Le Pristine Café Tokyo @ Toranomon Hills

Business lunch for a relatively large group and we picked a nearby lunch spot that served Italian food.

Le Pristine Café Tokyo is a casual bar and dining place and the portal to Le Pristine Restaurant and Hotel Toranomon Hills Station Tower, a culinary haven where hospitality excellence meets laid-back sophistication. Unlike its restaurant counterpart, Le Pristine Café offers all-day dining from breakfast to dinner, inviting you to simply walk in at any time and enjoy the moment. Chef Sergio Herman’s deep-rooted Zeeland heritage, a type of cuisine best described by Sergio as ‘New Italian’ can be found in Le Pristine.

ムール貝のフライ ハラペーニョタルタルソース ライム | Sergio’s deep fried mussels, jalapeño-tartar sauce, lime (a la carte)

First up, we ordered an appetiser to share among the table. Sergio’s deep fried mussels were breaded but not greasy at all. The mussels were cooked a la minute, like a very high standard tempura.

The sauce was as delicious as the deep fried mussels, with just the right amount of heat from the jalapeño. You can taste that the tartar sauce was made from scratch and not from a bottle as the lime was really fresh.

グリーンサラダ | Green salad

The salad was so different from the usual Japanese salad, with very little olive oil and balsamic dressing. the roasted almond and crostini provided texture to the salad and the shaved Parmigiano gave the otherwise bland salad some saltiness and umami.

ハマチ胡瓜バジル ハラペーニョピクルスグリーンオリーブ出汁サワークリーム | Hamachi, cucumber, basil, pickled jalapeño, green olives, dashi flavored sour cream

The appetiser was IMHO the best course of the day. A shelled-out Japanese cucumber was filled with diced hamachi that had been mixed with pickled jalapeño for some heat, chopped green olives and seasoned with basil and dashi flavoured sour cream. A generous dollop of the sour cream was placed on the side for good measure.

スパゲッティーニ三陸産ムール貝 アーリオオーリオ パセリレモン唐辛子X0醤 | Spaghettini, Sanriku mussels, ‘aglio olio’, parsley, lemon, chili, XO sauce

There were a number of choices of set lunches, and I picked the spaghettini aglio olio. It was a well executed “aglio olio“, not too oily and not too dry. I love the delicious lemony foam. The pasta had great umami from the mussels and XO sauce, and heat from the chilli.

季節のソフトサープ コーヒー | Seasonal Soft Serve, Coffee

I thought it was just a simple soft serve ice cream, but it turned out to be a proper dessert to end the meal. The seasonal soft serve was a really delicious vanilla and blue grape swirl, topped with crushed pistachio, meringue, chocolate The set lunch came with dessert and coffee.

ロブスターロール パジル 胡瓜プールブランピクルス ライム | Lobster roll, basil, cucumber, beurre blanc, cornichons, lime (Le Pristine Sando Set)

If you want a lighter lunch, another good choice was their lobster roll, decked with a generous helping of Boston lobster with diced cucumber and flavoured with beurre blanc, lime and basil.

ホワイトアスパラガス ゴルゴンソーラドルチェ マッシュルーム 長崎県産からすみ オキザリス | White asparagus, Gorgonzola Dolce, mushrooms, Nagasaki bottarga, oxalis (Pizzette & Salad Set)

And between the pasta and sando sets, there’s the pizzette set, which substitute the main course with a rectangular slice of pizza. not your usual flavours but innovative combination like white asparagus and mushroom with gorgonzola cheese and topped with bottarga (salted cod roe) from Nagasaki.

We enjoyed a delightful lunch, where Michelin-starred Chef Sergio’s “New Italian” cuisine offers a fresh perspective on lunchtime dining. It was a really good pace, good portion but not expensive as one expect from this luxurious hotel.

Le Pristine Tokyo by Sergion Herman ル・プリスティン東京
Toranomon Hills Station Tower 2-6-4, Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan, 105-0001 東京都港区虎ノ門2-6-4 虎ノ門ヒルズ ステーションタワー １F
Tel : ＋81 3 6830 1077 (Reservations)

Visited May 2025