mรฆrge
๐ซ๐ท French / ๐ Aoyama
๐ Visits: 1
La Clairiere closed in 2024 having held a Michelin Star from the 2019 Tokyo Guide. The chef has now opened Maerge in a new location. After several price rises, lunch closed at JPY 19,800 and dinner at JPY 33,300 at La Clairiere. Only one course is offered at Marge and it's JPY 36,300 plus service, rising to JPY 38,500 plus service from 2026.
The meal begins with three canapes: a croquette packed with cod, slight spice and slightly warm (9/10); chicken and consomme jelly sable (8/10 - didn't like the topping) and a tiny Jerusalem artichoke and goat cheese tart (8.5/10). I might have enjoyed them more if they hadn't taken 25 minutes to come out from the kitchen. The amuse is a crab flan. It tastes exactly how you'd expect but it's barely lukewarm. 7/10.
For the next dish they start setting up in front of you without explaining what they're doing. When they're finally ready they tell you they're going to make you a sandwich with fillings of your choice (caviar, herbs, rillette, raw ham, Comte, ricotta). Except that it's an open sandwich so I have to stop the guy when he proceeds to give me two halves with the same topping and ask if I can switch up the other half. I can, so why not explain properly from the get go? And if you end up forgetting one of my toppings, what's the point of the whole thing? The bread is good but not extraordinary. The "sandwich" is not more than the sum of its parts. I wonder if the chef winces at the thought of people who choose all toppings? (Some do, natch).
Almost an hour into the meal the first hot dish arrives. Except that it's served in a flower vase which hasn't been heated. Shellfish in a Champagne sauce. It tastes exactly how you'd expect in Japan and exactly how it wouldn't in a top Paris restaurant. The shellfish is excellent. The sauce doesn't make you sigh.
Milk bread is mostly air and that which is not is quite dry. The olive oil is excellent, but olive oil doesn't match milk bread. The pumpkin bread that is served later is better. The campange is much better.
Next shirako meuniรจre, mushrooms, ginnan, chestnut, duck dashi. This is the best dish so far. The dashi has excellent depth of flavour. The sakura leaves infused in the broth add another flavour dimension. Meuniรจre is surely the best way of serving shirako and it's beautiful here. The plate is hot. The waiter doesn't seem to know what the English is for shirako.
Next kawahagi and white truffle temaki. The truffle is delicious but I'm not convinced this works altogether as a bite. Also it's just too Japanese for what is meant to be a French restaurant. It completely jars with the slice of campagne they just served me.
Next another cold dish. Somen, botan ebi, bafun uni, sherry granita, crab dashi. All the components are excellent, but again it's just more expensive ingredients with no heart. The dish is not introduced properly. "The next dish is botan ebi or spot shrimp" is the correct start. Just "shrimp" is not acceptable in a restaurant at this level.
The next dish is steamed kue with matsutake and beurre blanc. All the components are excellent and it's a classic combination, generously plated, particularly the sauce. It just about comforts me, but it doesn't excite me. The side dish of raw turnip, shiro nasu and tofu adds nothing, except a tick in the Michelin inspector's box. I'll save my matsutake rant for another review.
Next a palette cleanser of kaki, murasaki shikibu liquor and granita. I like overripe kaki but I don't care for the Japanese beautyberry. At this point I'm getting bored and realising that with the main dish to arrive I'm going to be sat here for another hour.
The smoke really enhances the wagyu shorthorn. I can forgive the rough and slightly tough texture. The micro salad is served on a tiny side plate. I move it to my main plate so I can actually eat it, though I know how it's going to taste before it goes in my mouth. At the start of the meal you're able to "upgrade" your main course for a hefty supplement. The table next to me choose the pigeon or grouse. It's served in two servings, which is a top class touch.
The first sweet item is cedar ice cream, matcha blancmange, Granny Smith. It's a transition course. I don't really like it.
The main dessert is yuzu amazake boule, oolong marinated pear. This is really good.
The meal ends with a choice of drink (not pictured) and four superb petit fours.
Drinks are frighteningly expensive. Of course there are pairings, but the pairing doesn't include an aperitif.
There's an army of staff but most are standing around in the corridor. The bespoke furnishing and tableware is expensive. The staff have custom uniforms. Apparently the fit-out cost ¥300M, but I couldn't give a toss if the food isn't spectacular.
People are salivating over it and talking about multiple Stars and the Tabelog rating is already quite high. I loved my visit to La Clairiere and regretted I only made it once. So my expectations for Merge were high, and not unreasonably so. The chef apparently spent a year travelling the world, went to Noma, etc., etc. but I would have preferred it if he'd spent a year in Paris.
No real complaint in the quality of ingredients but there's no dish I'll remember and no dish I want to eat again. Madge is a Bugatti running on diesel. Perhaps I'll go back in another season and perhaps it will have improved. I drop the credit card I use that gives me the most points but is too embarrassing to use in a flashy restaurant or when I don't want the staff to think I'm cheap. So maybe I won't be back. The biggest French fine dining new opening in Tokyo of 2025 is my most disappointing meal of 2025.
๐ https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1306/A130602/13310019/
❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3.65
๐ฑ Booking: ๐ฉ A couple of weeks in advance via phone or TableCheck. Online bookings for lone diners are limited so phone if you don't see availability. English menu, English spoken.
๐ Location:
3-8-14 Minami-Aoyama. 10 mins from north-east from Omotestando Station Exit A4.
Map data ©2025 Google
๐ถ Free WiFi? ✅ Yes
๐ Visit November 2025
Arama chicken/Sunchoke tart
Codfish/Seiko crab
Square butter
Braised 4 kinds of shellfish
Autumn's bounty
Filefish and white truffle
Spot prawn Iveress
Longtooth grouper braise
Granite
Today's meat dish
Cedar, green apple
White incense
Comments
Post a Comment