Address - Tokyo-to, Chuo-ku, Ginza 8-6-19 B1 Fl. (along Namiki Dori) Opening hours - 6 to 11 PM Map - Yes Telephone - 5568-0222 Menu - in English and French CC - OK

First of all, let me warn you: this place is really difficult to find, so plan to spend at least 15 minutes looking for it ASKING DIRECTIONS USING THE ADDRESS ABOVE, especially if you don't read or speak Japanese. There are few points of reference around it, and the restaurant itself is marked only by a tiny sign (no more than 35cm x 35cm) up in the air, three meters from the ground. You won't be able to see it until the last moment.

It's well worth the trouble, though, because this is one of the most original and worthwhile restaurants I have discovered recently.

I have seen it defined as Mediterranean, French, Italian, Mukokuseki, this and that, but in the end I think it's fair to say that it's heterodox French. They take liberties here and there, but the general idea is always the same: most of the dishes are French in name and taste, in spite of the odd twist some of them have.
The place itself is small, simply furnished and nothing special to look at. It's a bit unusual in that you can see the cooks at work, a rare sight in a European-style restaurant.

The menu is not too long and at first sight expensive (nothing costs less than 1500 - 1700 yen), but its content changes with the season and portions are generous, so that the three of us ended up having a full meal with 3500 yen apiece without drinks, which in Ginza isn't bad at all. Only the drinks, grappa, eau-de-vie and so on, are outrageously priced: 1600 yen for a glass of Nonino is not only too much, but unreasonably so. About the wines, I don't drink any so I don't know if they are cheap, but I know MG is supposed to have a decent cellar.

We first had a classic rillette with pain de campagne (excellent), and a Coriander bomb which deserves a couple of lines by itself. It's basically fresh coriander with some roasted garlic and a nam plaa (Thai fish sauce) based sauce, but for somehow it goes perfectly with the rest.

We then had spare ribs and a cold eggplant salad. I may be wrong, but I think there was some nam plaa also in the spare ribs, which were odd but succulent.

To finish the meal, we had a dessert apiece, but the choice was limited, the dishes uninsteresting, and the price (around 800 yen) excessive considering their banality.

All in all, a great place though, even taking into consideration the flaws I have mentioned, the fact it's small and always packed, and the problem of finding a table free without calling a week in advance.

September 2004