I have been somewhat of a L’atelier De Joel Robuchon lunch set groupie, trying it out at the various restaurants around the world. Well, I revisited the one in Tokyo last October and, no disappointments whatsoever!
Sitting by the counter, this time near the pastry chef, watching as her incredibly deft fingers prepped whimsical, drool-worthy plates in endless succession and watching as the waiters waltzed their way around, always there but never intrusive, the heady buzz gets to you and in a good way.
There are about 3 lunch set options to choose from, ranging from ¥ 3,200 to ¥ 6,800 and we chose the priciest which is actually quite a steal considering that this place has 2 Michelin stars awarded to it.
So it’s a 5-course degustation affair, with plate after plate of impeccably plated treats – starting off light with a zesty seabream carpaccio, then diving into a turmeric-spiced “cappuccino” of curried and pureed artichoke with mussels and a choice of fish, lamb or wagyu for your main – I chose the lamb and it was tender and prepared just right to show off the natural flavours.
Now, I’ve had my fair share of to-die-for desserts, but I think I just had the prettiest dessert I have ever seen in my dining life – a mulberry light mousse with sherbet and cassis meringue. It defies gravity, it’s pink and it’s got cute sugar daisies all over it. What’s not to love?
Tips:
- Go for lunch! Always great value for money and usually people only have good things to say about it. Have not heard the same when it comes to dinner.
- The best plan is to eat, visit the Mori Art Museum for about an hour, then proceed to the Sky Observation Deck atop the museum, ideally just in time to catch the sunset. We were there in Oct, so the sun was already setting around 5ish, so working backwards, we had lunch around 1pm. We didn’t see a gorgeous sunset as it was cloudy but that part, you have no control over. Still it was an experience indeed to be atop Tokyo’s highest open-air deck!
- And you might as well make a day out of being at Roppongi Hills by having dinner at the funky izakaya, Jomon.
Address: 2/F Hillside, Roppongi Hills, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku Tokyo 106-0032, Japan
Contact: +81 (0)3 5772-7500
Reservations: https://secure.reservation.jp/robuchon2012/restaurant_pc/rsv/index.aspx?ri_id=3&lang=en-US