Le 5ème Péché - Collioure

This is a Restaurant for people serious about a great dining experience. It is not for: Children, picky eaters, or other food Nazis. Make a reservation or you won't get in, they have one seating for lunch and one for dinner. It is essentially a Japanese restaurant using local ingredients in an innovative way with a nod to the French cuisine. We ordered the Chef's "Surprise" Tasting menu. Throw caution to the wind and just do it, you won't be sorry. First out is the Amuse Bouche' (see photo) It is garnished with a piece of bamboo and a Japanese Maple leaf and looks like a work of art. You then get the first of two starters it has raw fish, special onion, fruit, foam and more, the second starter was also a different raw fish with Caviar of Trout, seaweed, Enoki mushrooms, green onions and sauce. They have an extensive menu of reasonable local wines and we had a bottle of white going. Then time for the first main course which is a delicate white fish steamed in a leaf and some other stuff I can't recall just now. The next main was pork, I am not exaggerating when I say it was so good as to melt in your mouth, probably the best tasting pork I have ever had. Time for desserts and we are now out of wine. The waiter suggests a small cup of cold sake' to go with the first one it is fruit and fruit based sorbets in an almond shell, garnished with a bit of crème. For the next dessert the waiter suggests a glass of sweeter white wine. This dessert is brilliant, It had what looks like half an orange on the plate, which turns out to be white Chocolate with some kind of cream, poached fresh apricots and Thyme sorbet. When you leave, you don't have the feeling that you ate too much because the portions are just right and the food is healthy. Can't wait to go back next year.

Set Menu was excellent. €39 a head, but beautifully presented and delicious food. Very friendly staff. Highly recommended.

I am still trying to recreate the Umeshu champagne cocktail which was heavenly. Some dishes were excellent, some less overwhelming - partly because I nearly always preferred my friend's meal choices! But definitely worth checking out, and something different for this part of France

Tipped off by friends who had just stayed in Collioure, we secured two seats at the kitchen counter for an evening. Though at first we'd wanted a table, we quickly changed our minds. My boyfriend has owned restaurants, and I've worked in them, and we both rank food and wine among our highest pleasures. So a front row seat to chef Masashi Iijima's work turned into a real theater for us. His quiet command of his small staff (one deputy, one prep, and a clean-up person) engaged us as he prepared the evening's set menu. We chose the higher end of the two offered, the degustation, plus paired wines, and we thoroughly enjoyed the fusion of French, Catalonian, and Japanese tastes and techniques he delivered. Flavors were seasonal and fresh, with familiar and unfamiliar ingredients used in surprising ways. From the amuse bouche to the dessert, we didn't feel a single note was off key. We look forward to a return visit on our next trip.

The restaurant is run to a high standard. Basically you take the fixed menu which does not disappoint. The Japanese chef produces the food very well and achieves a super fusion of styles. Quite a sophisticated meal and a good experience.