Les Creations de Narisawa (Tokyo, JAPAN) ★★☆☆☆

We were pretty hyped up about our visit to Les Creations de Narisawa after it's been rated as "The Best Restaurant in Asia" in the prestigious World's 50 Best Restaurants award 2 years in a roll. Japanese are very passionate about food and to be the best in Asia, or even Japan said a lot about this place. Expectation was very high.

The restaurant was fairly easy to find, just a 2-minute walk from the Aoyama Itchome Station. To keep things simple, we ordered the set lunch with an appetizer, main course and dessert. There were no optional items in the menu so my brain got a well deserved day-off.

The first to come was the amuse bouche which was a leave with its root that looked just freshly dug out of the soil. And it tasted exactly like one. It's nice for phototaking but honestly not something I enjoyed putting into my mouth. The rest of our lunch also failed to impress. For example, my chicken breast which was slow cooked for one day according to our server, was a bit raw in the inside. The dessert, which was nicely presented, was actually pina colada mixed with passion fruit, mango and marshmallow. Enough presentation but what we want genuinely was food that tasted great so forget about presentation!

￥7,000 wasn't a crazy price to pay for a good lunch in Tokyo standard but I would definitely prefer to spend it elsewhere. The usual suspects such as Joel Robuchon at Ebisu, Benoit by Alain Ducaisse etc would be much safer bet.

The restaurant is quietly located on the ground floor of a commercial building.

We could see the kitchen through a glass window.

Gift from "Satoyama" and "Le Potager" - a fresh leaf served with mustard dirt and fresh onions with black coating. Too innovative for me!  (2/10)

Raw hirame fish, baby leaves and edible flowers served with yuzu sauce. Great presentation but didn't have that fresh taste we were expecting (3/10).

"Gift from the Sea" - Snapper from Hagi and Yamaguchi+"Asari" from Aichi - Again underwhelming (3/10).

"Gift from the Forest" - Amagi no Shamo, Chicken from Shizuoka. The chicken breast was slow-cooked for almost a day but still raw inside (3/10).

Okinawa Dessert = Pina Colada + marshmallow + assorted fruit (5/10).

Another dessert - dumpling with passion fruit sauce. Average.

Petite Four

12th Best in the World in 2011.

Food Rating: 3/10
Price: ￥￥￥￥
Address: Minami Aoyama 2-6-15, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Closest Metro Station: Aoyama Itchome

Website: www.narisawa-yoshihiro.com
S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants: 12th (2011)