Gentil H, Shirokane ジョンティ アッシュ 白金
I have to admit to not having had very high expectations when one of my dining partners in crime suggested we try it out, primarily due to the proximity to his house. I had visited the same venue a
few years ago when it was called Creor and remembered a rather standard "Tokyo posh" French meal that was pretty dear. I never felt the need to go back and was not entirely surprised when Creor eventually disappeared.
Gentil H is the successor and although it doesn't look any different inside, the chef looks like he may be. The menu and wine list is entirely in Japanese and the waiters don't seem to make much of an effort even if they do know some English or French (thank god I've kept up with those Japanese lessons!). After asking the waiter not to whisk away the wine list having only ordered an apéritif, we noticed an 
interesting and surprisingly reasonably priced French Pinot on the menu, which led me to joke we were about to encounter a bait and switch. Well as it turned out, to our great amusement, that's exactly what happened when we were told they didn't have any of that bottle but there was an even nicer one for double the price! Hmmm.Anyway, in a forgiving mood I ordered their 5,000 yen menu which included an amuse, entrée, salad, main and dessert. The amuse was a pea soup, which was livened up with a dash of paprika oil (great combo). My mixed entrée was nice enough but the real star was my dining partner's black sesame gnocchi with salami. This was a fantastic and unusual marriage of flavours that worked really nicely. This was followed by a nicely presented salad served with a slightly odd dressing that tasted a bit like a black sesame and tapenade blend. Unfortunately I didn't think to ask what I was eating as the conversation was more scintillating at that point. My fish was decent enough, but perhaps more memorable was the dessert of an ice cream filled strawberry macaron. This was chewy, crunchy, sweet with the slightest acidity - perfect.
Notwithstanding the odd faux pas and the lack of accommodation to international diners I would be happy to recommend Gentil H for an informal dinner. I like the odd pleasant surprise with the food, and I would like to encourage chef to keep going with the experiments.Tel: 03-5447-8889
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