Tag Archives: lamb chop

La Belle Epoque (ラ・ベル・エポック)

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6500yen lunch course. Menu here.
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Amuse-bouche: Melon and duck meat. Many layers of potato, beetroot, carrot etc. Cranberry bread, and cumin bread with pumpkin seeds.
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Maguro tuna tartare on jelly made from bell pepper and tomato. Avocado cream in between.
Chiled broad bean soup with Parme ham flavoured mascarpone cream.
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Pan-fried whiting, tomato and aubergine gateau, Nice-style sauce with olive, caper, anchovy and herb.
Grilled baby lamb chop with Dijon mustard and herb, and spring vegetables.
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0705030031Berry jelly with lavender soup. Main dessert is mousse made from cream and egg and wine, with grapefruit jelly and pineapple sauce. Petit fours from a wagon.

A French restaurant inside Hotel Okura. Food is overall quite good. Very light-tasting. Portion a bit small….the fish is tiny! My friend remarked that you can probably eat this kind of French even when you get old…in fact other customers were mainly elderly. ^^;;; I heard that this French restaurant is famous for heavy sauces and traditional French-style and big portion…that’s why I wanted to try this place in the first place. I wonder if the chef is different. The service is brilliant though. Very attentive and warm. There was a 40-something couple celebrating birthday behind us and also an Omiai going on in the private room….
La Belle Epoque
Add: 12F, Hotel Okura Bekkan, Toranomon 2-10-4, Minato-ku
Tel: 03-3505-6073

Château Restaurant Joël Robuchon

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Restaurant is on the second floor of the gorgeous “château”.
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We couldn’t decide for a long time but finally opted for the more luxurious 12,000yen lunch course. The cheaper one is 7000yen.
Amuse-bouche is a spoonful of carrot jelly, blood orange sorbet and coriander foam.
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特選生雲丹 甲殻類のジュレになめらかなカリフラワーのクレーム。
Uni and crustacean(prawn or crab?) jelly with cauliflower cream. A big chunk of fresh uni at the bottom which is super sweet. A memorable dish!
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季節のキノコ 活帆立貝と合わせ、生姜の香るキノコのブイヨンを注いで。
Mushroom and scallop, with hot bouillon soup of mushroom and ginger poured (by the server).
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宇和島産真鯛 特選カラスミと共にグラチネして、ヴァンジョンヌ風味のサバイヨンを添えて。
Gratiner of red seabream and karasumi, with sabayon(foamy sauce made from egg). The crispy layer of “gratin” tastes of cheese, very nice!
Bread are all great, with many different kinds to choose from. I like the basil(green one) and the little croissant with anchovy the most.
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仔羊 パストラル風にローストし、ハーブのサラダを添えて。
Roasted baby lamb Pastoral style, with herb salad. Perfectly cooked, very tender and juicy. The black bits are truffle.
Avant dessert: Coffee jelly with amaretto and cocoa.
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洋梨のスープ仕立て スフレを浮かべて アプリコット風味のソルベと共に。
Marron souffle in pear soup, with apricot sorbet. This is so good! I tried a bit of my friend’s chocolate mousse but I like the souffle more.

The whole course is perfect. Just 100% PERFECT!! Every dish delicious without exceptions. I am seldom impressed by the fish course in French restaurants but I love the way they cook the fish. The lamb is easily one of the best(if not the best) I have ever eaten. Gosh I can see myself comparing lamb chops in other restaurants to this one from now onwards…

Service is very professional but not snobby. The interior is gorgeous of course. Unfortunately we were a big group and had to sit at the table right in the middle, which made us feel a little “exposed”. The sofa seats next to the windows look much more comfortable~. Ladies get free French bread with nuts and dried fruits as souvenirs.
Joël Robuchon

DIRITTO (ディリット＠幡ヶ谷)

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Location very local but the decor is surprisingly stylish. Service is friendly and accomodating. Three of us went and tried out the 5000yen dinner course. Everything in the pictures are included for one person.
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旬をひとくち： 厚岸産の赤貝。
Potato foccacia and walnut bread were so good that we simply couldn’t stop eating them and even asked for a second helping. The complementary appetizer was ark shell – just simple sashimi with olive oil but very fresh and sweet.
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三陸産 牡蠣とかぶのフリカッセ。
シチリア産 からすみのスバゲッティー。
Oyster and turnip fricassée.
Karasumi spaghetti.
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いろいろな茸のタリアテッレ。お口直しのシャーベット(ブラッドオレンジ)。
Mushroom Tagliatelle. Blood orange sorbet.
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ニュージーランド産 仔羊の炭焼き。
和牛テール肉の赤ワイン煮込み。
Charcoal-grilled baby lamb(left pic).
The main dish is fixed for the 5000yen course, but one of my friends can’t eat lamb and they kindly let her choose a different main dish from the a la carte. She had the Wagyu tail simmered in red wine(right pic).
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061210 057DIRITTO風クレープシュゼット。
林檎のクレームブリュレ。
Crepe suzette. Apple creme brulee. I like the creme brulee better.
Many choices of tea were available, also coffee and cappuccino.

