Bistro Aida - Promise You won't Tell

So, Gentle Reader: can you be trusted with a secret?

If Your Humble Correspondent told you about a very good restaurant with a splendid chef, gracious floor staff, and a good wine list - that was also remarkably good value-for-money - would you be able to keep it to yourself? Would the greater good ... in this case, my being able to get a reservation on a whim ... mean that you would forfend all and any attacks on your confidentiality? At this juncture, it seems appropriate to provide a brief explanation of the dilemma with which Your Humble Correspondent is confronted.

The daily commute includes an ambulatory section (rest assured this is taken at a gentle pace!) from the Hellhole to Ebisu Station, and for weeks one's eyes were drawn to a rather nondescript eatery with the quaint name Bistro Aida [Map] (the aida piece being the Japanese for 'space'). An innocent quip like "What ho! I do believe I have found another little gem..." was enough for The Once and Future Blonde to determine that we should visit said establishment (together, apparently). So we went ... but a different "we" than she imagined. As it happened, there was the appointment with The Adjutant that needed some sort of suitable venue. And the rest is history, Gentle Reader.

Chef Seiji Omote has this place humming since its opening in February 2010, and it is a real "keeper". There is only one omakase offering with six courses including the amuse, for the princely sum of Y3,800 plus supplements for various choices in the Plat Principal and Dessert courses. But the food is heavenly ...

Your Humble Correspondent was quite taken with the Hors D'oeuvre of Fois Gros Pate and Wagyu Carpaccio in a Yuzu and Kabu foam, which was served with four ambrosial slices of Kyo-vegetables (white, black, and red turnips along with black daikon). Our excellent Bagna Cauda was served with two very interesting salts as an alternative with the vegetables: sumi-shio (charcoal salt) and smokii-shio (smoked salt) from Fukushima. Only in Japan, one imagines, but these are both real taste treats that are by themselves reason enough to visit Bistro Aida.

The main course meant duck of course, served with a fascinating sabayon (syllabub to some) of fois gros and puree of porcini mushrooms. It must have been the military testosterone, but we both showed typical reserve by plumping for cheese instead of dessert (which was a Sweet Potato and Apple Pie with cinnamon ice cream).

The wine list is good and well priced, and The Adjutant and I shared a very good Domaine Millet Sancerre 2008 and a 2006 Burgundy that escaped detection. In spite of this extravagance, our bill came to less than Y30,000.

Most of the people in the room were considerably younger than YHC, a sad occurrence that is becoming all too frequent in recent years. But if Bistro Aida is a date spot for sophisticated 30-somethings, it is a refined and all together elegant one which lives up to its mission statement as "a restaurant for adults."

Visit with friends and lovers rather than business colleagues, who would no doubt turn Bistro Aida to their own evil ends. And look for the more mature lurker in the corner - it would be nice to make your acquaintance!

Pip! Pip!

Bistro Aida [Map]: 1F No. 2 AS Bldg, 1-16-33 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku; t: 03-5422-9685
Rating: Food: 8/10; Wine: 7/10; Service: 7/10; Maturity: 7/10; Price-Performance: 8/10. Total: 37/50 (3 Forks)

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Chichinobu - Rude about Food

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Wolfgang Puck - Enough Already!

I'm told, Gentle Reader, that Wolfgang Puck is a chef of some renown in the United States. But so, for that matter, is Colonel Sanders. There are excellent chefs in the USA. There are excellent restaurants as well. There are elements of Californian cuisine, and the passion of its foodies for quality ingredients, that thrill me. I have eaten well in San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Monica and many other places.

But in my limited dining experience in that fine country, outside the more famous dining venues, finesse and consistency often run a very sad second to imagination and innovation. Except in New York, which seems strangely blessed with a bevy of fine dining establishments. Perhaps it's some esoteric influence of the Statue of Liberty, holding up her hand lighting the way to epicurean enjoyment. Or perhaps not ...

