Cuisine[s] Michel Troisgros @Hyatt Regency Tokyo (Tokyo, JAPAN) ★★★★★

I still remembered staying here at the Hyatt Regency about 7 or 8 years ago and it was a nightmare. The room we had was not well appointed at all and it could most certainly use a major facelift. In fact, everything inside the hotel looked old and dated. 

Well, not exactly everything. The Michelin 2-star Cuisine[s] Michel Troisgros did look ageless and that was precisely the reason why we were here again.



Executive Chef Guillaume Bracaval has the restaurant going in the right direction since his arrival a few years ago and of course, it doesn't hurt to have some of the signature dishes imported from their flagship restaurant back in Roanne France.



I better buckle up for this wonderful ride.



Before touching on the menu, a couple of words about the dining room here. This is one of the few fine dining restaurants in Tokyo where I actually found the space to be a little cramped. And I wished our server could speak a little more English.




There are three set menus available on the afternoon - Menu A, B and C (differ by the number of courses).



Lunch started brightly with a terrific trio of nibbles starting with a smoked tuna on a small sesame bread and mustard. That was followed by a small sweet potato chip with yogurt and salmon roes and then a crispy rice ball, infused with cheese cream and egg.



And if those won't wake our taste buds up like they should, this one certainly will. A further amuse bouche showed up in the form of steamed clams on a bed of passion fruit jelly with a simple garnish of radish. The extra acidity got my adrenaline going in a hurry.



Next up was a homemade corn and ham brioche and that was simple but very tasty.



By the time we were almost done with our brioche, our first course was ready to be served and it was one of their signature dishes - pumpkin tortellini. Thinly sliced shells made with turnip were filled with delicious pumpkin soup and they were nicely complemented by some parmesan cheese sauce and hazelnut on the side. That was the perfect start we were dreaming for!



While we were still on cloud nine, my seafood dish was ready to impress and this seared scallops was simply drop dead gorgeous. Lovely presentation combined with a mix of wonderful flavors that included a porcini purée, porcini, capers, fresh grapes and walnut on top of a special scallop and cream sauce. That was simply unreal.



Veal from France topped with a layer of salty buckwheat crumb was next. While I like the potato gnocchi and roman lettuce purée, the same could not be said about the veal itself as it was slightly "underseasoned". And as I was putting the veal into my mouth, the only thing I could ever taste was the salty buckwheat crumb which was somewhat disappointing.



I wasn't expecting sunshine egg for dessert?


 
As it turned out, it was a lovely pre-dessert consisting of mozzarella cheese, custard and pumpkin. An absolute masterpiece.


 
I didn't want this culinary journey to end so soon but our server quickly dashed our hope by reminding us that it's dessert time. But even a simple dessert, they managed to make it worthwhile. 3 multi-layered meringue tubes were infused with walnuts ice cream, hazelnut cream and custard cream sauce. A refreshing finish to a perfectly executed lunch without a question.



And an excellent petite fours to wrap up this enjoyable meal at one of my newest favorite restaurants in Tokyo!



This was by far my second best dining experience on this trip (a very close second) right behind L'Osier. I thought Menu A (￥6,000) was a huge bargain and definitely represented the best value for money.





Food Rating: 9/10

Price: ￥￥￥￥

Address: 2-7-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-Ku, Tokyo, Japan
Closest Metro Station: Tocho-Mae
Tel: +81 (0)3 3348-1234
Website: Link