Kei drops its tables once a month, the first Tuesday at 9:30am, two months out. Land the EUR195 Friday lunch and you eat three Michelin stars for the price of one good Paris dinner.
Two months out, first Tuesday of the month, 9:30 in the morning. That single window is the entire booking problem at Kei, and missing it costs you another month. Kei Kobayashi opened on rue Coq Heron in the 1st arrondissement and in 2020 became the first Japanese chef to earn three Michelin stars in France, a rating he has held through every guide since. The room is small and pale-wooded, French in technique and Japanese in restraint, and the famous garden of crunchy vegetables over smoked salmon is the plate people cross the city for. The cooking is the easy part. The reservation is the work.
What it costs, and where the value sits
The menus run from the EUR195 Discovery, served only at Friday and Saturday lunch, up through the EUR290 Tasting, the EUR395 Prestige, the EUR460 Horizon and the EUR580 Grand Horizon, every figure before wine. For a numerate diner the value seat is obvious: the EUR195 Discovery lunch is the cheapest legitimate way into a three-star French kitchen anywhere in central Paris, and the same hands cook it. The longer menus add courses and luxury produce, not a better kitchen.
Wine is where the modest control ends. The list is serious and Paris-priced, and a pairing alongside the Horizon menu can match the food outlay euro for euro. Drink two or three considered glasses rather than a full flight and a three-star meal here stays roughly within the menu price. Valet parking runs EUR20 a car at dinner; factor it if you drive.
How the booking actually works
Kei sells its tables directly through restaurant-kei.fr, not through a third-party app, and the release is monthly rather than rolling: the first Tuesday of each month at 9:30am Paris time, opening the calendar two months ahead. Build an account before the drop, save a card, and be logged in at 9:28. Dinner slots can clear in under ten minutes; the Friday and Saturday lunches hold longer. For anything the system will not do, call the restaurant on +33 1 42 33 14 74. Confirm the current menu and seating detail on the Kei full review before you commit, because prices were set to change from July 2026.
The easiest seating to get
Friday or Saturday lunch. It is the only service that carries the EUR195 Discovery menu, it draws fewer hunters than the evening, and it puts the same three stars on the table in daylight. If your month's drop sells out, the cancellation-refresh tactic is your second route, because the strict forty-eight-hour penalty pushes uncertain bookers to release tables late. For the full method on rooms like this, read our impossible-reservation playbook and see where Kei ranks among the hardest reservations in Paris.
Best for an anniversary or a focused deal
Book Kei for an anniversary or a client dinner where the food is meant to be the event, because three things line up: a genuine three-star rating, a small room where you can hear each other, and none of the grand-hotel performance that can swamp the plate. That is why it sits on our guide to the best anniversary restaurants and to closing a deal over dinner. Compare it against the field in the Paris dining guide and the best French restaurants worldwide, or line it up beside how to book Alleno at the Plaza Athenee. Doing London too? See how to book Core by Clare Smyth.
Not for
Not for a flexible or last-minute table. Kei has no walk-in seats, no bar and a single monthly release governed by a EUR300-to-EUR400 no-show charge, so it punishes anyone who cannot commit to a date weeks out. Wrong room for a spontaneous evening or a party that might change its numbers.
Paris's most plannable three-star, if you hit the drop: EUR195 at Friday lunch for the vegetable garden; book first-Tuesday for an anniversary.
Frequently asked questions
How hard is it to book Kei in Paris?
Very hard, and the difficulty is structural. Kei releases a single batch of tables on the first Tuesday of each month at 9:30am Paris time, two months ahead, through its own site rather than a third-party app. Dinner slots can be gone in under ten minutes. You need an account ready, a card on file and a precise alarm. Friday and Saturday lunch is the realistic way in for most diners.
How much does Kei cost per person?
The menus run from the EUR195 Discovery, served only at Friday and Saturday lunch, up through the EUR290 Tasting, EUR395 Prestige, EUR460 Horizon and EUR580 Grand Horizon, all before wine. The Discovery lunch is the honest value door into a three-star kitchen. Add a wine pairing and the bill climbs fast, so drinking selectively by the glass is the numerate move.
What is the signature dish at Kei?
The garden of crunchy vegetables, a precise composition of around thirty vegetables over smoked Scottish salmon and an emulsion, is the plate Kei Kobayashi is known for and the one most guests photograph. The menu is otherwise seasonal and French in technique with Japanese restraint. Expect the vegetable garden to anchor the longer tasting menus rather than the short lunch.
What is the cancellation policy at Kei?
Strict. Cancel or change your party size less than forty-eight hours ahead and the card on file is charged EUR300 per absent guest at lunch and EUR400 at dinner. Because tables are scarce and the penalty is real, only book a date you are certain of, and confirm your numbers well before the forty-eight-hour line. Dress code is casual chic and children must be twelve or older.
Is Kei worth it for a special occasion?
Yes, if you want the food to be the event. Kei is an intimate room on rue Coq Heron where three Michelin stars arrive without the grand-hotel theatre of the bigger Paris houses. That makes it ideal for an anniversary or a focused client dinner where the conversation matters. For a first three-star Paris meal at the lowest outlay, book the EUR195 Friday lunch.
Keep reading
For the rooms that genuinely fight back, see the 50 hardest reservations in the world, compare the booking apps in OpenTable versus Resy, and start the city field from the Paris dining guide.
Booking methods, menu prices and lead times change without notice; confirm directly on the restaurant's own booking page before you plan an evening around it. Restaurants for Kings is editorial, not sponsored. Some reservation links may earn an affiliate commission, which never affects a ranking or a score.