Sans Le Sou, Ogikubo ビストロ・サン・ル・スー 荻窪
I didn't really enjoy my recent lunch at San Le Sou. Not because of the food or the service, but because my dining partner happened to be undergoing a bout of nausea, which I trust was not brought on by my company! My policy on nausea is pretty straightforward - just have a good cleansing purge and then you'll feel a lot better (thinking which we could, perhaps, carry over to the current global financial crisis). Anyway, to cut a long story short, even though our converstation was mostly groans on one side and urging for purging on the other, I ended up eating both my meal and a good deal of that of my dining partner. It's an ill wind that blows no good, indeed! 
The restaurant is to be found over a fairly non-descript store not far from Ogikubo station. Ogikubo itself is a rather respectable suburb with many pleasant houses and gardens. I have to admit that I would never go there unless I had a good reason, but it was interesting to have a look around.
For lunch you can order a menu of around 2,500 yen (or a little extra if you order a soup as well like I did). For the entree I ordered the cold cream mouse with crab and herbs. This was fresh and tasty. This was followed by a cold pumpkin soup, which tasted disconcertingly like the ones you buy at the supermarket. For my main I ordered breaded mustard chicken which came with vegetables, and was nice enough. 
However, when my dining partner's deep fried parcel of pork wrapped in spring roll pastry came out I could not contain my jealousy, tinged with the real hope that I may get to eat to this as well. As it turned out, I ate most of it - and it was definitely better than my chicken. Dessert was a blanc manger with coconut ice cream and fruit.
Overall I found the food to be competent and there were hints of creativity in the pork dish. If chef pushes himself to the next level I am sure he could do some really interesting stuff - but I also get the impression that San Le Sou is in quite a nice groove, and there's nothing wrong with that.
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