This post was written in 2008. Shop details and prices may have changed since then.

At lunch there are two menus, the Menu Dejeuner and the Menu Gourmand, and we ordered both. Translated, Dejeuner means lunch and Gourmand means gourmet. The Dejeuner is 8,200 yen and the Gourmand is 12,300 yen, plus a 12% service charge. In all the photos from here on, the Dejeuner comes first and the Gourmand second.
We start with the amuse-bouche.
Green pea soup with mint jelly

So refreshing. The soy-milk-like flavour of the green peas layered with the scent of fresh herbs, and I could feel my whole body slowly start to relax. Lately I hadn’t had much food with genuinely new flavours, which had been a bit of a letdown, but the moment I took a bite I knew I’d made the right call coming here. The real pity is that this dish is nowhere near the level where it deserves such a short description, but with everything else still to come I have to keep it brief.
Orange jelly with red wine and cassis liqueur

But this one was even better. The zing of orange and the deep aroma of cassis really whet the appetite. And that polished presentation… It reminds me all over again that three stars aren’t handed out for nothing.

Around this point the bread cart arrives.

Which bread would you like? I tried a few different ones, and personally I liked the tomato bread and the croissant with anchovies best.
The food starts coming again. We’re still only at the beginning and it already feels like I’ve eaten a lot ^_^
Snow crab Le Crabe
As a terrine with an avocado fondant, alongside a cardamom-scented Kogyoku apple purée and marinated red radish
avec un fondant d’avocat et un condiment de pomme a la cardamone

Snow crab and avocado are a rich pairing that could easily get a bit heavy, but the sweet sauce holds it together nicely. Again, a freshness I’d never tasted before. This is exactly why French food has an allure I just can’t quit.
Premium fresh uni L’Oursin
In a crustacean jelly under a smooth cauliflower crème
dans une delicate gelee recouverte d’une onctueuse creme de chou fleur

What can I say… you could call it a work of art rather than food. They told me the mark on the lid is Robuchon’s emblem.

I open the lid to spoon it up.

If you made a supreme ice cream out of uni, I suppose it would melt in the mouth just like this. But that still wouldn’t begin to explain the freshness and the rich nuttiness. A truly frustrating, hopeless dilemma.
A gentleman wearing a sommelier’s badge shows us the wine list.

Pricey wines like the Bordeaux first growths are well stocked across the vintages, but there’s almost nothing cheap and good. It’s nearly all French wine; there’s no Chilean or even American wine in sight, just the odd Spanish bottle here and there. To drink properly here you’d probably have to spend 30,000 yen or more, but it was lunch, so I kept it simple with one glass of wine.
A Riesling from Alsace.

It was decent, but a bit light on body. The Champagne was better.
The glass

Worrying about value for money at a place like this is probably pointless. People come here for the wonderful atmosphere, so the price of the wine isn’t really the issue. Still, my guess is that the cheapest glass of wine is the best value. If you drink at La Table de Joël Robuchon, give that a try…
Now on to the second course ^_^
Topinambour Le Topinambour
Jambon broth turned into a smooth soup, with a Parmesan flan inside
cremeux sur un caille lacte assaisonne de palette de cochon cuite dans bouillon au gout de garbure

Not just the presentation, the taste also feels close to Japanese food. Once again, a distinctive flavour I’d never had before. The clean, nutty Parmesan and the warm soup full of softly rising foam somehow reminded me of the gentleness of kongbiji, Korean okara stew. Maybe the ultimate in flavour is the same in East and West.
Close-up

Moving.
There’s rich Parmesan cheese at the bottom of the soup.

With dishes like this, there’s no way you can order just one of the two courses. Ordering a bit of everything and sharing seems like the best way to go.
Free-range hen’s egg L’oeuf de poule
Coated in breadcrumbs and fried crisp, set on seasonal mushrooms and scattered with Ossau-Iraty and Bigorre black ham
croustillant avec une fricassee de champignons, jambon noir de Bigorre et copeaux d’Ossau-Iraty

You press down on that unusual sauce and eat it in place of the yolk. The sauce had a nice flavour and the concept was great fun, but it felt awkward to keep stealing bites, so I didn’t really get a proper taste.

Here’s what’s inside.

Continued in part 3.

한국어로 읽기日本語で読む