Chez Inno (シェ・イノ)

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Ris de veau(veal sweetbreads). Also a slice of foie gras and duck meat.
Veal in madere sauce. Satoimo(taro) and spinach quiche on the side.
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0801280009One of those famous French restaurants that to my surprise, even my friends who aren’t into French have heard about. Lunch course ranges from the basic(soup+main+dessert) 3780yen to some luxurious line-up of over 20,000yen. I had the 4830yen course(+10% service charge) which consists of an appetizer(choose from 3 choices), a main(fish or meat), your choice of desserts from the wagon, and coffee. Glass wine is about 1300yen. The food are very all good, especially the Madere sauce which really lives up to this restaurant’s reputation for its classic French sauce. The interior is very grand with high-ceiling and tall windows. The service however is a little awkward….but not unfriendly at all.

Chez Inno
Add: 2-4-16 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku
Tel: 03-3274-2020

Aux Gourmands (オー・グルマン)

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あつあつ!内臓と野菜のココット焼きスープ。
From the 4200yen lunch course which includes amuse-bouche, two appetizers, main dish, dessert and coffee.
The giblets and vegetables soup is my friend’s appetizer.
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本日のジビエ(蝦夷鹿・ホロホロ鳥・フォアグラ)のパテ・アン・クルート。
フォアグラのステーキ、ブルーチーズのリゾット添え(+525円)。
My two appetizers. Pate en Croute with venison, guinea fowl and foie gras.
Foie gras steak with blue cheese risotto – this really hit the spot~~XD
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0801260071茨城チェリーポークの天火焼き、マスタードソース。
Ibaraki cherry pork in mustard sauce. The pork is very soft with thin layers of fat streaked with the meat(marbling) so that each bite is juicy with well-balanced amount of meat and fat. Dessert is pear sorbet and honey ice-cream.

This place is all for meat-lovers! A bit on the salty side but it is okay with me. The chef used to be a boxer apparently(and he does look like one – very friendly guy though!), which explains the meat-centric menu. He was telling us that he always feel sad when female customers can’t finish all the food on their plates(what a waste!) so he was glad that we finished everything. ^^;;;

Only opens for lunch on Saturday; lunch menu is basically the same as dinner menu but only slightly smaller in portions(not small at all). The cheaper lunch course is 2940yen consisting of one appetizer instead of two, but the portion for each dish is a bit bigger. The restaurant is about 10mins walk from Roppongi station. It was just us, and another table of two on the Saturday we went, which got me a bit worried at first. Turned out the food was good!

Aux Gourmands
Add: 3-4-14 Azabudai, Minato-ku
Tel: 03-5114-0195

Salle à manger (サラマンジェ@虎ノ門)

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サラダ ガストロノミ。
ブーダン・ノワールとレンズ豆、林檎 バナナのラグー。
Salad gastronomy: smoked duck breast, foie gras, karasumi, cresson(water cress). Boudin Noir with lentil, apple and banana ragu.
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0712080007詰め物をしたホロホロ鳥のロースト キノコとフォワ・グラのソース。
蝦夷鹿ロースト 赤すぐりソース。
仔羊すね肉のカスレ。
Stuffed guinea fowl, mushroom and foie gras sauce.
Hokkaido venison with redcurrant sauce.
Lamb shank Cassoulet.

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Oven-baked la France(European pear) with ice-cream. Chocolate cake.

This place calls itself “Oyaji‘s French”, basically saying that the food is macho, meat-heavy, straightforward, no fancy presentation and no sensational fanfare of creative fusion which is more pleasing to female customers. I starved myself at lunch to prepare for this dinner, but turned out that it is not that macho afterall. The menu is mainly meat dishes, but the portion is not too big. Surprisingly the taste is quite delicate and never too greasy or salty. Two of us shared two appetizers and THREE main courses, before we had desserts. Everything we ordered was delicious, except perhaps the chocolate cake which was grossly sweet. Among the 3 main dishes we had, I like the guinea fowl the most. The bill was about 10,000yen per person including a glass of champagne and 2 glasses of wine and also coffee. Not exactly cheap, but not overpriced either. The interior is not so pretty – it is more like a cheap yoshoku place than a French restaurant. But the young waiter is friendly and the chef, whom you can see cooking all by himself in the open kitchen, is also helpful in explaining the menu.

