Florilège

This restaurant offers high-end French cuisine with a Japanese twist – no surprise, it has two Michelin stars. The dinner menu consists of 11 small courses. The flavors of shiitake mushrooms, cheese, truffle shavings, beef and ayu fish stand out. The whole course is well-balanced. The waiter recommends the wine pairing, which is priced at 13,000 yen, as it includes some high-end wines such as L. Boillot Nuits Saint Georges, Comte d’angerville Meursault, and a great sake, as well as an excellent Sauvignon blanc from Nagano. The restaurant itself is very comfortable, with seating at tables surrounding the open kitchen in the center.

We went to Florilege for lunch during our short stay in Tokyo (the Hyatt Regency Ginza, where we were staying, managed to get two seats for us, which is a credit). Everything was so well thought out, from the decor, the tableware, the food presentation, the food taste, to the wine and drinks. It was a fascinating experience to watch the open kitchen in action. The food was just amazing. Thumbs up. No wonder it's one of the top 50 restaurants in Asia! My friend said we should have ordered the 11-course lunch instead of the 7-course lunch. I said, "Let's do that next time!" Will definitely go back!

It was once one of the top three restaurants in Asia. It is a creative restaurant opened by a group of idealistic young Japanese people. It combines European elements with Japanese ingredients. It feels more authentic than those in Europe and is more in line with Asian tastes.

This restaurant was booked in advance, but there was a small mistake three days before going. I probably remembered the reservation time wrongly. I thought it was on the 30th, but it was actually on the 28th. At noon on the 28th, I had lunch at another restaurant I had booked, Fukamachi, and I completely forgot about this one. The friend who helped me make the reservation was called countless times by the store. The Japanese are really dedicated. I thought it was not intentional to stand up, and it was basically impossible to come to dine this time. I didn't expect that I didn't give up and came to the restaurant on the 30th to try to communicate with the store. I was understood and arranged to dine. Fortunately, there was a kitchen assistant in the restaurant who knew a little Chinese, so we communicated well, and the original oolong incident was written off. The restaurant is very hidden and hard to find. I walked all the way from Omotesando and wandered around the Jingumae 2-chome intersection for a long time. Finally, I found that the restaurant was hidden in the basement! I was impressed by the unique modern art design before entering the store. The restaurant opens on time at 12 o'clock, and we were allowed to enter early to rest for a while. I was one of the early ones, and there was a couple of foreigners in the same group. While waiting, I saw many award certificates and medals of Asia's 50 Best Restaurants hanging in the restaurant. But I was even more fortunate that two days before I came, the Tokyo Michelin 2018 Guide had just come out, and his restaurant was upgraded from one star to two stars, which shows that it was still recognized by the judges. When I used the reviews to locate the restaurant, I also found that Jimbocho Den (Den) had opened a new store here, which seemed to be only a hundred meters away from Florilege. And Den had just been upgraded from one star to two stars, and the two chefs were good friends. It was really a double happiness. Florilege didn't seem to have a separate private room. The super large bar surrounded the kitchen, and there was no glass. When dining, you can have zero-distance contact with the chefs. The experience is really great! The decoration style of the restaurant and the kitchen is simple and elegant, unlike the general French restaurant that is so rigid and overly gorgeous. Florilege is overall dark in color, which is also a popular style in recent years. Compared with several other well-known creative French restaurants of the same type in Tokyo, Florilege is easier to book, and there is no limit on the number of diners (I was alone), and the price is the most affordable, especially for lunch at noon. In the end, including tax and service fee, it was less than 8,000 yen, but there were not a few dishes. When you see the menu, you can feel that this is a very attentive restaurant. Every time a dish is served, a cute and handsome Taiwanese brother will come to help me explain it. This is really a great gift. Everyone knows that Japanese people are not good at English. Changing to someone who can speak Chinese to explain the dishes will allow me to better understand the details of this restaurant and have a deeper understanding of each dish. The appetizer is full of surprises. First of all, the plating is very creative. It is made into a mini version of the shape of baked sweet potatoes. In fact, it is a small dessert made of various potatoes mixed and mashed and then added with cream, butter and other ingredients. The plating is also very sophisticated, which is a perfect opening! Next is a modified version of pasta, which is very rich in ingredients, including half-cooked fish, special tomato bacon and the most outstanding onion ice cream. The combination tastes quite good. From time to time, a freshly baked bread is served, and you can pair it with any sauce of the dish.

I really enjoyed my seat around the open kitchen. The wait staff was very nice and every dish was delicious even if I wasn't used to the taste of some of the dishes. Not sure if this is the case with all fine dining restaurants in Japan but I didn't want to join the drink line and no one invited me for cocktails or anything. Not the best restaurant I've been to but worth a try if you like gourmet culinary restaurants.