L'effervescence

The food was very average. The salad was pretty but bitter. The sourdough and focaccia was unremarkable. No dish stood out as even good tasting. The service was very slow, 3.5 hours is the default. despite having 4 very nice waiters servin our table, none of them appeared to see a problem with us... waiting 20 or 30 minutes for the next course after being served a 2 inch appetizer. we wanted dinner, we're not celebrating a wonderful lifetime event... I liked the very stylish interior. I feel like at this restaurant they focus on the theatre and not food or comfort.

Visited November 2023

So, we really wanted to like this place. We booked it for our last night in Tokyo, and this was our first three-star Michelin restaurant experience. It was a mixed experience and overall a disappointment. Service was overall excellent. The staff were very friendly and professional. The only weird p...art was at the end of our meal we felt abandoned. They had offered us hot beverages and we declined, saying we were very full and tired. After that we waited about 15-20 minutes for the bill, which didn't come, so I got up to see if we could pay at the front. When I got up someone did come over to escort me to the restroom, at which point I asked if we pay at the table or the front counter, and they brought the bill to the table a couple minutes later. They were very accommodating and called us a taxi which arrived just a few minutes later. The ambience was really nice in the restaurant. The lighting was very intentional and the tables were spaced out so we felt like we had our own little corner of the restaurant. The food was the biggest disappointment. Some dishes were better than others, but no dishes stood out as incredible. Most were forgettable, and a couple were just bad. There was a narrative/theme for the meal, but it got lost about halfway through. We started off strong with crispy vegetables and dipping sauce--simple and tasty. The next dish was a pike conger eel risotto which was torched at the table, so that was fun and also tasted good--this was my fiance's favorite dish. My favorite dish was probably the salad, where they used 57 different vegetables/greens. I appreciated the story behind it and it was a fun experience to eat. They also brought cards that listed all the ingredients and where each was from. Most ingredients were from small farms across Japan. After the salad, the meal declined in quality and also lost the magic of the story they were trying to tell. There was a bread course. I love bread, so I was very excited for this. It was good, but not great. The focaccia rolls were served cold, and they were a bit dense. They served them out of the baking dish, so I'm not sure why they chose to serve them cold, but I think they would have been better fresh. The radish dish, which they keep on the menu at all times, was ok. The explanation behind the radish dish was that radishes naturally change flavor over seasons, so they encourage people to come back and try it again as the seasons change. It was nicely cooked. The next dish was a fried small whole fish (ayu). We appreciated that this was an elevated take on a traditional Japanese dish. We were instructed to eat the head whole and then eat the body with the sauces. I'm not a big fan of eating crispy fried whole heads of things, but that's just me. The head reminded me a lot of botan ebi, but it wasn't very flavorful. Unsurprisingly, it was a little hard for me to eat, and I didn't love the fish guts throughout the fish either, but I understand that's just a personal preference and we were there to try new things. The sauces were just ok. I have a feeling the traditional grilled fish on a stick with sauce would have been more interesting and tastier than their elevated version. The next dish, the main course, was by far the worst. It was duck, served rare, with a red wine sauce. The duck was very chewy and I got a tendon in mine that I couldn't chew through and had to decide whether to spit it into a napkin or politely swallow it. I chose the latter and it was gross. My fiance's cut didn't have tendons in it, but it was still chewy and he had a difficult time getting through it. The dish was served with a side of asparagus with cream sauce, which was very mild and forgettable. I've had rare duck with wine sauce before, and this was the worst version I've had, but also there was nothing interesting about this dish. It didn't fit the story of the meal, it wasn't creative, and it didn't taste good. Unfortunately, it was one of the bigger portions of the night also, so I ended up not being able to finish mine cause I started feeling nauseous trying to get through it. The cheese course was nice. Tiny bits of cheese with sauce droplet pairings. It wasn't anything to write home about, but I love cheese so I appreciated that they included some. The dessert was a couple courses and was uneven in quality. Some confections were better than others, but none wowed me, and some were just unbalanced and not good. The drink pairings for the dessert course also made the desserts taste worse. At one point we had a raspberry grapefruit drink, peanut milk drink, and matcha on the table all at once and the flavors were really jarring. We could hear the couple next to us talking about their meal throughout the night, and they were not having a better time than us. When their duck dish came out we overheard the guy say to his wife, "Should we just leave?" With the non-alcoholic beverage pairings, our meal came out to almost $700, which is the most I've spent on a meal, and it was certainly not in the top 100 meals I've had. I don't understand why this restaurant has three Michelin stars, and it definitely made me less likely to try Michelin recommendations in the future. It's worth noting that they seem to have roughly doubled the price of their food in the past few years. If it had been half the cost, and we hadn't gone in expecting a three-star experience, I think we would have had a better time. However, as it was, it was quite disappointing. We still had a fun night, but mostly because it was a shared bonding experience of disappointment and trying to figure out how the food could be so mediocre yet highly acclaimed. I am sure a lot of skill went into many of the dishes we were served, and I do think the chef/owner put thought and effort into the meal and experience. I'm not trying to question anyone's skill or talent, but the experience was not for us, and I would not recommend the restaurant given the relatively high cost.

Visited September 2023

I was lucky my friend was able to snag this lunch reservation for her birthday celebration in Tokyo/Kyoto :) When my husband and I were visitors of Japan, we did try out another 2-star Michelin place in Tokyo...and it was regrettably very forgettable...and I won't name it or review it, which is why... it has been 6 yrs since for Tokyo. Not L'Effervescence! I was very impressed with the very creative and sophisticated non-alcoholic pairing option that my friend went for - the other friend and I did a split pairing with the wine. I also appreciated the sustainability approach, with local ingredients. The turnip dish was so delicious. I know this may not be a huge deal for others who like their meat rare, I'm usually a medium, and not a brave person with rare poultry... it was the first time one of my friends and I braved eating a medium rare duck - and it was delicious. Usually, I'm the one a bit embarrassed & disappointing the server and possibly the chefs when I cannot eat the rarer duck or squab that is brought out, but to my surprise, I took a bite and finished it - it was divine. In terms of cost and value, I would say it's a fair price and great value. I guess I am comparing it to 2 facilities in California, and with the wine pairing, the California counterparts were more expensive, and I would only recommend 1/2 in California. If this is your one splurge or one fine-dining French/Japanese restaurant, I would go with this. Great ambiance, great staff and service, delicious, and the right amount of food.

Visited March 2023

My 3rd visit to this 3 michelin star establishment. From the moment you enter, it’s as classy as can be. Every course is very good to excellent, and some of the dishes are prepared tableside. The amadai and kyoto duck are out of this world Service is excellent The only gripe was my partner didn’t ...want the cheese course and he was given just nuts instead 🤔

Visited January 2023

We had dinner twice and twice we were enchanted. Food is at the same time very classical and at the same time very innovative. For example the salad with 40 different leaves or the waste of sake brewing accompanying blue cheese. We were very impressed by the quality of the ingredients and their ve...ry successful combinations. If you can get a table please take a reservation.

Visited June 2019