Eating at Joel Robuchon Restaurant in Tokyo ? The idea of having French cuisine for our first main meal in Japan does sound odd. But then, we could not miss the chance of eating at one of Tokyo's top French restaurants, if not THE best according to the Michelin Guide. Talking of Michelin, here's a fact: Tokyo hosts more 3-star restaurants than any other city, including the capital of haute cuisine Paris! Dinner menu courses at Joël Robuchon Restaurant start at ￥22,500, so we got a reservation for the more attractively priced lunch two months before.
The restaurant occupies a French style chateau that looks like an oddity in the modern Yebisu Garden Place. As we walked in, two staff members welcomed us, offered to keep our bags and we were promptly led to the 1st floor. Inside, the place does look grandiose.
A beautifully set table was awaiting us.
We opted for the 3-course menu with amuse-bouche, coffee/tea and mignardises. The menu was in French with English translations (in brackets below).
L'Amuse-bouche
Tomato and strawberry gazpacho, jelly, mint foam - a light and refreshing start to our meal, perfect for that warm day.
Baguette with olive oil (and a droplet of balsamic vinegar) - good baguette with some top-quality Spanish olive oil, its fruitiness in perfect harmony with the gazpacho.
Starters
Bouillon de coquillage épicé au Tsubugai et herbes fraîches (Shellfish spicy broth with fresh herbs) - the bouillon was poured at our table.
Oursin dans une délicate gelée recouverte d'une onctueuse crème de chou-fleur (Sea Urchin with a delicate crustacean jelly and cauliflower cream) - very good, although the 'coral' taste was rather powerful.
Bread trolley
A friendly waiter brought the bread trolley and explained the different breads/pastries. He then went to warm up our selected breads..
and here's my choice:
He stopped by our table twice afterwards to check if we wanted any additional breads.
Main dish
Epaule d'agneau braisée et servie avec des navets et un jus à la tomate et basilic (Braised lamb shoulder served with buttered turnip and a tomato and basil jus) - perfectly cooked lamb.
Daurade servie avec une crème et huile de citronelle et des poireaux étuvés (Sea bream served with a lemongrass emulsion and oil, stewed leeks) - the lemongrass gave the dish a Thai flavour. However, the gravy had slightly too much salt.
Dessert
Pamplemousse rafraîchi avec une gelée à l'olivier odorant et un sorbet à la menthe (Fresh grapefruit served with a mint sherbet and a herbal liquor jelly) - delicious!
Mangues acidulées aux épices douces, praliné piémontais aux brisures de noisette torréifiées (Mango with mild spices and a hazelnut praliné) - beautiful presentation, although in terms of taste it lacked the 'wow' factor.
Café ou Thé escorté de mignardises
Cappuccino and Orange Panna cotta with almond crisp - we were expecting a few mignardises (in plural as written in the menu) but received some Panna cotta instead. That was a big disappointment. Not only was it quite ordinary for such a highly rated restaurant, but it was too bitter to be enjoyed with coffee.
We also requested an infusion, hoping to be offered a choice of herbs
from a trolley by the door. Unfortunately, we were brought a ready made
infusion, and the waitress only explained that it was made of "mint and
other herbs". Perhaps the herbs trolley was for dinner service, but then they could have asked which infusion we wanted...
Finally, some mints were offered along with the bill, with "merci" written on them.
A waiter accompanied us downstairs and as we left, we received a small gift...
of Brioche à l'orange confite, which made a nice breakfast the next morning.
A memorable lunch indeed!
Joel Robuchon Restaurant 2F
Yebisu Garden Place, Ebisu, Tokyo
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