Cycle

⭐⭐

💡 Innovative / 📍 Otemachi

📓 Visits: 1 (2023)

Mirazur has held three Michelin Stars since 2019 and topped the World's 50 Best the same year.  Opening on 27th October 2023, I literally had a date in my diary for the debut of the first restaurant in Japan from the same chef.

It was evident the opening wasn't going as well as they might have hoped.  Initially, two course menus were offered at JPY 24,000 and JPY 32,000 but since November 18th they added a course menu for lunch only priced at JPY 15,000.  Reservations are easy: there are seats available every day at a day's notice.  Additionally, they are only open for lunch on weekends and holidays.  Contrast that with Maz (review here), the biggest foreign opening to land in Tokyo a year ago.  Maz was booked out weeks ahead when they opened and there was a lot of "buzz" around the opening.  The opening of Cycle ("su-ikuru" if you're Japanese) seems very muted, which is especially unexpected given both restaurants are owned by the same holding company.  Perhaps (or perhaps not) it has something to do with this.  Let's take a look at one of the PR photographs:

What were they thinking?  If you rocked up to a restaurant and the chefs greeted you like that wouldn't you run a mile?  I look at that and wonder if it's me that's on the menu.

While it's Cycle "by Mauro Colagreco" it will come as no surprise that Mr Colagreco (on the right) is not in the kitchen.  That task is delegated to a former (natch) Japanese Mirazur sous chef (on the left).

First up a vegetable bouillon with osmanthus and yuzu.  This was like a herb tea with oats in.  4/10.  Next four amuse comprising: onion tarte, onion compote; oyster croquette, tarragon; mackerel tart, chrysanthemum; chestnut financier.  Nothing unpleasant here but nothing delicious either.  6/10.  A starter of kuruma ebi mi-cuit, citrus and radish next.  Here the garnish, not too sharp, was better than the shellfish, which lacked flavour. 7/10.  Next monkfish, mussels, clams, seri frit, ginnan, seri sauce, buckwheat.  This was actually delicious and a fine piece of cooking, that is until I tasted the soba.  I'll admit I don't like soba so I was always going to find it jarring.  A plate not hot enough in a cold room on a cold day.  Guess what happened to the food?  7.5/10.  The main dish was pork with quince and chestnuts.  The pork had excellent flavour, enhanced by smoke (and brining?) and I love quince, which is rarely served in Japan.  On the other hand, I don't love sweet things with meat, the meat was a little tough (needed to be cooked more slowly?), the dish only had one main element (I'm expecting more from the outpost of a 3-Star) and the plate was not hot enough.  7/10.  After the main what I thought was a pre-dessert, which did it's job as a pre-dessert but was overly sour for me.  7/10.  I was a little surprised to be served mignardises straight after this, though in fairness it did say "1 dessert, mignardises" on the menu.  A decent amount of work had gone into these but they were all flavours I don't particularly enjoy: sweet potato, hojicha, citrus, camomile.  Mignardises are served with your choice of after-meal drink.

I haven't been to Mirazur and it's not on my wish list so I can't tell you how it compares with Cycle, if at all.  From what I gather Mirazur is a polarizing restaurant.  I'll spare you the concept behind Cycle.  The only thing that matters is how good the food is and it just wasn't good.  The bread was the best thing that was served today by a long way (8.5/10) but even the much touted shiso-infused olive oil from Mirazur's garden that it was served with was forgettable.  Unfortunately it wasn't just the petits fours that contained flavours (botanicals, citrus, yoghurt, soba) I don't particularly enjoy.  In another season the menu could be completely different and more to my taste.  But (1) what separates the good restaurants from the great ones are those where you enjoy things you don't normally like at other restaurants; (2) I'd still expect to enjoy at least one course on the menu; (3) no dish had the wow factor you'd expect coming from a chef who'd worked in a 3-Star kitchen (4) given all that, giving them another chance is an expensive proposition.

It's a beautiful space: triple-height ceilings, beautiful barewood floor and tables and chairs, trees inside and out and a view of the large, open kitchen.  A lot of money has gone into this and you could easily forget you're in Otemachi.

The real star of the restaurant is probably General Manager Rie Yasui.  Rie-san previously worked as executive director of (now closed) Saint Pau Tokyo and then as maître d' of Sant Pau in Barcelona (also closed).  She went on to co-open Nonna Maria in Barcelona in 2016 with Jerome Quilbeuf, the former Sant Pau chef and now occasional chef at Tinc Gana.  Nonna Maria at The Yokohama Bay opened in 2020.  Rie can speak very nearly perfect English and provided superb service.  She can also speak Catalan.

I always wait for new openings to settle down before visiting and left it a couple of months before I went to Cycle.  I'm glad I did and was able to save a bunch of cash by opting for the newly introduced shorter menu.  Overall this was very underwhelming and proves the rule that when considering a first visit to a restaurant, always choose the choose the cheapest menu (or wait for someone else to go first).

Otemachi has had an influx of fine dining restaurants in the past few years.  Esterre by Alain Ducasse and Est have both won Michelin Stars.  Plaiga Tokyo was finally featured in the 2024 Guide, though not with a star and only after a chef change.  Less successful was Nine by La Cime, the Tokyo restaurant of two-Star Osaka La Cime.  'Nine' opened in July 2022, failed to gain a Michelin Star that year, raised prices by 40% just as Japan started removing the last of the Coronavirus travel restrictions in March 2023 and then closed just a few months later within a year after opening.  It remains to be seen if and when Michelin will Star Cycle but therein lies its fate.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1302/A130201/13288151/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐ 2.9 (food: 3.0, value: 2.6, Rie: 4.5)

📱 Booking: 🟩 A day in advance by TableCheck.  Same-day dinner reservations by phone may be possible but they will ask you to complete any bookings online.  Credit card required.  Cancellation fees apply.

📍 Location: 

1F Otemachi One, 1-2-1 Otemachi.  Just outside the C5 exit of Otemachi station.  The restaurant has its own outside entrance and cannot be accessed directly from the rest of the building or station.  Otemachi station is massive so allow plenty of time.
Map data ©2023 Google

📅 Visit November 2023

🕛 Lunch 'Nature' ¥15,000

Vegetable bouillon, osmanthus, yuzu
Onion tarte, onion compote; Oyster croquette, tarragon; Mackerel tart, chrysanthemum; Chestnut financier
Kuruma ebi mi-cuit, citrus, radish
Monkfish, mussels, clams, seri frit, ginnan, seri sauce, soba 'puree'
Iwanami pork, quince, chestnut
Sarunashi, gin jelly, yoghurt sorbet, meringue, touhi powder
Sweet potato; Hojicha financier; Citrus tart; Camomile Jelly

💴 Damage: 20,823 (16500 + 1000 water charge + 1 drink @ 1430 + 10%)
⏱️ Time taken: 1h30m