La Tour d’Argent @ Tokyo

I have stayed in Hotel New Otani many times, and walked past this fine dining restaurant on the lobby floor. This was dinner tasting done recently.

Tour d’Argent Tokyo is situated on the lobby floor of Hotel New Otani Tokyo and is a sister restaurant of the legendary La Tour d’Argent in Paris. Since 1582, Tour D’Argent in Paris has upheld a standard of quality and tradition, serving only the most exquisite French Cuisine. It has been honored for being the most authentic representation of French culture and tradition, and has been compared to a National Treasure.

Tour D’Argent Tokyo is the only other Tour D’Argent, an ambassador of French haute cuisine in Japan. It is decorated with period pieces and its rooms have the style and design representations of the many centuries that have marked the original.

Just like Paris, the patrons of this establishment is a who’s who list of the most influential and famous people in Japan. Just in this picture are the Prime Ministers of Japan that have dined here in the past, including Shinzo Abe, who was famous for “Abenomics” and was assassinated in 2022.

The blue carpet, luxurious chandeliers, and lovely table setting give us the impression of attending a banquet. Walking into the dining hall reminded me of the ballroom scene in “Beauty and the Beast” cartoon, when dinner was served. “Be our guests” is not on the playlist, baroque period music coming through the pipe which gets tiresome after a while. Luckily the dinner was only an hour and a half, unlike the 3 hours it took in Paris.

The glass duckling made its appearance here as well as the silver water tumbler. That’s the only resemblance between Paris and Tokyo. The menu was something I didn’t expect to be so different in style.

I was quite disappointed by the quality of the bread that was served, which came cold and stale. Given the quality of the bread making in Japan, I expected something better.

Chef Spécial

I could not hide my disappointment when I was told this was the only amuse bouche we were getting, and it was only a couple of Japanese style crackers made in the shape of the famous icon of the silver fort. Didn’t expect the start to the dinner was so sloppy and non-eventful.

Homard Bleu Et Caviar Osciètre

en carpaccio, poireau fondant en vinaigrette aigrelette & sauce gribiche | オマール海老のカルパッチョ オシェトラキャヴィア添え

The first course, a starter of blue lobster tail served carpaccio and topped with Oscietre caviar, with leeks incorporated into the aigrelette vinaigrette and gribiche sauce. Aigrelette vinaigrette (the white sauce) is like an emulsified vinaigrette, sauce gribiche (the yellow one) is similar to mayonnaise, made with chopped hard-boiled eggs, herbs, gherkins and capers.

There were only three slices of lobster on our plates, a very small portion which makes me wonder is it on purpose because the remaining courses are quite substantial? PS: the rest of the dinner are all small portions from now onwards. Flavour wise, it’s an elaborate sashimi with interesting sauces and beautiful plating.

Foie Gras De Canard

fumé aux sarments de vigne, gelée de raisin Muscat Bailey & mousseline de Roquefort | フォアグラとマスカットベイリーのテリーヌ ヴィーニュの燻香

Next starter, duck foie gras smoked with vine seeds, Muscat Bailey grape jelly & Roquefort mousseline. Muscat Bailey grape is a unique grape variety that is not commonly found in other wine regions outside of Japan. The drops of blue cheese cream were scattered around the plate, covered by beautiful edible flowers. Finished with even smaller drops of Muscat Bailey grape sauce and small slice of cold toast.

I have to say the foie gras and grape jelly go very well together. The plating was flawless and the Rochefort mousseline was subtle and complementary. The taste and texture were in perfect harmony. I just have to complain, the piece of toast provided did not do any justice; it was just a toast that I can make with Philips toaster at home, and it was cold.

2017 E. Guigal Châteauneuf-du-Pape

The Tour d’Argent Paris is famous for having one of the largest wine collections in the world. The same cannot be said for the Tokyo outpost, but they do have some serious wine. Like this 2017 Châteaunuef-du-Pape from the southern part in the Rhône Valley. A very robust wine, spices and mature red fruits, round tannins with powerful complexity. A rich unctuous wine with notes of mature plums, hazelnuts and red fruits.

At this point in time, a fresh baguette replaced the dense bread before. This was so much better than the sourdough, crusty outside, moist and soft inside.

