Maison Marunouchi

⭐⭐⭐

🇫🇷 French Bistro / 📍 Marunouchi

📓 Visits: 4 (2021-2023)

Sezanne has quite rightly grabbed the headlines since it opened on 1st July 2021 but, what's not so widely reported, is the new bistro offering at the Four Seasons Tokyo.  While Daniel Calvert is not in the kitchen day-to-day here, Daniel is in charge of all food at the Four Seasons Tokyo.

The bistro is on the 7th floor of the hotel and has floor to ceiling windows overlooking the tracks running into Tokyo Station and the Kitte building.  Hotel dining is expensive and Maison Marunouchi can be.  Coffee is 1,300 yen but if you want a latte that'll be another 200 yen.  Those prices don't include tax and 15% service so that latte of yours is going to cost 1,898 yen.  The cheapest glass of champagne is 2,900 yen - I mean, 3,669 yen.  These are top-end Ginza prices.  Well, Ginza is not far away and prices are not that different from The Peninsula I suppose.  Menus are available on the Four Seasons website here.  Since my three visits in 2021 food prices have gone up a fair bit.  Starters were in the range of 1,200 to 2,800,  mains averaging 3,000 with the wagyu sandwich at 9,000 and the steak frites at 10,000.  Desserts were between 1,200 and 2,000.  Starters are now 1,800 to 3,800; mains 3,800 to 7,000 and desserts averaging 2,500.  Most of the dishes have changed.  The wagyu sandwich has gone.  The steak frites is now Australian rib eye at an eye watering 19,000 yen.  Vaner closed so bread is now made in-house.  The holiday-only fried chicken has stopped.  The menu du jour is no longer available so to save money choose "Menu Marunouchi" which, for JPY 8,800, comprises your choice of one dish from each section of the menu and tea or coffee.  Although it no longer includes bread and butter, this price has been held and given the individual price rises, it's an even more substantial saving versus dining a-la-carte.

Of the dishes I ate in 2021 only the chicken liver parfait and creme caramel remain.  I felt the menu was more appealing in the past.  In particular, the desserts were a real highlight and better than the desserts in Sezanne, but the choices were much more limited in 2023.  Also the portions were quite generous in the past but I didn't feel that in 2023.  The staff have changed and are not as good as before.  The restaurant wasn't particularly busy but service was slow and there were basic errors like serving pasta with a knife, having to ask twice whether I wanted tea or coffee, failing to bring milk with my coffee and having to refer to the menu to describe dishes.  There's still little to fault with the cooking but there's much better value elsewhere.  I don't plan to go back to Maison Marunouchi again unless the menu changes substantially.  Noura (review here) might not have the five-star setting but it's everything you'd hope from a bistro attached to a two Michelin star restaurant and it's cheaper.

📅 Visit March 2023

"Menu Marunouchi"

Tarako, karasumi, mitsuba.  Pastry like Sezanne's "shiro ebi". 8.5/10.

Cuttlefish "tagliatelle".  Ribbons of 100% cuttlefish, yeast and coriander sauce.  8.5/10.  9 had the bowl been hot and my knife swapped for a spoon.

Pork belly, chorizo, white kidney beans.  8.5/10.  Ragout rich, highly seasoned.  Pork a bit small.

Sakura mille-feuille.  8.5/10.  Good but not so good that I'd come back for it.

Tarako, karasumi, mitsuba
Cuttlefish tagliatelle
Pork belly, chorizo, white kidney beans
Sakura millefeuille
Coffee (or tea)

💴 Damage: 8,800
⏱️ Time taken: 1h10m

📅 Visit December 2021

On visit three I had the chicken liver parfait to start followed by a new dish of fried chicken sandwich.  This is apparently the same-recipe, weekend-only, no-longer-available fried chicken and dressing but served as a burger with Cajun fries.  I chose the creme caramel for dessert.  All of these were fine but I wouldn't order them again.  In particular, although I couldn't fault it, the dessert wasn't quite as special as the previous desserts.  Some gougeres, which I don't remember from previous visits, were included as a free canape.  It was impossible to eat those without thinking about the (perfect) gougere served at Sezanne just a few feet away.

Chicken liver parfait 1200
Fried chicken sandwich 2000
Creme caramel 1200

💴 Damage: 5,566 incl tax and service at 15%
⏱️ Time taken: 1h

📅 Visit June 2021

On my second visit I had the jamon beurre made with homemade ham and Gruyere cheese.  Instead of bread, puff pastry is used.  Somehow I was underwhelmed.  For main I chose fish and chips.  The fish was a large piece of monkfish - hot, very fresh, technically difficult to cook correctly and very filling.  With enough acid from the batter and salt from the fries it just about got away without any other seasoning but a vinegar jelly might have given it a bit of a kick while keeping the dish refined.  The minted crushed peas were great.  Fries were skin-on and by international standards I've had much better.  The jamon beurre and fish and chips left me with an oily feeling.  The diners I observed could not finish their fries.  For dessert I had the opera cake.  As with last time, this was the best dish.  Thick layers of a very high quality chocolate on a hidden biscuit base and served with an espresso (not coffee) ice-cream.  Every element was perfect - just look at that sheen.

Jamon beurre 1700
Fish and chips 2900
Gateau Opera 1600

💴 Damage: 9,867 incl one drink, tax and service at 15%
⏱️ Time taken: 50m

📅 Visit June 2021

I started with a snack of Crispy Pigs Head with Sauce Gribiche.  I wanted more piggy flavour from this and if you used all the sauce that would be all you would taste.  Next was Tandoori Frogs Legs with Lentils and Coriander cream.  I didn't need the pool of coriander cream but other than that this was delicious - a real cheffy dish and I'd happily eat this again.  For my main I chose Wagyu beef cheek bourguignon.  This was accompanied with a side of pomme puree - a Joel Robuchon pomme puree with lashings of butter.  This time there wasn't enough sauce.  There was more potato than bourguignon sauce and you ended up with a pool of potato.  You can't complain about the generosity with the mash - much better than at Atelier where you get a small amount and are charged extra if you ask for more.   But the beef should be the star and it was not as good as the beef cheek I ate at Gracia later in the month or at Ars the month before and was smaller.  A good beef cheek will make you sigh.  The potato (worth every calorie) did that for me but not the meat.  For dessert I chose riz au lait.  The cold rice was creamy and vanilla-y and perfectly cooked.  The poached peach was delicious.  The yuzu Italian meringue added another flavour and texture and was not overloaded with yuzu.  This was properly sweet and one of the best desserts I'd eaten in some time.

Crispy Pigs Head with Sauce Gribiche 700
Tandoori Frogs Legs with Lentils 2200
Wagyu beef cheek bourguignon 3200
Riz au lait 1500

💴 Damage: 11,638 incl one drink, tax and service at 15%
⏱️ Time taken: 1h20m

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1302/A130201/13256879/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3.7 (value: 3.2)

📱 Booking:  🟩 Easy.  Same-day or advance bookings via phone or Tabelog or just walk-in.  Reservations also available via Opentable but not for one. 

📍 Location:

7F, Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi, 1-11-1 Marunouchi.  The hotel doesn't have a grand entrance and is sandwiched between an underground car park next to Tokyo Station and an office building and you could easily walk past it.  Tokyo Station on the Marunouchi line is not convenient.  It's at least 12 mins walk from the gate to the hotel and that assumes you know your way around Tokyo station.  If you're traveling by Metro, Kyobashi Exit 5 is closest - 6 mins walk West.  If you're traveling by JR the Yaesu South exit is closest - 5 mins walk South.  If you find yourself in the Four Seasons at Otemachi you're in the wrong hotel.

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