Bia (įžäŧ)
⭐⭐⭐⭐đšđ Thai × đ¯đĩ Japanese / đ Roppongi
đ Visits: 2 (2024x1, 2021x1)
Bia opened in Ginza in June 2020, pretty unfortunate timing being exactly two months after the first Coronavirus State of Emergency was declared in Japan. It's the brainchild of "Beer", real name Charoenpanich Beer Peragate, a very well-known foodie in Japan. It aims to fuse Japanese food with Beer's native Thai cuisine. The Ginza restaurant was divided into several semi-private rooms seating 2-8, each uniquely decorated and featuring original photos of the many famous chefs Bia-san is friends with. The plan was that the restaurant would go introduction-only at some point but it remained an easy reservation and relocated to much humbler premises in Roppongi in March 2022 (taking over what was a Japanese restaurant), just a week after the final quasi State of Emergency was lifted in Tokyo.
My first visit was in April 2021. There were too many faults in the cooking for me to want to return and it wasn't cheap. But since 2022 the restaurant has had a sustained 4.0+ Tabelog rating, a Bronze award in 2022 (if it hadn't been for the move, it would have been at least Bronze in 2023 as well) and then a Silver Award and Best New Entry in 2024. It's still an easy reservation so with nowhere else to go one night it was time for a return.
The first dish of kobako crab and Chrysanthemum didn't work for me and I couldn't taste the Asteraceae. After the kinki, deep fried fugu which was so obliterated with spices it might as well have been chicken. Well, everyone likes spicy fried chicken. Next shark fin with suppon soup. Bia is particularly proud of his shark fin, which comes from Japan and is not bleached, as the story goes. A large portion and indeed a very pure taste. After the "oswan", steamed kue with Kyoto turnip. You could really taste the Thai flavours, the heat lingering on your palate, but still taste the fish. The next dish was a take on laab: spiced 48-month aged Omi beef hamburg with caviar. There was a mound of caviar on top and my first thought that this would be too salty. Instead, the beef had a very subtle flavour; there was enough caviar for every bite which acted as seasoning for the dish and the Thai spices added a unique flavour dimension. This was the best hamburg I've ever eaten. 9/10. Next Yamayuki tuna served with fermented egg yolk and truffle. The truffle was of superb quality: just look at how black it is. Bia calls this his 'palate cleanser' dish (lol). 10/10. The shokuji is a hybrid Koshikari / long grain Thai rice grown in Saga and two kinds of curry: Masamam with Omi beef and imo ebi and green curry with inoshishi and takenoko. I loved both, and of course you can have refills. The meal ended with Pandan leaf green tea and two desserts: Bia's version of kanom piakpoon made with pandan leaf and azuki and then truffle ice-cream made a-la-minute. I didn't expect two desserts and both were excellent.
The cooking is all done by Hiroyuki Kusaba while Bia-san co-devises the menu, sources most of the ingredients, signs off on every dish and acts as host. Service was superb. Bia-san interacted with all guests and made the time to explain every dish to me in English. This was despite the fact that a superstar chef was present. Every other time I've been in that situation the star chef has got all the attention. I also love the fact the menu is personalized for you. For more love, read the write-up on the TableAll page.
The course was advertised as JPY 26,500 + 10% service. My final bill was a suspiciously round JPY 33,000 and about 1,500 yen more than I expected. Funnily enough my neighbour's bill was exactly the same though she had different drinks and if you book through ikyu.com the course is listed as JPY 32,000 inclusive. So my suspicion is that he has a 33k/head target and no-one gets out of here for less than that. Unusually, this didn't sour the experience for me: it's only a small difference and I felt it was reasonable value. Merit for having a drinks menu, demerit for the final accounting.
There was a definite improvement in the quality of the cooking on this visit compared with my first. The quality of ingredients was superb and I only disliked the first dish. The quality of the food here is as at least as good as 2024 2-Star debut restaurant Maz and leaps and bounds above the food at 2025 Michelin listed (presumably Starred) Cycle. Unfortunately, Bia doesn't have a Starred chef with an international reputation behind him nor a very well funded and well-oiled holding company in Japan. But that shouldn't matter should it? Khao, the only Thai restaurant in Japan in Gault&Millau relocated from Nagoya to Tokyo in June 2024 and will be one to watch. If you're looking for something a bit different I'd recommend a visit to Bia and will return in the future. As Bia said while I was there, where are you Michelin?
đ https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1307/A130701/13270211/
❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.4
đą Booking: Easy. Via Omakase and Ikyu.com. If you're booking for the same day or next couple of days ahead you can also book via Tabelog. English menu. English spoken.
đ Location:
2F Kitayama Building, Roppongi 7-3-21. Nogizaka and Roppongi are the closest stations. 2F multi-tenant building.
Map data ©2024 Google
đ Visit March 2024
Kobako Crab with monkfish liver, chrysanthemum
Thai soup with Channel rockfish Clam shrimp daikokusimeji mushroom
Tiger Puffer with Thai spices
Shark Fin with turtle soup
Oswan with black abalone
Longtooth Grouper with lime sauce
Laab, hamburg with fresh Thai herbs
Tuna Truffle (Japanese style)
2 kinds of curry (Masaman curry / Green curry)
Kanom piakpoon
Handmade ice-cream with truffle, Coconut
đ´ Damage: 33,000 (course: 26,500, drinks: 2080)
⏱️ Time taken: 1h45m
đ Visit April 2021
đ´ Damage: 32,400
⏱️ Time taken: 2h30m
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