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Tokyo, Japan Has Some of the Best French Restaurants in Asia, at least normally (currently some restaurants are closed, due to coronavirus). And while 3-Michelin star Quintessence and Joel Robuchon or 2-Michelin star L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon and Pierre Gagnaire may garner more attention, our vote for a fantastic French lunch in Tokyo goes to Chez Olivier, a 1 Michelin star restaurant in Chiyoda. Read on for our review and photos.
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Chez Olivier Location and Hours
Chez Olivier is located at 4-1-10 Kudan Minami in Chiyoda, about a 7 minute walk from the JR Ichigaya Station and a 4 minute walk from the Ichigaya Subway Station.
The restaurant is open for lunch from 11:30-1:30 and from 6-9pm, Mondays-Saturdays, closed on Sundays and the first Monday of each month.
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Chez Olivier Menu and Food
For lunch, Chez Olivier offers excellent value prix fixe menus. We chose Menu B, with a choice of appetizers, mains, and desserts, for JPY 3500 (~$35) per person.
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After being seated, we were provided oshibori, moist towels, for our hands. We opted against wine, but did enjoy some Alain Milliat Peche de Vigne nectar, which was wonderful. If you've never tried it, we highly recommend it the next time you're in a French restaurant that serves it.
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Because we were the last table to arrive, and the kitchen was quite busy, it took a long time for our appetizers to arrive. For some reason we weren't offered bread, so I finally flagged one of the two servers, both of them French, and requested some.
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My husband and son both ordered the pasta timbale with morel and chanterelle mushrooms; the mushroom filling was fabulous.
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My sea trout appetizer was even better, the freshness of the fish complemented by the red pepper sauce and buttery shortbread crust underneath the fish.
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Our son's main course of cod with spelt risotto had a hearty consomme broth poured around it, and was superb–much better than it sounded on paper.
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My husband paid the supplement to order steak with red wine sauce, accompanied by a leek, potato and blue cheese tart. He said it was fantastic, and like a very upscale version of one of his favorite dishes from childhood.
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My Guinea Fowl main dish with Jerusalem artichoke was beautifully plated and succulent.
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We decided to add on a cheese serving for my son and me, selecting from the attractively displayed cheese board.
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The Brin d'Amour sheeps milk cheese from Corsica, which we'd never tried before, was so wonderful that we plan to seek it out in the future.
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Our desserts were also excellent, both the light and citrusy passion fruit cream with fresh mandarin, grapefruit and pineapple, adorned with lemon sorbet and lime zest, and the Mont Blanc chestnut dessert, with its addictive chestnut cream and chocolate combination.
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The Verdict
We originally chose Chez Olivier because it was close to where our walk with a private guide ended, but it turned out to be even better than our expectations. It's a small restaurant, so definitely reserve in advance, including for lunch–when we arrived, every table apart from the one we'd reserved was occupied.
Particular highlights for us were the sea trout appetizer, the cod with spelt risotto, steak with red wine sauce and leek, potato and blue cheese tart, the Brin d'Amour cheese, and the Mont Blanc dessert.
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