I have at least one revelatory dining experience every time I visit Tokyo and, on this trip, it was the dinner I had at Esquisse, Tokyo’s hottest French restaurant. Located on the 9th floor of the Royal Crystal Ginza, Esquisse has only been open a year and a half but, in that short time, under the stewardship of the Head Chef Lionel Beccat, it has made a name for itself amongst a host of culinary luminaries.
How great was our meal? Well, it was so good that Akemi, who had hitherto proclaimed herself “not a fan of French cuisine”, did an about face and has now declared herself very much a fan. At least so far as Esquisse is concerned. “The best meal I’ve eaten on this trip,”was what she said. And we’ve had A LOT of terrific meals on this trip.
Every dish was a visual marvel, and the intricacies of its textural and flavor combinations nothing short of incredible. Descriptions would not do any of them justice so, instead, feast your eyes…
Flawless.
If you’re making plans to visit Tokyo, put this one at the top of your To-Do list.
Esquisse: Royal Crystal Ginza 9F, 5-4-6 Ginza, Tokyo
Overall, it was another of good eating. We were out the door fairly early this morning so that Akemi could check out one of her favorite chocolate shops, Chocolat de H, which had relocated to Shibuya’s Shin Q department store. We walked the basement food section and I snapped some surreptitious pics. For some reason photography is not permitted in the building so, if you report me, I’ll deny any knowledge of the photos or this blog…
We picked up a few desserts (for later) and had just enough time to cram them into our hotel fridge before heading downstairs to meet up with Akemi’s old friend and co-worker, Nihei, who took us to lunch.
We walked the five blocks over to Kushino Bou, a terrific kushiage restaurant. For those not in the know, kushiage cuisine offers an assortment of panko-crusted deep-fried favorites. We were seated at counter and were instructed to simply tell them “Stop” when we’d had enough. And then it began, skewer after skewer after skewer after skewer…
Akemi maxed out at around twelve. Nihei and I managed about twenty. Apparently, the restaurant’s average repertoire includes anywhere from 40-50 different skewers a seating, so if you’re planning to “sample a bit of everything”, make sure to skip breakfast.
After lunch, we strolled over to Akemi’s former workplace, Pierre Marcolini, where we picked up some thank-you chocolates for Nihei.
We bid our host a fond farewell and burned off lunch with a little walk so that we could return to the hotel room and sample the desserts we had purchased that morning…
Not a bad one in the bunch. The cheesecake was particularly intriguing – not overly sweet and a touch salty.
In the afternoon, we did a little advance Christmas shopping. Among the notable sights:
And we capped off our night at….where else?…Star Bar. Check out Master Kishi-san doing his thing. He’s a machine!
Star Bar: １-５-１３ Ginza, Chuo
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