Etape

⭐⭐⭐

🇫🇷 French / 📍 Asakusa

📓 Visits: 5 (2021-2024)

Etape has been listed in the Michelin Guide Tokyo (without a Star) since 2022.  Dinner courses start from JPY 9,000 or you can order a la carte.  The JPY 1,500 'one plate lunch' was one of the great Tokyo lunch bargains.  Despite the name, it comprised soup, refills of bread, the plate and an after-meal drink.  Unfortunately this stopped in August 2022 and at lunch now there's a choice of two omakase courses at JPY 3,500 and JPY 5,000.  This review is based on visits for each of those courses.

📅 Visit December 2024

🕛 Omakase Lunch JPY 5,000

Tuna, myoga, avocado and lettuce was a bit cold but had great flavours and textures.  The lightly cooked scallop and simmered daikon couldn't fight their way through the karasumi and beef consomme jelly that was atop, and the dish was a bit fridge cold.  Suzuki, beetroot, chestnut puree, potato puree and chicken jus sounded better than it tasted: a little overcooked, served on a cold plate and the foam evaporating while the dish was being explained.  Roast sika with a blackcurrant sauce and vegetables was delicious.  Dessert of pine ice-cream, parsley root cream, candied celery, and cacao crumb was brilliant: a bold combination of components, all delicious and none of them clashing.  I'd never have ordered this from an a la carte menu but this was fabulous.

💴 Damage: 5,650 (5k + 1 drink @650)
⏱️ Time taken: 45m

📅 Visit August 2023

🕛 Causal Lunch JPY 3,500

I wanted more umami from the inoshishi pate de campagne so scored it 7/10.  The pottage is always excellent here and the potato vichyssoise was no exception - 9/10.  The amadai and summer bean stew slightly edged the roast Okinawa pork which came with six kinds of vegetables.  8.5 and 8 out of 10, respectively.  Dessert was a peach compote and beetroot nougat glace - 8.5/10.

💴 Damage: 4,300 (3500 + 1 drink @800)
⏱️ Time taken: 45m

A counter seats six with one table seating four.  Everything, including the excellent bread, is cooked from scratch in the small kitchen by chef Shinji Kawamura who spent eight years in Paris where he met his now wife, Juliette, who attends to guests.  The chef prefers to keep his head down and just cook but will engage if you do and Juliette is friendly and can speak French, English and Japanese.  Cutlery is not changed, which, regrettably, is the norm at bistros.  Ventilation could be improved.

JPY 5,000 is getting a bit close to lunch pricing at superior restaurants but the JPY 3,500 lunch is probably still a good deal.  If I lived closer and it was easier to book I'd go more often.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1311/A131102/13256908/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3.8

📱 Booking: 🟧 Reservations by phone or TableCheck (login required).  Dinner is easier to book than lunch, which you'll need to reserve about two weeks in advance to be sure of a seat.  English and French spoken.

📍 Location: 

2-21-6 Higashi-Komagata.  5 mins across the river from Asakusa station Exit 4.

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