cuisine francaise JJ

Posted on May 1, 07 by seat

Finally went to Tokyo Midtown! Only took a few pics on my way to lunch. The area is actually quite big. Of course lots of lots of people flooding everywhere. Queues outside every restaurant at lunch time.

We have booked a table in advance – no way I’m going to queue. ^^;; Have been to this restaurant twice before. Used to call “Joel” and located in Aoyama. The old location is closed now. The chef and the whole staff team have moved to Midtown. The manager still remembers me…err….

These pics are taken in the terrace space also belongs to the restaurant. It was sunny but still a bit chilly, so we decided to eat inside. We sat at the counter. Fantastic view! Apparently it was intended to be a bar counter but it was mistakenly built too low(^^;;;) so now it is also used as dining space as well.

The champagne served that day was the usual 13% but somehow it felt strong and I was dizzy pretty quickly~

Lunch menu(J) here.
4200yen lunch course consists of an appetizer, a main dish, dessert and coffee. Used to include two appetizers for the 4200yen lunch so as expected the price has gone up. We added one more appetizer to the lunch for an extra charge of 1800yen.
Amuse bouche: clam in saffron sauce.

Traditional country pate, with salad, walnut and bacon cake.
Puff-pastry of Norwegian salmon and mousse. Itadori sauce and red wine sauce.

Quail with potato paillasson(from the web: traditional potato preparation in which grated raw potatoes are fried to form a thin flat cake resembling a straw mat (“paillasson” in French)) and mushroom saute. Desserts from the wagon.

The food is great! Just love the sauce here so much. Service is friendly as ever. After we had our desserts, we spot the French chef(60 year-old gent) hanging around, talking and laughing with the madams, having a good time himself. The Japanese staff all have that “Oh not again~~” smiles on their faces. ^^;;; Later he came to talk to us and dragged us to the terrace and we chatted for quite a while. He was drinking coffee from a plastic cup that you normally use to brush your teeth. ^^;; Funny guy. Kept telling dirty jokes(in fluent Japanese!) and winking to my (girl) friend…err….^^;;;
cuisine francaise JJ

Restaurant JOEL (ジョエル)

Posted on March 25, 07 by seat

フォアグラとレンズ豆のムースポルト酒を煮詰めたソース添え。
ガレットドクラプ(身と味噌のムース＆殻と味噌のスープ)。
Lunch course consisting of 2 appetizers, main dish and dessert is 4200yen.
Foie gras and lentil mousse, with port wine sauce.
Crab galette(crab meat and crab miso mousse + crab shell and crab miso soup).
These two appetizers are absolutely amazing!! I want to eat them again~

仔羊、ブラックオリーブとタイムのソース。
デザートの盛り合わせ。
Lamb with black olive and Thyme sauce. Tender meat, tasty sauce.
My friend’s dessert plate. Gateau chocolat, pudding and tarte tartan.

イチゴのグラタン、イチゴのシャーベットとピスタチオのビスキュイ添え。
きんかんのパイ焼き、バニラアイス添え。
Another friend’s strawberry gratin with strawberry sorbet and pistachio biscuit. This is very good.
I had the warm kinkan(small orange) pie with vanilla ice-cream.

I have been here before(see tag). To tell the truth, last time I wasn’t too impressed with the food I ordered except the dessert. However, my friends who ordered different appetizers and main dishes, gave me a bite of each to try and they all tasted good. So perhaps it really depends on your choice of the menu.

I decided to give it another try before the restaurant closed down and moved to Midtown(The restaurant will change its name to “cuisine francaise JJ”. The chef and the staff will not change but the price probably will).

To avoid getting the wrong thing again(especially I was bringing a friend from overseas visiting Tokyo for a few days…), I did my homework – checking food blogs, asking friends who have eaten there recently. The menu shouldn’t change so much within the week and whola, there they are, the two appetizers that my friends highly recommended and I was dying to try. They don’t disappoint! I only regret that it wasn’t dinner as dinner course is twice the price of lunch, but the portion is double! I can eat 5 portions of that crab galette~~

The manager remembered me from my last visit, he even remembered what I had ordered last time! I wanted to try the new dessert this time and asked my friend to give me a little bit of her gateau chocolat cos I really liked it. The manger heard that and immediately gave me a whole piece for free….yes!! ^^;; Upon leaving the restaurant, the manager said, “See you in Roppongi!!” so I guess there will be a 3rd visit…

Restaurant JOEL (ジョエル)

Posted on February 12, 07 by seat

ズワイガニとカニミソのムース。周りはサフランの黄色を使ったホタテのムース。カニミソ・クリーム添え。
Cheese puff with prawn and pistachio inside.
Suwai-gani(snow crab) and kanimiso(crab innards) mousse. The yellow part is scallop and saffron mousse. Kanimiso cream is on the side.

海老のソテーとジャガイモのムース、ジャガイモチッブスのミルフィーユ仕立て。
鴨モモ肉の赤ワインソース。
Prawn Saute and potato mousse, potato chip mille-feuille – very simple but tasty.
Duck thigh meat in red wine sauce. My friend ordered venison and it tasted much better than mine. Later found out that this restaurant is famous for its vension….damn.

ワゴンデザート。
Wagon dessert. Had a piece of everything. The manager highly recommended(in fact he told us that everyone should have it) the gateau chocolat which is absolutely delicious. Love the basic caramel pudding and pear sorbet too. We also had some muscat dessert wine which is sweet and fragrant. Service is attentive and patient. The very knowledgeable and friendly manager is great fun to talk to. Dinner course is 8400yen.