Kino

⭐⭐⭐

🇫🇷 French / 📍 Yoyogi

📓 Visits: 1 (2023)

Yusuke Kinoshita previously ran Lien in Sapporo.  After 10 years and receiving a Michelin Star in the 2017 Hokkaido Guide Special Edition he moved to Tokyo in 2023.  Lunch of about 8 courses is priced at JPY 7,700 while dinner of about 10 courses is JPY 17,600.  Prices are subject to service at 10%.  I went for lunch.

The best three dishes in the meal were the sawara mi-cuit: thickly cut and dressed with an interesting balsamic sauce and myoga; the Yezo sika served with a proper mustard and red wine sauce and possibly the best potato croquette ever; and the salt ice-cream which tasted like cream cheese (9/10 for these).  On the downside the sweetcorn soup got a bit salty and needed to be served with bread (still 8.5/10) and the pan fried hirame with kegani risotto was lacking texture and depth of flavour (8/10).

The meal consisted of good quality ingredients.  In particular, the uni in the sweetcorn soup was excellent, as was the venison.  Portions were a good size, there was some decent cooking and lunch is good value.  The final two plates were quite disappointing: pudding served with Kyoho was very simple and a very similar ingredient (Shine Muscat) had just been served; the cacao yokan that followed just wasn't for me and I don't understand the point of serving ¼ of a raw fig.  Not only were these dishes not special they just didn't flow from what came before.

Service was fine.  Chef's wife (?) did most of the talking (in Japanese only) and was polite.  The drinks menu was bilingual.  No menu was provided for the food.

Overall, while there were many positives I felt the meal lacked originality and personality so if I had 8k to spend I'd probably spend it elsewhere.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1304/A130403/13285210/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3.8

📱 Booking: 🟩 Via Tabelog or TableCheck, a day in advance is sufficient.  Same day dinner reservations may be possible by phone.  No English spoken.

📍 Location: 

1-37-4 Yoyogi.  1 minute from the JR North Exit of Yoyogi Station.
Map data ©2023 Google

📅 Visit August 2023

🕛 Lunch

Warm cake sale, ninjin puree, amai ebi
Sawara mi-cuit, nasu, balsamic, myoga
Hotate frit, sweet chilli tartar sauce
Sweetcorn soup, uni
Hirame pan fried, kegani risotto; amai ebi, kegani sauce
Yezo shika, mustard and red wine sauce, aged potato croquette
Salt ice-cream, Shine Muscat
Pudding
Coffee
Cacao yokan, ¼ raw fig

💴 Damage: 9,559 (7000 + 1 drink @ 900 + 10% + 10%)
⏱️ Time taken: 1h