jjii – Korea and Japan folded into French technique

On rue du Faubourg-Poissonnière in Paris's 10th arrondissement, a short walk from Gare du Nord, jjii occupies a narrow, twenty-seat dining room that once housed Katsu Okiyama's cult Japanese-inspired bistro Abri. Chef Jaewook Hur, Korean-born and previously second in the kitchen at Jean-François Piège's Brasserie Thoumieux, took over the address and discarded the idea of a fixed menu. In its place runs a carte blanche: several courses built around whatever he wants to cook that evening, French technique laid over the Korean flavours of his childhood and the Japanese ones he absorbed while living there. It is Selected in the MICHELIN Guide, the distinction given to kitchens worth watching though not yet carrying a star. What makes jjii worth the detour is the contrast between the room — bare stone, visible wiring, a chef working within arm's reach of his tables — and the ambition landing on each plate.

01The room and the setting

The dining room runs long and narrow, built from the same rough stone walls, timeworn hardwood floors and simple school furniture that defined Abri before it. The exposed electric cables and streamed music in the long, narrow dining space sit alongside an open kitchen, so close to the tables that chef Jay cooks behind the counter and also prepares the plates himself. The restaurant, fairly narrow, accommodates 20 seats, with a friendly, chill-out atmosphere.

02The chef

Jaewook Hur trained in traditional French cuisine under renowned chefs of French gastronomy, layering his dishes with the Korean influences of his origin and the Japanese influences from where he once lived. Before striking out alone, he was second in the kitchen at Thoumieux, Jean-François Piège's gastronomic brasserie — training that shows beneath jjii's informality. He now works the pass solo, visible to every table, composing each night's sequence rather than reading from a printed card.

Insider tip

Open Tue–Sat evenings, lunch Thu–Fri only; book via the restaurant's own Zenchef page.

03The cooking

There is no à la carte at jjii: the experience prioritises a tasting sequence rather than an à la carte selection. What arrives depends on the market and on Hur's mood that service, French plating logic carrying Korean seasoning and Japanese restraint in the same bite.

On one visit, the sequence moved from a warm oyster finished with a house-made citrus-soy sauce, through a cuttlefish and white asparagus tempura paired with a savoury pecorino dip, to a flame-grilled umbrina lifted by sea vegetables and pickled mussels, a plate of seared veal sweetbreads with wild mushrooms and slow-cooked potatoes, and finally a dark chocolate dessert cut with yuzu.

04What to order

The evening runs on two set prices published on the restaurant's own site: a shorter 68€ menu and the fuller Menu Carte Blanche en 5 Temps at €75, excluding drinks. Lunch is a separate, lighter affair, served only on Thursdays and Fridays: two courses of the day — on one visit a choice between pot-au-feu and bulgogi — plus rice, mushrooms and a pick of two desserts.

05Wine and drinks

The list leans towards small, natural producers rather than grand names. On a documented visit it ran to a Montlouis-sur-Loire from growers Lise and Bertrand Jousset by the glass and a Côtes-du-Rhône from La Réméjeanne by the bottle, with the meal closing on a small pour of yuzu infusion rather than a formal mignardise.

06When to go and booking

jjii keeps a tight, unusual rhythm: dinner only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, lunch and dinner on Thursdays and Fridays, dinner only on Saturdays, and closed Sunday and Monday, according to the restaurant's own site in October 2026. With twenty seats and a growing following, booking ahead through the restaurant's own Zenchef page is the safer route, especially for the Thursday–Friday lunch, which runs for a short window at midday.

07The neighbourhood

jjii sits on the quieter end of a stretch of the 10th arrondissement that has filled with ambitious small tables over the past few years, within walking distance of Gare du Nord and close to Métro Poissonnière. It's a working, unpolished corner of Paris — grocers, print shops, the rattle of trains — which only sharpens the surprise of what turns up on the plate.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.