Quintessence

Restaurant Quintessence is one of those «3-​star» restaurants in the Michelin Guidebook and the chef, Shuzo Kishida, is a super well known guy in this industry. You’ll see how meticulous the guy is about every dish he prepares. They only serve a single course both for lunch and dinner, so all you have to do is make a reservation and tell them in advance if you have something you don’t care for or are allergic to.
I personally was most impressed with his roast pork dish that was extraordinary tender, juicy and flavorful. This dish would change your image of pork completely. It’s a whole new discovery process of how testy roast pork can be. And needless to say, the other dishes are just fantastic as well. I’ve been to famous French restaurants in Tokyo that are much more expensive, but none of them were nearly as good as Quintessence as long as food goes.
Well, it’s still costly and I believe this is one of those places you want to go to for some sort of anniversaries. I’d definitely recommend giving it a try once during your stay in Tokyo to see how awesome a French restaurant in Tokyo can be. You’ll be stunned for sure.

Incredibly hard to get a reservation for but luckily my parents have been to it and we were able to get a reservation over a month in advance. I think they’re more accommodating if you’ve dined with them before. Chef Kishida looks like he’s in his 20s but don’t let him looks fool you! He’s absolutely incredible! We were seating in a private room and had a very good experience. The sommelier was incredibly knowledgeable and explained all our pairing very well. Each dish was simple but spectacular. You can tell that the ingredients he use are only the best and freshest.

One of the top rated and arguably the most famous French restaurant in Tokyo.
Budget: Dinner course is 18,000 Yen. With wine and service fee, expect to pay 30,000 Yen.
Reservation: Very competitive. You need to call exactly two months before the day plan to dine.
Kids: No children under 16 allowed.
Smoking: Completely non-​smoking.
Seats: 30 seats (two private rooms)
Photo: Allowed only in private rooms.
Owner Chef Syuzo Kishida is one of the highly respected chef and business owner in Japan. His resume includes sous chef at famous Paris restaurant L’Astrance (
), before returning to Japan and opening Quintessence in 2006. Although Kishida was the head chef, a restaurant operator company called Granada owned Quintessence. In 2011, he did the unthinkable of purchasing the restaurant from Granada. Terms of the deal is undisclosed, but many foodies in Japan are very curious of how Kishida was able to pull this off. Now, as Owner Chef of Quintessence, he moved the restaurant to its current location in 2013.
DECOR:
I love the current location. Restaurant is discreetly located within a large building complex. Unless you are a famous restaurant like Quintessence, you would go broke for not being recognized in this low foot traffic area. Inside is the «staging area». Coat and bag checks available here. When the party is ready, they then guide you to the main dining area. Décor is simple, modern, and stylish. Nothing over the top like a big chandelier. For those of you that has been to their old location, this new location is so much bigger. Tables are positioned in a much roomier manner. My favorite is the private dining rooms, because I am allowed to take as many photos as I like.
WINE:
I am sure their sommelier would punch me in face for saying this, but their wine pairing selections stink. I once made the mistake of going with their pairing instead of ordering bottles. All 7 or 8 wines they served were terrible. I would rather drink Chilean, South African, or New Zealand selections than the cheap French options they chose. On the other hand, their bottle wine list is very good. I highly recommend that you go in a group so that you could choose from their excellent bottle wine selection and share.
WINE MARKUP:
NV Pierre Callot Blanc de Blancs Brut Grand Cru = 3.7 Times market price.
Rakuten Online shop: 4,500 Yen (on May 17, 2014)
Quintessence: 16,632 Yen (including 10% service charge)
1999 Louis Latour Corton = 2.8 Times market price
Rakuten Online shop: 7,600 Yen (on May 17, 2014)
Quintessence: 21,384 Yen (including 10% service charge)
FOOD:
I wouldn’t call his style «fusion», but it certainly is not classical French style. You rarely see dishes with meat drenched inside the sauce. «Modern French» might be the right term.
Note that they also do lunch, but I’ve never tried their lunch so I cannot comment.
Highlights included:
— Bavarian cream made from goat milk seasoned with Mille et Une Huiles olive oil and salt: This is chef’s specialty. Served season around.
— Boudin noir (blood sausage) with Foie gras
— Rosy Seabass with seaweed sauce
— Roasted Iberian Pig: Roasted for 3 hours, meat is very juicy and tasty.
Course written in Japanese:
山羊乳のバヴァロワ
ブータンノワール。フォアグラのせ
ノドグロ
イベリコ豚の3時間ロースト
アッサムティーで煮込んだ紅玉のソルベ
カダイフの衣を纏ったマスカルポーネのムース グレンモーレンジ1972の小湖に浮かべて
焼きたてのチーズケーキ アプリコットのリキュールを含めて
メレンゲのアイスクリーム ピスタチオオイルとカカオのソースを敷いて
CONCLUSION:
30,000 Yen for dinner is certainly an expensive splurge. But when a friend calls to tell me that there is an open seat to a restaurant that normally require a two month wait, how can I refuse?
Is it the best French restaurant in Tokyo?
I am still undecided on Toroeater’s best French ranking, but I am sure that it is one of the top 3.

