshi – Sake Kasu (a creation from Fukuoka, with two layers of rice and one of fish) is listed as being available as a vegan option, however when we asked for this we were told it was not possible and that instead they could adapt the Futomaki, a mixed maki with seaweed, tsukemonos (literally “chopped things”) and shoyu tokiarubeshi (a type of soy sauce), served with black sesame mayonnaise.

We ordered six pieces each, with fish for one person and vegan for the other, and they arrived fairly soon after.

The makis (costing around 5€ each) were huge! Both wide and thick, the problem was the sheet of seaweed holding them together which was impossible to get through with chopsticks, and even with our teeth when we decided the best option was to eat with our hands. Ripping this exterior layer made much of the rice fall out – not the most elegant of looks for a business lunch. Perhaps there’s some secret to eating these delicately that we don’t know about?

In any case, we should probably have shared a starter and ordered fewer makis, because six is a lot.

Although finishing our main dish was challenging, we more or less managed, and it’s here that our experience started to go slightly downhill.

The restaurant had filled up, and for a very long time nobody came to take our plates away. With only two waiters for the entire room and terrace, they were having a hard time keeping up, and it took us a very long time to get their attention and order our desserts. Two hours had gone by already, and we’d only eaten one course.

For dessert we decided to have a Matcha edamame moshi (Uji matcha tea ganache, adzuki bean cream with edamame beans, raw pistachio oil, 12€) which was prettily presented, and a matcha-verbena tiramisu (dorayaki sponge soaked in matcha tea, light mascarpone cream with a hint of verbena, 15€), which was a huge success, super creamy with subtle tastes, all in a very generous serving.

Two and a half hours had now gone by, and pressed for time we decided it would be better not to order coffee.

The meal started well, and then slowed down to a snail’s pace, which we found very frustrating. The team members were all really smiley and nice, but not everyone has nigh on three hours for lunch. With the number of tables the restaurant has, they very clearly need an extra person to keep things moving.

We’re guessing an evening meal might be a more agreeable affair, when time isn’t an issue. For a more zen experience, our advice would be to book for dinner and enjoy the warm tones of the room, possibly on a warm evening.

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Little Miss Geisha (here) is open every day except Mondays for lunch, tea time and dinner

Online reservation here

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Une publication partagée par Little Miss Geisha – Paris (@littlemissgeisha)