B

⭐⭐⭐⭐

🇫🇷 French / 📍 Jiyugaoka

📓 Visits: 1

Lunch of 4-5 courses is priced at JPY 5,500 while dinner of 5-6 courses is priced at JPY 8,800.  A 600 yen cover charge is taken at dinner but prices are otherwise inclusive.  On my visit I went for lunch.

First an off-menu amuse.  The cold broccoli soup was too cold and I wanted more flavour from the vegetable.  7/10.  A side dish of fromage de tête was outstanding.  9.5/10.  Next maguro, hazelnut and avocado tartar.  This was excellent.  8.5/10.  The hazelnut beignet on the side was a bit greasy but 8/10 nonetheless.  Next shirako, orozo and St George's mushroom.  This was good and the shirako was fine but shirako is one of those things where just "fine" is a disappointment.  The dish would also have been improved if finished with a higher quality olive oil.  8/10.  Fish course proper was sawara, vanilla beurre blanc, cauliflower espuma.  This was good but the fish was a bit fishy and served on a cold plate so got cold very quickly.  7.5/10.  Main was roast pork with a pork 'slider', shiitake and beets.  Good cooking and a good sauce but unmemorable.  8/10.  Dish of the day was the dessert of milk ice-cream, fresh strawberry, soba, and milk crisp.  A generous portion of ice-cream; so moreish, perfect level of sweetness and a complete dish.  9/10.  To finish, excellent coffee and freshly-made raspberry financiers.  Bread is made in the kitchen, refilled, and had good depth of flavour with the inclusion of rye flour.  7.5/10.  Drinks are cheap with a glass of wine around JPY 1,000 and soft drinks at 800 yen.

There are just 4 tables for two in the restaurant and a counter that's unused.  It's not strictly a simultaneous start but it will end up being a simultaneous finish and, as is usually the case in Tokyo, most people arrive when the restaurant opens at 12 so if you book for 12:30 you'll have less of a wait at the start of the course.  They advertise lunch as 4-5 courses but if you count the amuse and the petit four that's 7.  This is incredible value for 5.5k inclusive.  The chef here (and there's only one, and only one person front of house) is clearly very talented and for one person to produce food like this for lunch and dinner is remarkable.  The side dishes and extra elements on every plate really set this restaurant apart from any other French restaurant I've been to in Tokyo serving French food for JPY 8,000 or less.  There was little to fault in the cooking and presentation was easily Michelin-level.  But with such low prices there are inevitably compromises and that came in the quality of the ingredients.  The meal also took quite a long time due to there only being one chef.  Along with Ars (review here), I can't think of a restaurant/chef with as much potential as this one but it's been open four years now, they are always full and they haven't raised prices that much in that time.  So the question is will they realize that potential, up the ingredient quality and the prices, in which case I would go back, or just keep doing what they're doing with a full restaurant and serve incredible value?  If you're on a budget and are not so picky you'll have an outstanding meal at B.  If you're very discerning, want an easier booking, something closer to the centre and happy to pay a lot more then you have many other choices.  I'll save the diatribe about the restaurant's name for another restaurant.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1317/A131703/13217869/ 

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.0 (food: 3.9, value: 5.0)

📱 Booking: 🟧  Reservations are taken by phone for dates up to a month in advance.  For lunch you'll need to phone between 11am and 12pm in the morning exactly a month in advance as all tables will be booked that day.  Dinner reservations are easier.  Menu changes every two months.

📍 Location: 

2-11-1 Jiyugaoka.  Round the corner from Excelsior Caffe, opposite Paris Miki which is next to McDonald's.  1 min from the North Exit of Jiyugaoka station.  Dedicated street-facing entrance.
Map data ©2023 Google

📶 Free WiFi? ❌ No

📅 Visit February 2023

Lunch course 5,500

Cold broccoli soup, lemon cream, iwana tamago; fromage de tête
Maguro, hazelnut, avocado tartar; Hazelnut beignet
Shirako, orozo, St George's mushroom
Sawara, vanilla beurre blanc, cauliflower espuma
Roast pork, pork slider, shitake, beets
Milk ice-cream, strawberry, soba, milk crisp
Coffee (or tea); Raspberry financiers

💴 Damage: 7,400 (5500 + 2 drinks @ 1900)
⏱️ Time taken: 2h (2h20m if you don't "cheat")