Neighborhoods like Asakusa, with centuries of history behind them, are full of hidden gems that the guidebooks barely know about. Most of them are old-school, untrendy Japanese places serving soba, sushi or yoshoku, but unusually, one of the most serious classic French restaurants in Tokyo has also set up shop here. It’s called Hommage, and if you’re a French-food lover who cares about value for money like I do, it’s the kind of place you’ll want to try at least once.
The entrance
It isn’t big. It has a local feel, the kind of place people in the neighborhood probably use for the occasional fancy lunch.
There are three set menus, at 3,000, 4,000 and 5,000 yen, and we went with the 4,000 yen one. The 3,000 yen menu is one starter and one main, the 4,000 yen menu is two starters and one main, and the 5,000 yen menu is one starter and two mains. For most people the middle one looks like the best choice.
Eggplant purée
A nice way to open the meal.
A closer look at the eggplant purée
Smooth, with the fresh flavor of eggplant coming through. It doesn’t have three-star impact, but it’s well above neighborhood-bistro level.
Fried mehikari
Who’d have thought a French restaurant would serve tempura ^_^ French cooking with Japanese techniques mixed in seems to be what this place is about. I suspect that’s Asakusa rubbing off on it. You’d have a hard time finding a dish like this somewhere like Aoyama or Roppongi. The green thing next to it isn’t a lime, apparently, but a Japanese lemon. The fish looks a bit scrappy, but after one bite everyone at the table was saying how good it was. Crisp on the outside and tender inside.
Olive oil
Really good quality. Not greasy at all, and it brings out the flavor of the bread nicely.
Bread
The torn bit on the side is supposed to be like that ^_^ Nicely baked. Just from what’s come out so far, you can tell this is a French kitchen with really solid fundamentals.
Now the real cooking starts.
Greek-style marinated vegetables
The vegetables here are excellent. At first I was a bit let down that it was just vegetables, but one bite and it became one of my favorites. Fresh vegetables soaked through with a bright acidity that naturally gets your appetite going. The best of the first round of starters.
Marinated mackerel
Looking at how fresh that mackerel is, you’d wonder whether you were in a French restaurant or a sushi bar. The vegetables are fresh again and go well with the sauce behind them.
Terrine of wagyu cheek and lentils
A terrine of wagyu cheek with lentils in it. The rich, heavy flavor of the beef went really well with the little pop of the lentils.
Here comes the second starter.
Oyster flan with shungiku in consommé bouillon
Oyster season must be starting. The freshness is incredible. The flan sitting in the bouillon is as soft as pudding, and people all around the table let out sighs at how good it was. It feels like a demonstration of what French cooking tailored to Japan really means.
Foie gras poêlé
This is the house signature, pan-seared foie gras. Whatever impression you had of foie gras in Korea, just forget it… It melts in your mouth, smooth and deep, and seems to set the standard for what foie gras should be. I scraped up every last bit of sauce from the plate.
Roast squid
It looks a bit messy ^_^ but by now you can probably guess that even the squid isn’t just any squid dish. The stuffing packed inside reminded me a little of Korean ojingeo sundae (stuffed squid) or Japanese ikameshi, but it’s much tastier than it looks. Personally, I loved the leaves in the photo, whose name I’ve forgotten -_- They had a fresh sweetness. For me they beat the foie gras.
There were too many photos, so I’m splitting this into two posts.