As I mentioned in one of my earlier blogs, Tokyo is the premier destination outside of France for French cuisine. There are more outposts of Michelin starred French restaurants in Tokyo than any other city in the world. So I thought it would be fun to organize a group where we go out to the top French restaurants in Tokyo every month. I asked my friend Dima if she thought it would be a fun thing to do and the response was an enthusiastic "YES!" As I have been very busy at work, I did not have time to organize a group for our January outing, so it was just Dima and I for the first outing.
We decided to go to Taillevent's casual restaurant in Tokyo called "The Lounge" for a Friday night dinner. I made reservations just in case but it was pretty clear that it wasn't necessary. As many of you probably know, Taillevent in Paris for a very long time was considered THE finest restaurant in the world. Sadly, they lost a Michelin star in 2007 and is "only" a 2 starred restaurant in Paris. I went there in the late 80s and had one of the best meals of my life! It was the same time they decided to diversify and open a wine shop called Les Caves Taillevent. In 2005, they opened a Les Caves Taillevent in Tokyo which also houses a casual restaurant called "The Lounge" .
After a tough week at work I was really looking forward to the meal and a nice glass of wine. I've been there before during New Year's holiday but because of my dog Skipper's health problems I really could not focus on the food. But I do remember the service was nice so was very much looking forward to going again and this time enjoy the food.
Both Dima and I loved the place. The service was fantastic and consistent . What we loved most was that you could go next door and choose your own wine for dinner. There is no corkage fee. I didn't know this as the first time I went we only had a glass of wine. We both had the 6700 yen prix fixe course which consisted of 2 appetizers, 2 entrees and dessert. The appetizers were delicious pickled organic vegetables and a scallop carpacio. The 2 entrees were a fish dish and duck dish. Since Dima does not eat meat and I don't eat duck since I saw the movie Winged Migration, we asked if we could have a substitute. I was skeptical they would do it as I've never seen that kind of flexibility in Japan but they did it! So I ended up having their fish which was a sea bass like fish and their famous braised beef cheeks. Dima had a roasted cod in addition to the sea bass. For dessert we had a dense chocolate cake with homemade vanilla ice cream.
The toughest choice we had was in picking wine. We saw that they had a special on bordeaux so I suggested a bottle of Chateau Talbot(6000yen). However, we were told since its on sale, we cannot buy that bottle and have it in the restaurant. Weird but not surprising as those are the rules someone created and in Japan no one breaks the rules. So instead we chose a bottle of white wine that talked to Dima. Both of us never had the wine and boy were we glad to have it. It was fabulous. Its called Cuvee des Conti 2005 from Chateau Tour des Gendres and very reasonably priced (2500yen) I found out through google that this wine is the specialty of the house. Its made of Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscat grapes. Loved It! Dima was so impressed with the wines that after dinner she bought several bottles of different wines including the Cuvee des Conti and I got my bottle of Chateau Talbot and a bottle of Cuvee des Conti.
We both thoroughly enjoyed our meal and agreed we'll definitely come back. Dima is already thinking of going to the Champagne tasting event on January 30!
Taillevent The Lounge on Naka-dori, Marunouchi Tokyo
Our appetizer of pickled organic vegetables
Scallop Carpaccio
A roasted Sea Bass like entree with sauce to die for!
Braised Beef Cheeks that were cooked to perfection
The dessert, both Dima and I would have licked our plates if no one was watching!
The fabulous bottle of wine that spoke to Dima
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