Florilège

Mashi_soyo★★★★★★★★★★4.04 months ago

My dining experience at Florilège, a two Michelin Star restaurant in Tokyo, was both thoughtful and refined. The restaurant places a strong emphasis on sustainability, offering a plant-focused menu executed through elegant French culinary techniques. The second dish was one of my favourites and immediately caught my attention with its stunning presentation. Beneath the fromage blanc sat layers of Japanese leek, tuna tartare, and a sable base, finished with a scrambled egg hollandaise sauce. Each component complemented the others beautifully. It was an inventive combination, exceptionally well executed. The third dish featured turnip, which may sound unremarkable, but it turned out to be the best turnip dish I have ever had. Thinly sliced turnip was meticulously layered on top, with a mashed turnip and mentaiko base underneath, adding depth and umami. Simple in concept, yet surprisingly complex in flavour and texture. The bread was served warm and incredibly fluffy, but what truly stood out was the soy milk butter. The soy flavour was clean and delicate, and the texture was light, almost cream-like. I could genuinely give up regular butter for this. The next dish featured potato with shirako. The shirako was creamy and silky; however, the potato had a grainy texture that did not quite work for me and slightly disrupted the overall balance of the dish. For the main course, I had the chicken served with carrot purée and spinach. Personally, I enjoyed the spinach and carrot purée more than the protein itself. Unfortunately, I did find a bone in the chicken, which slightly detracted from the experience. The meal concluded with a light and refreshing yuzu dessert, followed by a strawberry dessert, petit three, and a choice of coffee or tea. I opted for the wine pairing, which included both sake and wine. While I appreciated the concept, the pairing did not work for me, as some selections clashed with the dishes and could use refinement. That said, I appreciated the option of a half pairing, as I did not want to drink too much. Overall, it was a solid experience for the price point. The lunch tasting menu is approximately AUD 120, which I consider good value for a fine dining restaurant of this calibre. The setting is also unique, featuring an open kitchen with a large communal table. I only wish I had been seated closer to the chefs to better observe the action in the kitchen.

C Mak★★★★★★★★★★4.02 months ago

I enjoyed a nice lunch course with alcoholic pairing at Florilège in Tokyo. The starter was a beautifully presented fermented cabbage formed into an elegant cylindrical shape. Accompanied by delicate pieces of white fish and cod, the dish was wonderfully appetizing—bright with a gentle, pleasing acidity and a whispered sweetness. The main savory course was precisely executed. The skin was golden and crisp, sealing in a juicy, tender interior. The dessert is very solid as well, not overpowering with sweetness but comforting.

Ray Tan★★★★★★★★★★5.07 months ago

It’s a michelin 2 stars restaurant highly recommended by a friend to come here for lunch. Can’t rmb how many courses but you can add on a red wine pairing for a very reasonable price. Some of the dishes are like nature inspired. Pretty interesting concept. Ace dmg per pax is slightly less than 10k yen which is very reasonable! Recc to come try the lunch menu!

Alexia★★★★★★★★★★5.04 months ago

Amazing experience, the restaurants aesthetics are beautiful, the staff is amazing, the food is delicious. I am a picky eater, but the food was absolutely delicious. The main dish included the most amazing chicken I’ve had in my entire life. The bread complimentary bread was incredible. You can taste how delicately and precise every dish is made. Everything was absolutely delicious. This was my first experience in a Michelle’s star restaurant and the bar has been set very high.

C Amos★★★★★★★★★★1.04 months ago

I wasted about 35,000 yen and three hours here for mediocre food—or worse. “To balance A with B” is Florilège’s stated motto, yet their non-alcoholic pairing offers an unexpected reinterpretation of the word “balance.” 

The first two non-alcoholic pairing ruined at least two courses. The foamed soup tasted above average on its own. However, the butterbur ruined both courses. My mouth was overwhelmed by bitterness, and the pairing drink amplified and prolonged it. The sensation was similar to eating citrus and accidentally chewing the pit. Even after drinking a full glass of water, the bitterness did not dissipate. In the second dish, the bitterness initially began to fade as I ate. Unfortunately, the non-alcoholic gin pairing brought it back immediately. After these two courses, bitterness was the only lingering impression.

The ONLY exceptional course throughout the entire meal was this onion-based sushi, and the pairing complemented it perfectly.

As for the mantou-like bread served during the meal, it was genuinely baffling. How something so conceptually simple could turn out so mediocre is hard to understand. Even the one-dollar mantou sold at a breakfast stand is noticeably fluffier. The Chinese cabbage tempura was the most oil-saturated tempura I have ever eaten. Instead of being light and crisp, it felt heavy and greasy, to the point where the oil overwhelmed both the vegetable and the batter. Finally, another edible course. The scallops were juicy and well-cooked, served with bamboo shoots 

Once again, an inedible dish. The top layer was egg white, and underneath was intestine-like ingredient tasted distinctly bitter. The pairing had a pronounced Chinese-medicine character. I did not feel that the two complemented each other in any meaningful way. The main course was, without question, the low point of the entire meal. Of the diners present, unfortunately, ONLY four—including myself—were served a different main course from the others. It felt like eating scraps. Those served to the other tables at least appeared more appealing. The duck breast itself tasted no different from an ordinary Cantonese-style roasted duck The dumpling filling served alongside it was excessively salty. Even buying dumplings blindly at a supermarket would likely yield a better result. Frankly, IKEA’s meatballs taste better. Serving them instead would have been an upgrade.

The desserts were acceptable at best. I was too frustrated by that point to even take a photo of the yuzu dessert. As for the strawberry dessert, it was undeniably mediocre. Japan has countless pâtisseries capable of producing strawberry-based desserts of far higher quality, refinement, and flavor than what was presented here. In the end, no one asked the diners about the food. Possibly because they knew it would be humiliating for a two-star Michelin restaurant to admit how mediocre the meal actually was.