Tokyo is a foodie heaven - there is so many things to see, taste and experience. Tokyo as a city has the highest number of Michelin starred restaurants than anywhere else in the world (including Paris which in 2012 had 79 Michelin starred restaurants, as opposed to Tokyo that had 247 in the same year). We were lucky enough to get last minute reservations at the two Michelin starred Pierre Gagnaire restaurant on the 36th floor of the ANA Intercontinental Hotel next to the apartment. We were giddy with excitement........
The "show plate" on arrival at the restaurant is beautiful - I instantly thought of H back home and her work with porcelain. This plate is like a water droplet rippling in a pond.
This is the "welcome" course - even before you order. Here there is cucumber with marscapone cheese, rabbit mousse, a tiny sweet biscuit with an almond sliver and a hazelnut ganache truffle
J's face says it all - Oh My God this food is soooooo good
It is the small details as well as the amazing food that got this restaurant its Michelin stars - J & my menus had no prices - but S's did. Details like this are absolutely priceless, and make it more than just lunch, but an entire experience. We decided on the Apinac menu, which came in four courses.
First up with Le cocktail de poche - cocktail bites
Here the waiter is pouring the soup on the first dish
This is Cream of sweet purple potatoes with Macvin, with chantilly cream flavoured with shanso pepper.
This is sweet shrimp tartar seasoned with soya dressing, with green sprouts with madras spice and slices of red and black radish. This actually had a tandoori taste, and the prawns were incredibly creamy.
Preserved leg of Challans' duck with butternut chutney and chicory cream flavoured with black malt beer.
Medallion of John Dory tarragon infused, with oyster mushroom and spinach sauce - this was a standout dish - the sauce was amazing.
Sherbet of pink grapefruit, yuzu and campari, with "Colombino" olive oil ice cream. We were very interested to see what olive oil ice cream would taste like - it was delicious. You could taste the olive oil, but it wasn't over powering.
Even the bread at Pierre Gagnaire was delicious- their fruit bread was delicious and incredibly light, unlike anything we have eaten in Australia (where fruit bread is often quite heavy).
Even the bowls and plates at Pierre Gagnaire are beautiful.
This is Foie gras gateaux topped with scampi and broccoli with lobster cream sauce with Sauternes wine and winter vegetables. This was delicious - the scampi was the star of this dish, along with the sauce. The fois gras was in mousse form, and was light, and not overly rich. This is probably the first time in my life I have enjoyed eating brussel sprouts - even the winter vegetables were turned and cooked to perfection.
Hakkinton pork loin grilled with sage, buckwheat crepe, pan seared squid and cherry tomatoes, topped with an eggplant tart. This was delicious - all the elements worked really well together, and the sauce was a amazing. It made me want to learn how to make French sauces properly.
The look of bliss says it all :-)
It would be bad to lick the plate in such a smancy restaurant ..... right? We controlled ourselves, but the temptation was high.
The dessert course arrived - we were wondering how we were going to fit them in.... but we found room.
Cubed black sesame mousse, with apples and rock mellon - absolutely delicious.
Yuzu sorbet with passionfruit, served with mango sauce. This tasted a lot like summer and reminded me of eating mangoes with my father in law and kids back home at Christmas time, which surprisingly actually made me a little homesick.
This was white chocolate and dark chocolate mousse, topped with a tempered chocolate sliver (which melted on your tongue as soon as you put in it in your mouth), topped with yuzu caviar. This was delicious, but incredibly rich - I'm glad it was at the end of our dinner.
Just when we thought it was all over, we were given a dark chocolate ganache ball topped with tempered chocolate and a jelly square. A perfect end to the perfect meal.
We have eaten amazing meals all over the world, and all agreed this was up there with all those amazing meals, and we understand why this restaurant was given two michelin stars.
Small details make a huge difference - including these table decorations made with porcelain and resin.
Our table had the most amazing view of Tokyo including Tokyo tower. The light danced off the resin crystals, which added a magical element to the restaurant.
After ordering from the main menu we were given our own menu so that we could follow along & know what we were eating. The maître d’hôtel was incredibly friendly and spoke at length with us, which was very kind, given that we got almost the cheapest meal on the menu, and didn't order any wine. He even let us take our menus home - our chances of reproducing this menu at home are zero, but it was a nice keepsake.
We spent the afternoon hanging out with our friends, and enjoyed a beautiful sunset over Tokyo.
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