Aroma-Fresca (アロマフレスカ )

Posted on July 11, 08 by seat

最初の一皿。空豆のスフレ風オムレツ　アロマフレスカ風。
From the 14,500yen dinner course.
Amuse is anago with a super-thin slice of potato chip on top.
Soramame(broad bean) souffle-style omelette. Fluffy omelette stuffed with lots of soramame. The sauce is a bit carbonara-ish. Very nice!

蛍烏賊のグラタン仕立て。冷たいスープを少し。
Hotaru-ika(tiny squid) in gratin style. There are white asparagus and karasumi(squid ink) risotto at the bottom.
Cold uni soup.

赤座海老のリゾット。春キャベツとイベリコ豚のキタッラ。
Akaza-ebi(langoustine) risotto. Delicious!
Chitarra with spring cabbage and Iberico pork. A bit yakisoba-ish(^^;;) but nice.

平鱸の”アルサーレ”春の香り。
Hirasuzuki(a kind of seabass) “Al Sale”(encrusted in salt). Comes with grilled white asparagus and sansai(mountain vegetables) tempura. The soup has strong butter taste. I love this dish!

柑橘のシャーベット。
Citrus sorbet is so sour that my friend actually choked on it. ^^;;

フォルマッジョを詰めた仔牛のコトレッタ。野菜(赤茄子)のココット。
Cotoletta with formaggio cheese stuffed inside. Takenoko(bamboo shoot) on the side is very sweet. Aka-nasu(a kind of aubergine） in a Cocotte that also comes with the main dish is unbelievably juicy and full of flavours…actually it left a deeper impression than the main dish itself(which is by no means bad, just a bit predictable).

Dessert is “eat as much as you like”(^^;;). There were altogether 5 choices and we ordered one of each to share(we were a group of 4). We liked the strawberry soup with cotton candy the most so we asked for one more of that too….

Can’t remember the exact names of the desserts…left pic is cheese pudding, right is chocolate mousse.

Mango pudding. Also petit fours and a selection of coffee and tea to choose from.

The food is of course good, and even though I am no wine expert, I must mention that this is one of the few Italian restaurants offering wine in glasses that I actually think is delicious and end up drinking more than I should.

Seriously I believe this restaurant(and its sister restaurant Casa Vinitalia) casts a “forget-the-time” spell on customers…The first time I visited, I missed the last train and had to crash at my friend’s place at the end. The second time I forgot the time again and had to dash to Azabu-Juban station with a full stomach and a blurry head in 5 mins(takes more than 10 mins to walk normally) to make the last train. And this time I specifically warned my friends beforehand: “Let’s watch the time and get our butt out of the restaurant before the last train.” I could NOT believe it when my friend took a look at her watch and announced that it was already midnight. I missed the last train again!!! Four hours, in a blink! Evil restaurants trying to hypnotize their customers with enchanting ambience should be banned. How nasty of them to offer free second helpings of desserts too. I ended up taking a taxi home…
Menu: 1, 2.

Aroma Fresca (アロマフレスカ)
Add: 1-7-31, Minami-azabu, Minato-ku
Tel: 03-5439-4010

L’Embellir (ランベリー)

Posted on December 27, 07 by seat

カリカリのじゃがいもで包んだ赤座海老、オリエンタルなソース。
栗とリンゴのラビオリ、秋のキノコのソース。
From 4410yen lunch course.
Langoustines in fried potato roll, oriental sauce(herb).
Ravioli of chestnut and apple, in autumn mushroom sauce.

うずらの丸ごととココット焼き、黒豚とフォワグラを詰めて、ソース・マデール。
Cocotte grilled quail stuffed with minced kurobuta(pork) and foie gras, Madere sauce. (+1050yen)
Chocolate mousse with honey ice-cream, chocolate and Rosemary ganache with vanilla ice-cream.

Been here before(see tag). I love the food much more this time cos my choices were all-hit-no-miss to my taste! You are supposed to choose 1 cold appetizer, 1 hot appetizer and 1 main dish, but instead I ordered 2 hot appetizers and 1 main(with no additional charge!) so I got to try the specialty Langoustines, and the ravioli which has my favourite food Japanese chestnut in it. Both are absolutely fantastic. The main dish and the dessert are both satisfying as well. The value for lunch is really not bad. Though glass wine is about 1575yen so it might be better to order bottles.

We went to this restaurant for lunch a few days after it got 1 Michelin star(though we booked way ahead) and saw all these flower bouquets in the front door. Some are from restaurants which also got Michelin stars.
L’Embellir
Add: 4-17-33 Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku
Tel: 03-3423-0131

La Rochelle Minami Aoyama (ラ・ロシェル南青山)

Posted on September 28, 07 by seat

小さいなオードブル：ヒラマサのジュレ、イワシとサーモンのクレープ包み、ニシ貝のフラン。
ロワール産白アスパラガスに帆立貝と北海道産雲丹を野生のウイキョウの香りで包み。
From the 7350yen dinner course.
Amuse bouche: Hiramasa(fish) jelly, sardine and salmon crepe, Nishigai(shellfish) flan.
White asparagus, uni and scallop, uni and mango mousse(on the spoon), olive jelly(at the back), and fennel here and there. This appetizer is amazing!

