L'Osier ロオジエ (Tokyo, JAPAN) ★★★★★

COVID-19 has stolen a lot of things from us. For someone who loves to travel for food, part of my life was taken away for three full years until late last year when travel restrictions were finally lifted for most countries. Three trips and eight months later, I finally got the chance for my first overseas 3 Michelin starred experience in nearly 43 months.

Thankfully, there are a lot of choices when it comes to 3 Michelin starred experience in Japan. And since we were staying in Ginza this time, it immediately made L'Osier (ロオジエ) the obvious No.1 choice.  

When I called L'Osier to make my booking two months ago, it was the first time I learned about Japanese fine-dining restaurant's daily quota for solo diners. As it turned out, they only have one daily quota for diners coming alone.  

This marks my second appearance at the French fine-dining restaurant run by cosmetic giant Shiseido who is currently on a run of three stars in five consecutive years.

Some canapés to kick things off in style. This included a cracker topped with eggplant purée, lime and herbs (bottom), a puff with truffle and ricotta cheese (left) and tartlet with bell pepper emulsion and bits of dehydrated cherry (right). There was some serious extra heat from the last nibble there. 

The canapés were immediately followed by a second amuse bouche, chilled sweet corn soup with sweet corn ice-cream, popcorn and dabs of sea urchin. A layer of vegetable jelly on the bottom provided the perfect balance for the sweetness of the sweet corn along with some extra bite from the vegetables. 

Two kinds of bread were offered to me before my starter and first up, it was the bread basket.

Followed by a sourdough bread served with extra virgin olive oil.

Dublin Bay prawn – It didn't take long for my starter to arrive and it was a beautifully decorated dish full of colors.

The sea prawns and prawn mousse were nicely wrapped with thin sheets of zucchini, and served with three types of sauces, passion fruit (yellow), zucchini (green) and vinegar (brown) on the side. There was a second serving of the dish with the same sea prawns chopped into small cubes and served with diced vegetables, aromatic herbs and herb jelly as a tower. It was a very refreshing dish to whet my appetite with the sweetness of the sea prawns and the fruity notes of the different ingredients coming together exquisitely to harmonize each other.

Amadai – The fish course today was amadai with crispy scales and toppings of beetroot chips, edible flowers and more. But he star of the dish belonged to the vegetables bouillon with champagne vinegar delivering a lovely touch of freshness and abundance of clean flavors. 

Akaushi Wagyu Beef from Kumamoto – I have my fair share of Akaushi wagyu in recent months (Hong Kong: Kaen Teppanyaki, Beppu: Atelier at InterContinental Beppu Resort & Spa to name a couple) and this breed of red colored wagyu showed up on the menu again this afternoon.

The roasted wagyu sirloin was really juicy and tender with rich, deep flavors. It was matched perfectly with the assortment of flavors from the Manganji sweet pepper, chanterelle mushroom and pickled shallots.

My palate cleanser was orange sorbet served in an orange and passion fruit soup with orange zest. The lovely acidity really helped to reset my palate and get it ready for dessert.

A set of adorable petite fours. I forgot to jot down exactly what they were. 

Around the Red Berry – The "real" dessert was a berry lover's dream with a collection of fresh wild berries and sorbet made with fresh red berries. A refreshing end to a wonderful meal.

I almost forgot about their mignardises cart which is one of my favorite part of the tasting menu.

Orange cake, hazelnut chocolate, chocolate truffle, peanut butter cookie, nougat and grapefruit jelly.

While I was enjoying my sweet bites, I got a surprise visit from Executive Chef Olivier Chaignon, one of my favorite chefs in Japan. I first met Chef Chaignon back in 2014 when he arrived at the scene of L'Osier for only about a month or so. I had a brief chat with him and of course, congratulated him on his three stars. It was nice to have the opportunity to share a photo with him again. 

This is as good as it gets when it comes to haute cuisine in Tokyo I think. Yes, some of the rules are a little old school (like the requirement for gentleman to wear a jacket which I didn't bring for this trip). But the impeccable service, attention to details and beautiful presentation of dishes, need to say more?

Food Rating: 8/10
Price: ￥￥￥￥
Address: 7-5-5 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan
Closest Metro Station: Ginza
Tel: +81 3-3571-6050
Website: https://losier.shiseido.co.jp/

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 3:00pm, 5:30pm - 10:00pm (Tue - Sat)