I am thrilled to be sharing with you my latest discovery, a wonderful little french restaurant serenely and fashionably nestled somewhere behind the Prada flagship store in Omotesando/Aoyama. If you are familiar with the area, Irie Le Joyeux is on the second floor of the building right next to Dries van Noten.
Decorated in soothing hues of nude colors, you immediately feel welcomed. None of the stuffy atmosphere of a classic french restaurant here. Minimalism is the name of the game.
Through an elongated window at its side wall, you can watch chef Irie and his team work their magic. They have two choices of dinner menus, one that is around 12.000 yen and their grand menu that cost around 15.000 yen per person. The menu only comes in Japanese and French but within minutes of choosing the grand menu, chef Irie himself had a special menu printed for us with English translations and his signature in the back. I thought this was a nice touch. So, here are pictures of our feast that wasn’t just pleasing for the stomach but also soothing to the eyes.
First came a cute little plate of bite size bread munchies.
Followed by the first small appetizer which was a very vibrant dish of Hokkaido marinated Sanma fish with Gunma eggplant puree, red beets and tomato jelly.
Our next dish was a wonderful and very color coordinated cold entree of Hokkaido scallop carpaccio and caviar with purple cabbage marinated in amontillado served with wasabi goat cheese.
The warm entree which was a delicate mushroom soup with sauteed foie gras, flan and milk cappuccino was actually my favorite dish of the night.
An autumn inspired seafood dish followed. Tandoori Pan fried sea bass from Ishikawa prefecture served with welk clams, chinese cabbage and black rice puree.
The meat dish that followed was absolutely delectable. Kumamoto Akaushi slow-roasted beef with Syrah sauce, hokkaido oven roasted onions and ricotta cheese accent.
After the meat course came an innovative cheese dish of blue cheese cream with hazelnut oil, radish and crouton with chrysanthemum puree.
And a little pre dessert came before the actual dessert. Sauternes Marinated Persimmon from Kyoto with mascarpone cream.
Chef irie’s tarte tatin was the grand dessert. A raspberry jelly with tart of fuji apple, custard and cinnamon ice cream.
And to accompany your tea or coffee, these lovely little delights.
This sums up our wonderful feast. Beautiful, don’t you think ?
Price: $$
IRIE LE JOYEUX Luce Minami Aoyama, 2F 5-5-4 Minami Aoyama phone : 03-6418-7778