旬の野菜のカプチーノ仕立て。
赤座海老を舌平目で包み、黒のパン粉焼きにし、イカ墨のラザニアとトマト風味のバルサミコソース。
Pumpkin soup cappuccino style.
Akaza-ebi(Langoustine) wrapped in Shitabirame(sole), grilled with black breadcrumbs. Squid ink lasagna at the bottom, with tomato and Balsamico sauce.

和牛肉をハーブとベーコンで包み焼きにし、モアールと尾尻肉をカナッペにして。
お口直しの小さいなデザート。
Wagyu wrapped in herb and bacon.
Small dessert is apricot soup.

アップルマンゴーのデザートにはちみつのアイスクリームを添えて。
Apple mango dessert and honey ice-cream. Petit fours. After coffee, herb tea is also served.

Lunch was very good last time(see tag) so went back for dinner. What a nice restaurant. Delicious and delicate food, attentive service, lovely environment(though lots of cheering and clapping and flashlights when a wedding reception is taking place) – all at a reasonable price. Very satisfied!
La Rochelle Minami Aoyama
Add: 3-14-23 Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku
Tel: 03-3478-5645

Ginza L’ecrin (銀座レカン)

Posted on August 8, 07 by seat

Finally went to the prestigious L’ecrin. Have passed by its entrance in the middle of Ginza many times but never went inside. It is at the basement floor. The very dark, heavy red decor with shining gold lights was kinda intimidating at first.

From the 5700yen lunch course. Aubergine pate.

ラングスティ－ヌのポワレと野菜のコンフィ。
Langoustines and vegetables confit. Absolutely delicious! Another pic.
Fish soup.

You put the saffron sauce and cheese on the biscuit and lay it on top of the soup.

仔鴨のロースト　マデラソース。
Roasted baby duck with Madere sauce.
Fruit soup from the dessert wagon.

Also from the wagon. You can choose up to 5 different kinds of cake.

Food is “orthodox” and nothing fancy, but tastes good. Only thing is the service, which is snobby, bordering on rude. Another table seemed like regular customers and they received pretty smiley and friendly serivce….

I have been to the more casual branch also in Ginza and in Ueno(see tag).
Menu: 1, 2, 3.

Ginza L’ecrin
Add: B1 Mikimoto building, Ginza 4-5-5, Chuo-ku
Tel: 03-3561-9706

L’OSIER (ロオジエ)

Posted on March 29, 07 by seat

オリーブとそば粉のパン、さつまいものパン。
8000yen lunch course.
Olive and soba flour bread. Satsuma-imo potato bread. Bread are from Maison Kayser.

ウズラの卵、白アスパラのスープにグリーンアスパラのムース。
オマール海老のロワイヤル軽やかなカリフラワーのムースコキヤージュとグレープフルーツのヴィネグレット。
Amuse-bouche: Quail egg, white asparagus soup and green asparagus mousse.
Appetizer: Lobster Royale, cauliflower mousse, coquillage(clams?) and grapefruit vinaigrette. Curry flavoured chip on top.

白インゲン豆のスープ鶏レバーのガトートリュフのシャンティ。
Kidney bean soup, chicken liver gateau and Chantilly truffle. The soup was poured before served(pic here).
More bread. Salted brioche, fig bread and small baguette.

ラングスティーヌのポワレパルメザンのリゾットハーブのジュレ。
チョコレートのエスプーマ。クレームブリュレ。
Main: Langoustine with parmesan risotto and herb jelly.
Pre-dessert: Chocolate espuma(means foam in Spanish) and little creme brulee. Top view here.

コーヒーとチョコレートのコンビネーション 2種類の香りのクルスティアン。
Lots of sweets on the table while you wait for the main dessert…
Dessert: Combination of chocolate and coffee. Inside is chocolate cake, chocolate mousse and coffee mousse. The chips on top are choclate and caramel flavour.

Petit fours wagon…

You can order as much as you like…

The kind of famous and prestigious “grand maison” that everyone knows. My first time here and I was really excited about it. But let me just say it first: the food is good, but it is not that mind-blowingly impressive. The lobster royale is the highlight of the whole meal for me. The dessert is a bit disappointing. The petit fours wagon is very exciting and fun but all the sweets taste cheap. ^^;;; Atmosphere is fantastic. So fantastic that we stayed for 4 hours…the staff are efficient and professional, not exactly warm and welcoming but they make you very comfortable. Strange though that there were 10 of us, but the butter and the candies were all in 4 sets. Also we wanted to take the leftover sweets home but they would only give us 3 paper bags…why so stingy??