Every single dish is absolutely delicious. Simple but the great combination of fresh and nicely prepared ingredients is more than enough to satisfy. I had a glass of champagne and about 2 glasses of wine, and the bill was less than 7000yen for each person – a bargain for this type of quality. Definitely a favourite!
Menu for the 7000yen course here(Japanese). Dessert menu here.
DIRITTO
Add: 3-55-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku
Tel: 03-5350-6588

La Matière (ラ・マティエール)

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061207 026ヤリイカのブイヤベース風テリーヌ、じゃいが芋とインゲンのサラダ　バジルの香り。
骨付き仔羊のポワレ、プロバンス風。
ココナッツのブランマンジェ、ライチのシャーベット添え。
Terrine of Spear squid Bouillabaisse, potato and kidney beans salad in basil sauce. Smooth terrine with finely chopped squid that are still very chewy. Quite good!
Panfried baby lamb chop, Provençale style. The meat is very tender and juicy. A bit salty and the Balsamico sauce a bit heavy, but still delicious.
Coconut blanc manger and lychee sorbet. Hmm, the dessert is so-so.
A rather new French restaurant located in kagurazaka – an area crowded with little homely bistros. The price is a bit on the higher end – a 3 three course lunch where you can choose your appetizer and main dish but not the dessert, plus a glass of wine and service charge, came up to about 4000yen. The ambience is sophisticated but welcoming.
Lunch menu: 1, 2.
La Matière

Asterix (アステリックス)

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We had the 4725yen dinner course. The Bread is very good!
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鴨のフォワグラと蕪のキャラメリゼ パルサミコソース。
スープ・ド・ポワッソン ルイユ添え。
Foie gras saute with turnip Caramélisée in Balsamico sauce. This is quite good.
Fish soup with Rouille(a paste made from olive oil and breadcrumbs and hot chile peppers apparently), grated cheese and croutons. Too many slices of croutons! They absorbed most of the soup and were simply too stomach-filling. The little amount of soup left to drink was too salty.
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仔羊のロースの炭火焼き。
クスクスと仔羊のナヴァラン アリサ添え。
Charcoal-grilled lamb chop. The meat is soft, great charcoal smell.
Couscous and lamb. My friend’s choice is a good one. The ratatouille is sweet and very nice with the couscous. A big plate too. The two guys sitting next to us both ordered this dish so probably quite popular?
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バナナのラム酒風味フランベとバニラアイス 温かいチョコレートソース。
フランボワーズのキャラメル クレープ包み。
Banana Flambées with rum, vanilla ice-cream and hot chocolate sauce. This is nice. Love the cookie around it, which goes perfectly well with the banana and the rum sauce.
Framboise caramel crepe. The custard cream inside the crepe is too sweet already, plus the caramel and raspberry sauce….I could only eat one.
A lot of customers were foreigners, and there was English menu available, though not as complete as the Japanese one.
Menu: 1, 2, 3.
Asterix

Hommage(オマージュ)

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フロマージュデュテット(豚の頭の煮凝り)グリビッシュソース。
Aubergine puree and tomato sauce. Pork head jelly with Gribiche sauce(made from egg and mustard), hmm, kinda tasteless.
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カボチャの冷製ポタージュ。スズキのポワレ、バターソース。
Cold pumpkin soup, very sweet, had some curry taste and a few drops of pistachio oil on top. Pan-fried Sea bass, not bad but…isn’t the portion a bit stingy?(That day the fish market was closed for obon holiday so that could be the reason…)
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仔羊背肉のポワレ スパイス風味。カルダモンのクレームブリュレ。
Lamb chop, with spice. The meat was soft, the first two bites were great, but half of it was plain fat and overall very oily, felt a bit sick halfway. Not sure where the spice was. The other choice for the main dish was not tempting to me so I ended up choosing the lamb again(last time I had lamb too). Cardamon creme brulee and raspberry sorbet. So mediocre….
I have come here before(see tag) and it was not mind-blowing impressive but each dish was quite good and the whole course was well balanced. This time was a disappointment…though this time we chose the 2900yen course, cheaper than the 3900yen course last time, that could be the reason too…
Hommage

Hommage(オマージュ)

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ジャガイモと白身魚、トマトソース。
Cream made from potato and fish, with tomato sauce.
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ホワイトアスパラの冷製スープ、ズッキーニのピュレ、松の実。
フォアグラと仔うさぎのテリーヌ、イチジクと杏、ビネガーであえた野生アスパラ。
Cold white asparagus soup, with zucchini puree and pine nuts.
Terrine of foie gras and hare, semi-dried fig and apricot on the bottom, asparagi selvatici(wild asparagus) with vinegar on top.
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真鯛のポワレ、下にナスのピュレ、パルサミコとピスタチオのオイル、プチトマト。
仔羊のロースト、鶏の出汁にバターとアンチョビで仕上げたソース。
Pan-fried bream, with aubergine puree at the bottom, balsamico vinegar and pistachio oil, petit tomato.
Roasted lamb, sauce made from chicken stock, butter and anchovy.
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ローストアーモンドのムース、グレープフルーツとアボカドのソルベ。
チャイのムース、ジンジャー風味のミルク。
Dessert: roasted almond mousse, grapefruit and avocado sorbet.
Petit fours: Chai mousse and Ginger milk, also fresh chocolate(not in pictures).
Everything is included in the lunch course, 3990yen. Other than the dessert which is a bit boring, every dish is delicious, especially the fish dish with its appetite-arousing sauce.
Hommage