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
any tips on making restaurant reservations in a very popular restaurant??? i tried calling quintessense but always end up in the answering machine..
Just checked the homepage of Quintessence. It seems like the phone line is indeed very busy. Apparently you can only call during 9:30-11:00 and 15:30-17:00 to make a reservation. I guess you just have to be patience and keep calling until it gets through. And you can only reserve a date 2 months in advance….
Haha so the entire course lasted 4 hours? Do you feel the waiting time between courses? But actually that wasn’t too bad. Maybe tried an earlier time next time (started at 5? ^^;;) My friend had a 10 courses dinner started at 6 and ended in 12:30pm.
That Al Sale looked very…interesting…it looked like a giant masago sushi from thumbnail. ^^;; Is it minced and crystalized like salt form? The course is so seafood base, so awesome! That cotton candy is unbelievably gourmet looking, it looked so sparkly.
It took the kitchen a while to deliver the second round of desserts…otherwise every course came out in perfect timing. We went on weekdays so starting at 5pm was impossible~.
You mean your friend started at 6pm and finished after midnight?
The crust is made of salt, and the fish is inside the crust. I think there is something similar in chinese food…can’t remember the name though.