Moelleuse, Minami Azabu モワルーズ南麻布
Living fairly close-by I have, for some time, been intrigued by this little French restaurant I pass almost everyday. Suffering from a little "French fatigue" in the past year, I kind of avoided it. However recently, when in a bind to find somewhere convenient but a little bit special for dinner, I chose it almost by default.
What an excellent default it was. This tiny restaurant comprising just a few tables and a bar reminded me again of why I like dining out in Tokyo so much. I maintain that you can taste the passion of a chef in his food and this was certainly the case at Moelleuse.
My dining partner and I opted for the 10,000 yen tasting menu, but there are other less expensive options. I think it should be possible to eat pretty well there for about 5,000 yen a head. Our waiter was unfailingly friendly and attentive, and the wines paired with the course were perfect. All in all, dinner for two with paired wine came to a round 30,000 yen. When considering the quality of the food and wine, this is a steal. Try getting that type of quality in Sydney, where you can easily be charged $40 for just a mingy glass of red!
Amuse of chicken prepared "sous vide". Great taste and unique texture due to the cooking style.
Delicious home made bread and seaweed butter. Definitely adds a very unique "umami" flavour.
"Madai" carpaccio (a type of bream) with walnut oil.
Asari soup was delicious and not too salty, which is a frequent sin when making this dish.
Foie gras with sweet potato. I've never had foie gras with potato before, and this worked really well.
Pumpkin soup. My dining partner adored this!
This fish is called "kasago" and came with a delicious eggplant puree. The cheek meat was sweet and yummy.
Duck with togarashi (Japanese chill). Usually I like duck because of it's crispy yummy skin and strong flavours and sauces. This duck was relatively simple, but really just the best duck flesh I can remember eating.
The second meat dish was a luscious beef cheek.
A medley of stewed plum, passionfruit sorbet and cheesecake for dessert.
Tel: 03-3454-6010
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