L’oeuf Impérial

à la truffe noire, céleri-rave confit au beurre de laurier de notre jardin | 黄金に輝く黒トリュフと根セロリのスフレ 黒トリュフソースと芳醇な白ワインソースの饗宴

Les œufs impériaux refer to the Faberge eggs that have been a collector’s item. That is the inspiration to this lavish dish, an egg-shaped savoury cod soufflé stuffed with black truffle and candied celery root and covered with gold foil, finished with black truffle sauce and topped with mellow white wine sauce.

Frankly, it tasted like fishcake. I was expecting something more surprising and elaborate like the Faberge eggs. Egg white was mixed with cod and steamed in an egg shell mould and then gold foil was plastered on the outside for that luxurious finish. The sauces were delicious, but they got mixed up and became rather confusing. I mopped up with the baguette regardless, observing that my Japanese guests did not do the same. Maybe they were too polite.

Marrons

en velouté à la fine de Champagne, petit coussin de perdreau | フランス産マロンのヴルーテ

Chestnut season, and chestnut soup is served everywhere. This course is a chestnut veloute, very creamy and light at the same time. It came with a small coussin (French for pillow) filled with partridge meat, almost like ravioli except the skin is like Chinese wonton. Delightful.

Caneton Marco Polo

sauce au jus de canard & crème aux harmonies de multiple poivres | 幼鴨のローストマルコポーロ

This dish is what everyone comes for – their duck. We didn’t order the classic Canard à la Presse, instead we tried the chef’s Marco Polo duckling. Here’s the recipe from Chef Yannick of Paris. Not quite the same here in Tokyo. The duckling is served with au jus sauce, with a cream infused with a variety of peppers from around the world, including the familiar Cambodian peppercorns.

Slowly roasted and accompanied by a spicy, creamy sauce made with duck essence and four different peppers, the Caneton Marco Polo is the signature dish that took 18 months for Chef Yannick to invent. The duckling of the Tokyo location tasted just the same as the traditional dish of the Paris location, except the portion size was pathetic.

On June 21, 1921, then Crown Prince Hirohito (Emperor Shōwa) of Japan, during his first foreign visit, dined at there. He loved it so much that he came 50 years later that led to the opening of the one and only branch in Hotel New Otani Tokyo in 1984. The duck served to His Majesty was #53211 in Paris, which led to the numbering of the ducks served at the Tour d’Argent Tokyo to start from the next number, #53212. 

La Plateau de Fromager

フランス産フロマージュ

Given that my guest and I were still peckish at this point in the meal, we ordered one cheese supplement to share. I asked how many cheeses can I choose for the order, and they were pretty wishy washy with the answer. Again I put it down to language issue. Finally we figured out that we can choose up to four types per order.

I was quite disappointed by the quality of the cheese course and selection available. I thought they would feature a better selection of cheese from France and Japan, but it turned out to be quite supermarket variety. And the accompaniment was just small pieces of dried fruits and nut bread, very much like a panettone. I get better cheese plates on Singapore Airlines.

Soufflé

au coing et cidre, noix et algues caramélisées & glace fermier au parfum de clémentine | マルメロとシードルのスフレ柑橘香るヨーグルトのソルベ

The first and only dessert was a quenelle of Clementine sorbet served separately with citrus-scented yoghurt soufflé with quinces and cider filling.

This was a perfectly built soufflé. The structure held well during service. They even timed when we would have it as I excused myself to go to the washroom. The citrus taste was quite pronounced. We were told to take some sorbet and dig into the soufflé with the sorbet. Nice.

Les Petites Douceurs

tisane d’herbes fraîches ou l’expresso Afrique-Amérique | フレッシュハーブティースはコーヒー、小菓子

And right after, they brought out the petit fours, five little pieces of mignardises consisting of chocolate truffles, pastilles, macaroons and sweets. I could bear myself to have another coffee at this hour, and opted for a Ceylon tea instead. Without ceremony, they brought bill in an envelope on a silver plate.

I wouldn’t say I enjoyed dinner here. While the food was good, it wasn’t Michelin star level compared to others in Tokyo, not to mention its sister in Paris. The drop in standard of its service staff was evident when they realised that I wasn’t Japanese. Not a racist comment, something I would only put it as a communication problem. And then there’s only one cracker for amuse bouche, and the portions for the rest of the tasting menu were pathetic. Good food but definitely not worth the detour.

La Tour D’Argent Tokyo
Lobby floor, The Main bldg, Hotel New Otani Tokyo
4-1 Kioi-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8578, Japan
Tel : +81 (03) 3239-3111 (Reservations)

Visited Nov 2024

Michelin Tokyo Guide 1 Star 2024, 2025