"I have been to Kiccho and its sister restaurant Kyo. I am well aware that most Japanese restaurants in the Marais are run by Chinese and this might be the case as I have heard the staff speaking in Mandarin to each other. I have been to Kiccho and Kyo three times this trip. The first time was with a group of six friends on a busy Friday night. The second time for lunch on my own at Kyo. And the third, with my partner on a Monday night. This third time, Kiccho was about half full. On the first two visits I had a similar experience. I had the Sushi set menu on first visit, and the Sashimi Moriawasi set menu on the second visit, they come with a small bowl of miso soup, coleslaw salad and rice. Also five chunky mix skewers of beef, chicken, chicken balls, mushroom and beef with cheese. The miso soup was pleasant but not very flavoursome and lacks depth, salad was very good and fresh, rice was not the wonderful Japanese plump and moist short grain rice I am used to, instead it is a variety of skinny one which was quite dry. The sushi and sashimi were fresh and quite good but not special, the flavour of the raw fish was not from the freshest and best quality. While I did not expect the best quality of sushi and sashimi from these two restaurants for the price they are charging, I expect it to be quite a bit better. Tonight on the third visit, there was an unexpected surprise. My partner and I ordered the 20 pieces Sashimi and the 7 skewers mix grill of, similar to the 5 skewers I had before with the extra of salmon and quail. The sashimi were very fresh and the flavour was great. If Kiccho and Kyo can provide raw fish of this quality they are much better restaurant, and I would rate them 4/5 stars! Now the skewers. My favourite is the beef and chicken balls. They are the reasons I keep coming back to these restaurant. The mushroom, chicken and beef with cheese were good, but the salmon and quail were dry. In the future, I would only order the beef and chicken balls from the Yakitory menu instead of the set menu. The service from the 3 visits were very good if not for one small qualm. The girls and the younger Chinese looking man were always nice and welcoming. However, the older looking Chinese man was always looking grumpy. On the tonight's visit, as we were exiting the restaurant after we paid, the man was entering the restaurant. He moved aside to let us through but he did not smile nor he gave us a simple thank you or au revoir! Yes, a simple thank you would have just made the visit so much more pleasant and yet, not many restaurants are smart enough to do so!"
