Asahina Gastronome

⭐⭐⭐

🇫🇷 French / 📍 Nihombashi

📓 Visits: 2 (2020-2022)

My first visit to Asahina Gastronome was in early 2020, not long after it was awarded its first Michelin Star and not long after its first year anniversary.  I don't have any notes from that visit but I remember having a very disappointing meal, leaving with no understanding of how this restaurant got a Michelin Star.  But the Tabelog rating keeps going up and up and with the award of a second Michelin Star in the 2022 Tokyo Guide it was time to go back and see if I might have a better experience.

Prior to my visit the last price revision was in August 2021 when lunch went up from JPY 11,000 to JPY 13,200 and dinner went up from JPY 22,000 to JPY 25,300.  Since June 2022, lunch and dinner are now JPY 16,500 and JPY 27,500 respectively.  When the restaurant opened in October 2018 a JPY 5,184 lunch course was available until July 2019 and a JPY 12,960 dinner course was available until May 2019.  Prices are subject to 10% service charge.  Both my visits were for lunch.

The dining room is like a European French restaurant - white tablecloths, upholstered seats and carpet.  One member of staff could speak English but other staff could not.  The course menu (reproduced below) was in Japanese and French.  A wine list was available but no other drinks list.  The Tabelog page states glasses of champagne start from JPY 2,200.

First an 'amuse' of 4 bites: salmon tartar was lacking in flavour, beetroot meringue and boudin noir tartlette were too sweet, anchovy tartlette was greasy and too hot.  This brought back all the memories of my first meal here: food so over-refined, modernized, small and sweet that all the flavour had been sucked out of it.  6/10.  Starter of scallop mousse and tartar, white asparagus and caviar.  A lot of work here but no real depth of flavour.  8/10.  Second starter of Far Breton topped with uni and truffle and served with souffle potato.  A curious dish, small but delicious.  One large piece served hotter might have been more satisfying.  8.5/10.  The fish course was pan-roasted yagara served with a yagara cheese croquette and shiitake stuffed with mushroom duxelle.  I can't remember having eating yagara in the past.  Rare doesn't mean better and although it might be boring I couldn't help thinking amadai would have been better.  8/10.  The main course was Tournedos Rossini.  Of course this was delicious but it was small (40g beef?) and nothing you haven't eaten before.  8/10 overall.  Cooking, maybe 10.  A shot of consomme was served after the meat.  Unfortunately this tasted more of pepper than beef.  5/10.  Three types of bread were on offer and all of these were pretty good.  Pre-dessert was yoghurt sorbet and citrus.  I did not enjoy this at all.  6/10.  Dessert proper was chocolate croquant cake flavoured with cognac and served with almond ice-cream.  This was perfect.  High quality chocolate, rich, indulgent, every element perfectly executed, perfect level of sweetness, titillation from the alcohol.  Easily the star of the show.  10/10.  To finish, good coffee and petit fours of matcha macaron, chocolate canelle and raspberry white chocolate.  9/10.

Service was slow to start (my drink and amuse taking nearly 15 minutes to arrive) but picked up after that and, for the most part, I dined at my own pace.  There was no attempt at conversation from the staff, which is fine by me in a restaurant with table seating.  Chef came out as I left.

Overall I think the award of a second Michelin Star is reasonable for Tokyo: expensive ingredients, multi-element dishes, great presentation.  This was a much better meal than my first but, apart from the dessert, the food was mostly style over substance and I don't think I'll remember anything I ate here in a couple of months.  Service is less grand but the food is better at 2-star Nabeno-ism.  The chef there was Executive Chef at the 3-star chateau Joël Robuchon restaurant in Tokyo for 11 years as opposed to here where the chef was head chef at 2-star La Table de Joël Robuchon from 2011 to 2016.

For an equally elaborate meal with a lot more flavour (and a lot more food) and not too far away, I'd recommend Plaiga Tokyo.  Michelin, thus far, eludes Plaiga but for me, it would be a worthy winner of 2 stars.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1302/A130203/13227385/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3.9 (dessert: 5.0)

📱 Booking: 🟩 You generally need to book at least a week in advance.  Bookings for one were previously taken via TableCheck but these are now no longer accepted.  Bookings for dinner for one are accepted via Tabelog.  Fewer lunch tables are available via Tabelog.  You'll need to phone for complete availability or to book lunch for one.  The receptionist doesn't speak English so you might have to ask for the guy who does.

📍 Location: 

1-4 Nihombashi-Kabutocho.  4 mins walk from Kayabacho station Exit 4.  Dedicated street-facing entrance, opposite Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Map data ©2022 Google

📅 Visit February 2022

💴 Damage: 15,400 (13200 + 1 drink @ 800 + 10%)
⏱️ Time taken: 1h50m