ESqUISSE エスキス (Tokyo, JAPAN) ★★★★☆

Little nugget got sick on our fourth day in Tokyo, then mom got the virus from him. A few days later, just a day before we are about to leave, it was my turn to get really sick. While I could hardly walk, my memory was serving me well and I still remembered my highly anticipated lunch at two Michelin starred ESqUISSE (one of my first bookings for this trip). Am I going to call in sick? Not a chance.



Perched on the 9th floor of a building in upscale Ginza district, ESqUISSE (literally means "sketch" in French) blends top-notch Japanese ingredients with exquisite French cooking. Executive chef Lionel Beccat cut his teeth at Maison Troisgros in South of France and went on to helm the kitchen for 2 Michelin starred Cuisine[s] Michel Troisgros in Tokyo for 6 years before joining ESqUISSE in 2012.

Apart from the Michelin Guide, ESqUISSE has also been a fixture in the annual Asia Best Restaurant awards. This year, they are ranked No.83 on a list filled with Tokyo-based restaurants.

ESqUISSE normally serves three different tasting menus (5, 6 and 7 course) during lunch but since it's Christmas season, they are only offering the longest version at this time. 

Bread, tomato, white truffle – My lunch got off to a flying start with a homemade brioche with thin slices of winter truffle hanging on top.

Between the brioche and white truffle from Italy, there were dried tomatoes and pesto to give the nibble some nice savory flavors.

Crab, fennel, caviar – A pretty innovative dish with spanner crab meat and fennel hidden underneath a sauce made with cream cheese, finished off elegantly with caviar on top.

A minimalist dish with some lovely acidity to match the sweetness of the crab meat and saltiness of caviar.

Squid, spinach, seri – Japanese squid cooked over creamy squid juice, was served with organic spinach leaves. The squid juice was the catalyst here combining well with the Comté cheese, sake and seri, the Japanese water celery for a heart-warming finish that proved to be perfect on a winter day like this.  

Some sourdough bread was served up while I patiently waited for my Ise ebi dish to arrive.

Ise ebi, carrot, kumquat – Beautifully cooked Ise ebi topped with fennel paste, was perfectly complemented by some subtle sweetness from the carrot purée and kumquat. A light vegetable broth provided the ebi with a fine finishing touch.

A well-designed dish but with a minor blemish from the slightly chewy shrimp.

Sawara, cauliflower, yellow wine – Next up was superbly cooked Japanese sawara fish matched with a rich and tangy yellow wine sauce. Served on the side was a small cauliflower and simple condiment of Comté cheese which has been flavored with citrus. Another dish with minimalist presentation but highly successful results. 

Turnip, pine nut, black truffle – Here I got a change of pace from the chef with a slice of poached turnip covered with black truffle and pine nuts sitting on a deceptively intense beef broth flavored with pine needles. The crunchy turnip worked with the truffle and nuts a lot better than I thought; and the broth really added some nice meaty flavors to the mix. 

Beef, beetroot, blackcurrant – Finally, it was time for my meat course.

Prized wagyu beef from Tochigi Prefecture (栃木県) served medium was really soft and wobbly. I thought the red wine reduction was a tad thick and strong. There were a lot of savory flavors and acidity (from the black currant and powder) in the dish but just not enough sweetness (beetroot confit) to balance things out. 

Pumpkin, persimmon, saffron – My favorite dessert out of the two. Light pumpkin mousse was paired with fresh persimmon, saffron jelly and lemon juice so a bit of zesty flavors and aroma of a chilled wine (which I forgot to jot down the name of) on top of all the sweetness.

Cocoa, pear, buckwheat – This tasted a bit like a mille feuille with the savory-sweet buckwheat and cocoa puff pastry hugging around a patch of salted caramel ganache and pear compote, finished with a touch of cocoa sauce flavored with brown sugar on the side. Not bad.

I was absolutely stuffed at this point and they tried to kill me with one last sweet treat, a sweet "dumpling" with syrup and what I thought was apple compote as the filling.  

Chef Beccat wasn't in today but I did bump into Monsieur Lionel Lavernhe, the restaurant's director who had been working at L'Osier a while back. I recognized him right away and almost told him about the time that he rescued my camera from his crew back in 2014. Couldn't believe that was a decade ago already.

Food Rating: 7.7/10

Price: ￥￥￥￥

Address: 5-4-6 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan

Closest Metro Station: Ginza

Tel: +81 3-5537-5580

Website: www.esquissetokyo.com

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 1:00pm, 6:00pm - 8:30pm daily

S. Pellegrino Asia's 50 Best Restaurants: 67th (2023)