Fukushima
⭐⭐⭐⭐
๐ซ๐ท French / ๐ Toritsu Daigaku
๐ Visits: 2 (2023-2024)
I'll get the lowest scoring dishes out the way (which were all on visit #2). The first amuse was a kind of spherification of olive. Great technique but was it no better than a really good olive? 8.5/10. The third amuse of katuso tarte was very good (8.5/10), but it couldn't live up to the second amuse of aji, cheese panko and sable, which was 10/10. Lastly the fish course of ayu sumiyaki. The ayu was of superb quality but unfortunately it was very over-salted. 8.5/10. So across two meals only one major fault. Every other dish I've scored 9/10 or more so I'm not going to comment on each and everything but will just mention a few (other) highlights.
The Royale. On visit #1 it had everything: packed with shellfish, bitter notes from the kai kimo and salty notes from the seaweed (10/10). On visit #2 it had three layers: edamame custard, egg custard and shrimp bisque (9.5/10).
The main dish on visit #2 was Gunma-ken sika served with a black pepper sauce, zucchini and potato puree. This was the best deer I'd ever eaten. It tasted aged and extremely gamey but the chef said it wasn't aged. Before I could even say it myself the chef said the meat didn't need a sauce.
Topping everything was dish #6 on visit #2: beef cheek, yaki nasu, red wine "kuromeski", nasu kawa chips, nasu powder. This was off the chart good. I don't remember eating a dish with this much flavour in a long time. Eleven out of ten.
On my second visit I added the steak tartar. The beef (Omi) was served with lemon powder, naruzuke, egg yolk sauce and shallot. It's hard to give a tartar 10/10 but I would order this on every future visit and that says enough.
Three kinds of bread are served. I've scored all of these 9-10/10.
The meal ends with two desserts. On visit #1 the first a composition of peach with fromage blanc (9/10). On visit #2 the first a peach compote with a kabocha frangipane tarte. Desserts containing kabocha are normally a turn-off for me but this was superb: the kabocha was sweeter than usual and balance came from the peach, which was slightly tart.
The final dessert is milk ice-cream. Nothing to fault with it but a slight disappointment given the complexity of what had come before.
A glass of excellent Champagne is a very reasonable JPY 2,000. A (large) glass of good sweet wine is very reasonably priced at JPY 1,300. The menu had the same pattern on both visits: 3 amuse, 4 starters, fish, meat, 2 desserts, tea. The final dessert was identical on both visits, as was one of the amuse. If I had one other criticism it would be that the size of each dish could be a little bigger. In particular (even though chef over-salted it) I'd have liked two ayu rather than one. That said, even if the food had been lacking in places I would have been happy for this number of courses at this price for dinner in Tokyo. But the fact that the food is of a such a high standard, and such a consistently high standard is nothing short of a miracle at this price.
All of this comes just from a single chef, the eponymous Takayuki Fukushima, but what's more, without the usual concessions that come with such set ups. The restaurant seats eight and the chef does two seatings a night but only serves one group at a time (so if you're on your own, you'll have the whole restaurant to yourself). Wow, a chef who puts comfort of the customer before anything else. What a breath of fresh air from the usual two-turn simultaneous start Tokyo system. Service is from (I guess) chef's wife and is super polite, though, unfortunately, there's no menu to follow and no English spoken.
Why this restaurant isn't more popular and doesn't have a Michelin Star is anyone's guess. With the exception of the desserts, most dishes are at the 2-Star level. More classic than Yumanite and Hortensia but more innovative than Kotaro Hasegawa Downtown Cuisine. One of the best and most underrated French restaurants in Tokyo.
๐ https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1317/A131702/13204455/
❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.8 (cooking: 4.8, ingredients: 4.4, service: 4.2, portions: 3.9, desserts: 3.98, value: 5.0)
๐ฑ Booking: ๐ฉ By phone at least a day in advance. It can be difficult to get through. Try 3-4pm or after 9pm. No English spoken.
๐ Location:
2F NewYork Corner161, 1-6-1 Nakame. 2 mins South-West from Toritsu Daigaku station. 2F multi-tenant building.
Map data ©2024 Google
๐ Visit July 2024
Saison 15000
Aji, cheese panko, sable
Katsuo, horseradish tarte
Chilli con carne taco
Foie gras, gorgonzola cigar
Omi beef tartar, lemon powder, naruzuke, rannou, shallot +2000
Corn bavarois, grilled corn, cake sale, unagi, chocolate tuile, cold corn soup
Gyu hoho niku, yaki nasu, red wine kuromeski, nasu kawa chips, nasu powder
Ebi Royale, ebi bisque, edamame Royale, kale
Ayu, bone powder, zucchini
Gifu sika momo niku sumiyaki, zucchini steak, black pepper sauce, pomme puree
Momo compote, kabocha frangipane tarte
Milk ice-cream
Yame wakocha
Drinks 5300
⏱️ Time taken: 2h10m
๐ Visit September 2023
Saison 15000
Boudin noir, mousse, miso powder
Menchi katsu, ebi croquette
Corn three ways: grilled, semifreddo, mousse; hotate chips; lobster, beef consomme jelly
36-month aged raw ham, truffle risotto
Gyutan, foie gras terrine, potato puree, black vinegar sauce
Tsubugai, baigai, morheya, kai kimo Royale
Hamo beignet, buratta sauce
Australian lamb, spiced chickpea, lamb jus
Momo, fromage blanc, momo jelly, plum and momo sorbet
Milk ice-cream
Yame wakocha
Drinks 3100
⏱️ Time taken: 2h10m
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