There are many Robuchon dining spots in Tokyo, I have always been eager to dine at Gastronomy Joël Robuchon which is the only Michelin 3-star restaurant located in Tokyo in the Robuchon empire. Before Chef Robuchon passes away, he has been awarded 30+ stars. Thru AMEX Platinum Concierge, I was able to secure a reservation and was informed to pre-order the Degustation menu with either of 1, 2 or 3 main courses along with the associated Amuse Bouche, appetizers, cheese and desserts. The selected pre-order can’t be changed once reservation is confirmed.
Joël Robuchon is located in a large 2-stories building sharing its premises with other Robuchon establishments in this new development in Tokyo, Yebisu Garden Place, very similar to the Hudson Yard project in NYC, USA. In the dining room, staff were stationed in key posts to make sure diners’ needs was attended to. The setting is a luxurious neo-French Chateau, reminiscent of an 18-century palace with a formal atmosphere. The restaurant does require formal dress code.
Once we were seated. I notice there were carts of food being wheeled around, one cart for bread, one cart for cheese before dessert, two carts for desserts to go with the dessert course. It started with Amuse Bouche.
Amuse Bouche
1).Gaufrette/Sea Urchin and shrimp
Gaufrette
is a French term meaning “little waffle” that refer to a few different foods,
including a crisp, wafer biscuit or Belgian-style waffle. This dish firstly prepared
Sea Urchin mousse made of sea urchin, creamy mashed potatoes, white wine and purée shrimp. Mousse sandwiched in between waffles and then deep
fried the sandwich in butter. Mousse was fresh and scrumptious; coating was
lightly battered and crunchy. I felt like one is not enough. Sea urchin was
just tasty enough to open the palette.
2).Caviar Imperiale de Sologne
To make a simple description, it is pâté of crab layered with fennel jelly, then blanketed with caviar. Crabs are Zuwaigani crab, also known as Japanese Snow Crab, that is prized for its succulent, sweet meat and tender texture. It is a popular ingredient in various Japanese dishes.
Caviar, succulent and plump is from La Maison Nordique, renowned for their incomparable quality, caviar have a firm grain, a slightly iodized taste and perfectly balanced curing. Caviar is placed on crab meat which is surrounded by crustacean jelly made from fennel, lobster and shrimp with blobs of cauliflower cream dots and parsley dots on top. Cauliflower dots made of puréed cauliflower, potatoes and cream. This jelly, made of fennel and crustacean broth, was the amazing synthesizer. It made this dish with such a fabulous appearance, indulgent texture and flavors. Although it is served as amuse bouche which is usually in the experimental stage, it has already been recognized as one of the signature dishes. I noticed that the quantity of jelly has been increased in this version from the prior version. I was deeply impressed by all aspects of this dish. It is a miracle to be so perfect. I inquired the Director on how many cauliflowers dots are on each plate. He would not give me a straight answer. Regardless, it is a practice of patience.
Breads
Once the bread cart parked by your table, the attendant automatically gave us their signatures – a small baguette and a slice of rye bread. In addition, the restaurant served olive oil and Froment du Léon butter from Brittany. It is a high-quality dairy product with a very special yellowish luster and smooth and rich diary taste. The varieties of bread include breads with charcoal, anchovies, basil, plain, cheese, corn, sun dried tomatoes, bacon, olive, rosemary, etc. They looked so yummy, but I had to watch how much bread I ate so that I had enough room for the rest of the meal. The real game will start with the cold appetizer and then hot appetizer.
Les
Entrées Froides / Cold
Appetizers
La Niçoise –
Soft Boiled Egg in Modern Style “Niçoise”
with Macedonia Vegetables
It was green egg with gold
leaf. Never had green egg before. To make dish with such a lush green color,
the source has to be natural with multiple color combination and some molecular
gastronomic techniques. It required Ukokkei chicken and Tokyo Bekana lettuce to
make dark green sphere.
Tokyo bekana is a leafy green vegetable in the celery cabbage family. It has a mild flavor and tender texture, making it an excellent substitute for lettuce.
Ukokkei chickens(烏骨鶏),
originally brought to Japan from China, also known as Silkie chicken, is a
unique and highly prized breed of chicken in Japan. Renowned for its
distinctive black skin, bones, and white fluffy feathers, long been treasured
for their rarity and rich nutritional value, has a vibrant and deep orange
color yolk. Silkie chickens are known for laying very few highly prized eggs
and being very expensive. While a typical chicken lays 280 to 300 eggs
annually, a Silkie only lays around 40-80.
Egg
was sitting on top of tomato purée which was surrounded by dots of potato purée (one of Robuchon’s signature dishes) and
pea purée, a trio appearance. I have had Ukokei
chicken (It means dark bone chicken) and am familiar with the taste. In this
course, diner could feel the richness of the running yolk in the mouth. Taste
of chicken blended well with other ingredients. The highlight of this course
was the green chicken egg and the rich taste of the egg yolk.
Le Sauman –
Wasabi Smoked Salmon, Delicate Mousse Served with Wasabi Scented Cream
It was wasabi smoked salmon
wrapped around salmon mousse and adorned with salmon roe on top, with slightly
scented wasabi cream served on the side. Smoked salmon was juicy and fresh. It
was with gentle wasabi flavor; some diners probably would prefer a stronger
taste of wasabi.