Salle à manger
Add: B1, 1-11-5 Toranomon, Minato-ku
Tel: 03-6903-6730

C’est la Vie! Nagano (セラヴィナガノ)

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0712110019A friend – who used to work in this restaurant and is now helping out as part-time – organised this dinner for us to try out the chef’s special menu. Shellfish gratin, avocado and crab mousse, and terrine. Baked shellfish and ham and cheese pie. Duck and foie gras and truffle in Cassis sauce. And my favourite dessert “Coup”.

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The value is amazing in this little restaurant. The regular dinner course is 2730yen which includes an appetizer, a main dish and coffee/tea. Dessert is an extra 525yen. Lunch is even cheaper, 1260yen for appetizer+main+coffee. The location is quite convenient too – a bit hard to spot but it is less than 10mins walk from Shinjuku station. My friend said that the chef is less interested in making money than providing his customers with cheap and good food. Seriously the price is set so low that I can’t help but worry about its survival.

Dinner menu(J): 1, 2.
Lunch menu(J):1, 2.

C’est la Vie! Nagano
Add: B1, 2-8-10 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku
Tel: 03-3350-7610

村上開新堂 (Murakami Kaishindo)

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和栗とカナダ産松茸の押し麦リゾット。
Pressed barley risotto with Japanese chestnut and Matsutake mushroom. Kadaif(shredded phyllo) coated chicken.
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ごぼうのポタージュ。
Creamed burdock root soup.
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フランス産バルバリー鴨の青胡椒焼、蜂蜜・シェリーヴィネガーソース、3種の茸ソテー(ジロル茸・シャントレル茸・白舞茸)。
Grilled Barbarie duck with green pepper. Honey and sherry-vinegar sauce. Sauteed Girolle, Chanterelle and white Maitake mushrooms.
Desserts are jello of many flavours: brandy, red wine, pepper mint, matcha, custard, chocolate, orange, strawberry etc. Each person can take two.

Had a glass of wine and it was about 8000yen. It is one of those prestigious restaurants that has been around for ages and I never know whether I should call it yoshoku(literally “Western food”) or French. The cookies here are very famous but you can’t buy them unless you are a member of this place or know a member willing to order for you. The day we went, only an old couple and us were eating on the second floor restaurant. Throughout the whole lunch, the smell of cookies was so mouth-watering, and we could see from our seats that people just kept coming and coming to pick up apparently pre-ordered cookies. We overheard the staff telling a customer that if you order now, you can get the cookies 3 months later…^^;;;; Too bad we have no friends who are members….Anyway, the food in the restaurant is not bad but a bit expensive for the quality. My duck and my friends’ fish dishes were all a bit cold when they arrived. Also I hate jelly…^^;;; This place is right next to the British embassy.

Menu: 1, 2.
村上開新堂 (Murakami Kaishindo)
Add: 27, Ichibancho, Chiyoda-ku
Tel: 03-3261-4882

Édition Koji Shimomura (エディション・コウジ シモムラ)

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From 6300yen lunch.
Boudin Noir(pork blood sausage) petit hamburger.
Foie gras terrine and fruits.
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Shungiku and squid ink sauce.
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Roasted lamb chop.
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A little performance of mixing lemon vinegar with herb and changing the colour from purple to pink.
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Chocolate Ganche. Cocoa mixed mineral water.
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Birthday cake pre-ordered for a friend. It is white chocolate mousse with raspberry. Fresh herb tea. Petit fours. Soybean and endive root pudding. Pastry crisp with pumpkin seed and pumpkin paste.

See tag for my first visit to this place. The friend who arranged this lunch party is a big fan of this restaurant, so he always picks this place whenever we gather for someone’s birthday. I like the birthday cake and the main dish more this time, but the appetizers are not as good as last time.
Édition Koji Shimomura
Add: 3-1-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku
Tel: 03-5549-4562