Went here about two months ago with my husband. It was probably the best meal of our lives.
Reservation is booked way in advance. I called a month before and couldn’t even get a reservation on a weekend, so we ended up having a Monday dinner. You must reply to them when they call again to reconfirm about a week out, otherwise they will cancel your reservation. They asked us if we have any allergies, or anything that we don’t want to eat. It’s chef’s choice as to the dishes that gets presented.
Restaurant was pretty close to the Shinagawa station, although if you don’t live in the tokyo/​yokohama area and are having dinner there, I suggest you drive to the restaurant, otherwise you might miss the last train ride home. We had a 0700 reservation, and although we are not the type of couple to lounge around a restaurant and chat (we’re more of the «eat and go» type), we left the restaurant about 4 hours later. Service was prompt, and each course seemed ready to go as soon as we were finished with the previous one, but just the sheer amount of food to eat took much of the time.
We had a 14-​course dinner, I think, and all of them were pretty amazing. Serving size is pretty small, but by the end of the dinner, you will feel very full. Some of my favorites (no pictures since we weren’t allowed to take any so I can’t remember them all):
–veal carpaccio with the best tomatoes I’ve tasted, onions, and a light vinaigrette
–quail meat that was quick broiled 30x for about 30 sec, with white asparagus and potatoes
–sea salt ice cream coated with a light layer of actual sea foam
–mushroom cake? (dunno what was on it but that was the best)
Most of the dishes don’t sound all that fabulous, and there are no bold flavors here, but what the chef’s great at is simple flavors that work well together combined with the best, freshest ingredients.
Restaurant is very classy and has just the right ambience for a romantic night out or a business dinner. Dress code is business casual.
We had the chance to meet the chef afterwards. He looks very young to own such a successful and renowned restaurant, and very humble too. Overall one of my favorite experiences in Japan. Paid around $ 240 dollars and it was well worth it.

QUINTESSENCE
when planning our trip to japan, the most daunting tasks were choosing restaurants and making reservations. there were too many we wanted to try, and even after narrowing down to a few, it was nearly impossible to get through the reservation lines and/​or communicate. some, we failed miserably, but luckily we scored a table for lunch at quitessence by following their strict reservation «rules» (at least they have some systematic method which is a good thing).
the restaurant is situated on the first floor of a new office building but it felt a world apart from crowded touristy areas of tokyo. the interior is very classy and simple with neutral color palette. «carte blanche» menu was presented, although interestingly, nothing was written in except the concept behind the restaurant. i can’t quite remember how many courses were service, but it was a fixed menu with 7 – 8 dishes with a few varieties in the main courses depending on seasonality, customers’ preference and their past dining history with the restaurant (apparently, they never serve the same main dishes to the same customer).
because of no picture policy and my aging brain not functioning as well these days, i cannot recall everything we had for our lunch, but it was a quite stunning and elegant. all the starters were carefully crafted and executed, but their fish and pork main courses truly shined. the fish was cooked with passion, and the pork was sprinkled with love. our waiter explained the whole cooking process for them, and we were in awe! although the dishes were not avant garde, integration of japanese ingredients and/​or techniques into french cuisine was highly unique in flavors, yet simple and clean in presentation.
there were 2 desserts followed by coffee. the meringue ice cream, the chef’s specialty (and he really should be proud of this creation), was seriously the best ice cream i had. it was coated with sea salt which accentuated the sweetness, and the airiness and silky texture of it was just exquisite.
i certainly cannot end this review without mentioning the staff. they were first rate all around! japanese are known to be polite, but i sometimes feel their manners to be too robotic. but here at quintessence, the staff were extremely personable, humble, respectful and genuine, including the chef shuzo kishida himself. they were proud to be part of such great and famed establishment, and had great depth of knowledge on the food (not just ingredients, but also preparation process/​techniques) and wine they serve (all of the waiters and waitress are sommeliers except one).
if you can just spare one meal in tokyo, quintessence has to be it. the price is overly reasonable (around $ 100 per person including tax and tip) for the caliber of food and level of service. it truly captures the tradition of french culinary essence without losing the root of japanese elements.