Les Entrées Chaudes / Hot Appetizers
L’Asperge Verete
– “Jet Farm” Green Asparagus Creamy Velvety with Ricotta Cheese Raviolis
Flavored by Fresh Mint
Baby Ricotta cheese ravioli
was very tasty, served with fresh asparagus and other micro vegetable. What
made the difference was the creamy, slightly minty sauce.
L’Escargot – Snail Accompanied with Parsley and Garlic Purée Breading
It
was prepared with the “Panure” process. It is a French term for the breadcrumbs
or breading used to coat food before cooking, such as fish or chicken, involves
dredging food in flour, dipping it in egg, and then coating it with breadcrumbs
before pan searing. Chef Robuchon had his variation, his cooking method used
dry roasted garlic and parsley in making croquette and then baked the croquette.
Chef used the local escargot, not imported from France. Snails were juicy,
tender and succulent.
Le Hata – Iberique Steamed Hata with Sage Blossom, Served with Kamonasu
and Chorizo Mousseline
Hata,
also known as the Japanese Grouper, has a translucent white meat with its
delicate and sweet flavor, similar to sea bass. Best season is in winter.
Two different types of sauce were served, tomato sauce and Chorizo sauce. Herbs and julienned fresh vegetable and coriander served on the side of fish filet. In addition, fried eggplant pockets and steamed Hata made a balanced taste. Eggplant was from Kyoto; it was a special type of eggplant with fewer seeds and smoother taste. I have seen it in the market place. It is smaller than the original western eggplant and shorter than the Oriental eggplant. It was the best eggplant that I have ever had. The texture and the seedless feature definitely please diners’ tastebud. I originally requested medium Hata but was prepared well-done. However, the 2nd attempt was delivered mediumly cooked.
Le Carré d’Agneau –
Roasted Rack of Lamb with Thyme, Vegetable Calissons in a Rich Juice
Lamb was from France, 3-month-old
baby lamb which required great care. Since it was roasted with skin on, it
required baby lamb be kept in an environment without too much movement to
damage the skin. Baby lamb was served with roasted red pepper covering potatoes
reminiscent of Calisson (Calisson is a diamond-shaped sweet made with ground
almonds). In addition, the famous mashed potatoes served on the side. The
mashed potatoes were outstanding. Before I dined at Robuchon, I used to think Chef
David Bouley in NYC made the best mashed potatoes. It is sad, Chef Bouley has
passed away a few years ago, so did Chef Robuchon.
I have had baby lamb in other fine dining restaurants. It is distinctive in its texture and flavor. It was roasted (medium) and it was tasty, tender, succulent, adequately spiced with perfect flavor. I was very satisfied with my choice.
Cheese
Cheese course is where every
great French restaurant differentiate itself. To offer cheeses in various state
of ripeness and served at the right temperature. I selected a few varieties –
2-year-old aged Comté, medium flavored Goat cheese, strong flavored
Goat cheese, Brillat-Savarin (a decadent soft-ripened French triple-crème) and
a slice of nut and dry fruit bread. My priority - I needed to conserve space
for the complete dessert courses.
I.Dessert Course on the Menu
1).Coconut Chocolate Shell Served on a Passion Fruit Jelly
The
inflated white ball, Espuma, was achieved by pumping gas into the mixture of
coconut and white chocolate, a practice of Molecular Gastronomy pioneered by
Ferran Adria. It was served with delicious nectarine of passion fruit,
pineapple and mango at the bottom of the plate. Flavor was also enhanced by
dices of tropical fruits displayed around the plate as well as the chocolate
fence around the Espuma. It involves using a whipping siphon with gas cartridge
to incorporate air into purées, soups or creams. A
delightful and refresh palette cleaner.
2).Light Lemon Soufflé with Creamy Fromage Blanc Ice Cream
It was light lemon soufflé with creamy fromage ice cream. A very light weight soufflé with fine texture.
II.Trolley 1- Pastries, Cakes and Mignardis
They
are all delicious and temptation. With my stomach being in overloaded
condition, I still had a few “wanted”, it was too difficult to resist the
temptation. I knew I can’t possibly have every type among displayed in the
trolley: lemon cream tart, grapefruit tart, raspberry chocolate tart, opera
cake, chocolate cake, Napoleon, vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream,
raspberry sorbet and St. Honoreé cake, etc. My favorite
was Napoleon (Mille-Feuille). Chef made the layers of crust so fine and so
crunchy, one of the best Napoleon that I have ever had.
III.Trolley 2 – Fantasies and Chocolate
The
selection of desserts is gargantum. I was so full, but my palette still not
satisfied. I got pleasure simply by looking at the trolley which displayed more
temptation such as chocolate caramel, chocolate with sea salt, raspberry
chocolate, chocolate praline, noisette, crispy hazelnut, dark chocolate
hazelnut, ice candies almond, brownies, meringue, madeleines, truffles, yuzu
white chocolate bon bon on a lovely lemon biscuit, etc. My favorite was Yuzu
bon bon.
Among
all the fine dining restaurants that I have visited, Gastronomy Robuchon and
William Frachon/Chapeau Rouge in Dijon are the two still using the glass dome
to cover the dinner plate while food being brought from kitchen to table. It
was a great pleasure to enjoy the aroma and smelt upon the moment of serving
when dome was removed.
Upon
departure, the restaurant gave us a pineapple cake. We ate it the following day,
it was yummy and different from all other pineapple cake. According to the
Director, the restaurant does have a bakery, but not for retail. A customer
will get his/her baked goods by invitation only.