For most of us, Puck is a character in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream - the "shrewd and knavish sprite" and "merry wanderer of the night", officially Jester to the Fairy King Oberon. Which might explain the fact that most of Wolfgang's food is insubstantial, ephemeral to the point of being tasteless, and presented as if the magic is to be found in the mouth rather than the eyes. But I digress ...

Your Humble Correspondent has now braved four of Mr Puck's venues here in Japan, and two in the United States. All have been unmitigated culinary disasters. My first experience, in SoCal, was after a 22 hour flight from Sydney so I thought my taste buds were jet-lagged. My most recent sortie in Yokohama was only redeemed by a charming gentleman companion, sweet service from the dedicated staff, and a bottomless 7-Up on a warm day.

The salad was salad-y, the bread was doughy, and the olive oil was oily. But these were a tempting fairy illusion, Gentle Readers, compared with the noxious pap that presented as Herb Chicken. One fears Mr Puck is on an economy drive, as the pan was obviously not hot enough to give the chicken any body or toothiness. The skin may have been browned with a blowtorch, but it was not crisped unless one's definition of "crisp" is something south of the wrinkles on the late George Burns' face.

All of which is a great pity, because the location calls for something a little better. Forewarned is forearmed, Gentle Reader, so don't go looking for your Humble Correspondent in one of Mr Puck's establishments. And keep your friends and children away, for fear they'll come to think that this is American or Californian cuisine.

Wolfgang Puck: Various locations with maps on the website, should one be curious enough to want them
Rating: Food: 2/10; 7-Up: 7/10; Service: 6/10; Ambiance: 3/10; Price: 2/10 (it was free, and represented poor value for money). Total: 20/50

Le Remois ... Branding Rules!

Gentle Reader, I've been distracted of late with a four-letter word ("W**K") and not up to my usual habit of correspondence with you. Fey, I know, but a sad reflection of these troubled times. Fancy, my patron (employer) requiring some return on the meager allowance (salary) - a mere pittance! - that he provides. What is the world coming to?

Your Humble Correspondent did indeed dine with Jon recently, and a jolly repast it was too. As the poet says, "It is the faire acceptance, Sir, creates The entertainment perfect: not the cates." (c. 1616) For those not familar with Elizabethan English, what Jonson means is that the company is more important than the fare.

A fortuitious happenstance, as Le Remois is perhaps better suited to our less worthy brothers and sisters. The food is reasonable, the wine list unremarkable yet affordable, the service weak, and the decor bland. We both enjoyed the grilled asparagus as a starting dish - after all vegetables are an important part of the food chain although I must confess to preferring mine via some ruminant rather than a la mode.

His Lamb Navarin came interestingly packaged in a splendid cassoulet pan and was suitably bean-y. Navarin is a French ragout of lamb or mutton. I suspect the dish was actually navarin printanier given the added vegetables, but describing it as such would probably be wasted on most of this establishment's patrons. While some say the name "navarin" relates to the 1827 Battle of Navarino, I would fain suggest that because there is plenty of literary reference to the dish before said battle we agree with Larousse that it refers to the traditional turnips -- navet, in French.

My confit de canard was serviceable, although I'm sure connoisseurs would perhaps be a little disappointed. Not Jon - he thought it was quite good but you can never quite trust these foreign types, can you?

The problem with Le Remois is that it is all far too predictable, and entirely consistent with "chef as a brand" rather than creating good food for appreciative customers. Reminiscent of Gordon Ramsay with Plane Food at Heathrow rather than a superb restaurant like Hospital Road. Chef Isaki Yanagidate at Reims Yanagidate is a genius, but Le Remois is not worthy of him.

Le Remois [Map]: 5th Floor, Shinmarunouchi Bldg, 1-5-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-Ku. T: 03-5224-8771
Rating: Food: 6; Drinks: 7; Service: 4; Ambiance: 5; Price: 6 ($$). Total 28/50

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