Reims Yanagidate, Kita Aoyama レストラン ランス ヤナギダテ 北青山

The new AO building in Kita Aoyama is one of the more interesting pieces of architecture to have appeared in Tokyo in recent times. Just behind it you'll find Reims Yanagidate, a French restaurant run by who else but chef Yanagidate who can be seen at regular intervals rushing out to flash his jolly face and pay his respects to the departing diners.

On a recent visit for Sunday lunch my dining partner and I had the pleasure of sampling his cooking, which is not too bad at all. The standard lunch set which starts at 3,700 yen includes an amuse, an entrée, main, dessert and coffee. My amuse was a little piece of pork terrine, and my dining partner had a little bit of lobster - cute seeing as I had ordered lobster for my entrée and my dp had ordered pork terrine. Not long after downing that little morsel, my entrée arrived. It was described as a tomato stuffed in the manner of the house with lobster and scallop. Actually the tomato was not stuffed at all but just cut in two making a sandwich of some scraps of lobster and scallop. That doesn't sound like such an appetising description but the dish was very tasty, even if I could have done with a bit more of the seafood.

For the main I chose the quail and this came out with its little legs sticking in the air, stuffed with foie gras and green pepper, topped with a truffle sauce. This meaty bird was truly delicious and one of the few times that something really tasted better than I expected. My dining partner's pintade looked pretty good too, but this was probably one of those enjoyable moment when I didn't cast jealous eyes over the table!

Dessert was a delicious iced nougat for me and a millefeuille with fruits and ice cream. Actually my dining partner, who is French, joked that the millefeuille was more of a deuxfeuille, but that didn't stop him spooning to the last drop - clearly a happy camper.

Including a half bottle of pleasant Alsatian reisling and the 10% service the bill came to over 13,000 yen. Hmm - not a bargain, but the food is good and the service not too bad. I'd probably return for a businessy sort of lunch without too much hesitation.

http://www.reims.co.jp/

Tel: 03-3407-3538