This was a relatively last minute reservation, guided by our desire to try something different and the good Tabelog rating (it seems it was Tabelog Bronze until a few years ago). The restaurant presents itself as offering French cuisine, but I think there is a significant Italian and, obviously, Japanese influence.
Not sure if we chose the wrong menu (we chose the intermediate one), was a bad day, or simply the style did not suited us, but this turned out to be a rather inconsistent experience.
Some dishes were quite good. I think they did an interesting job pairing Parmigiano with seafood, a quite unorthodox and not easy combination; the beets risotto was excellent and the squid carbonara was pretty good as well. The two desserts were also yummy; the reimagined Yatsuhashi was particularly good (sorry, it seems I lost the pic).
However, the other dishes ranged from meh not good. The uni brûlée was a concoction of different flavors that overpowered the uni. The fish main course was overcooked and borderline inedible.
The ambience is nice and service was fine, although they could have been friendlier when we noted issues with the fish main course. I would also note that their drink list includes Royal Blue Tea, a nice addition.
I want to conclude noting that I may be excessively critic since I am comparing to other dining experiences (whether fine, casual, or budget) in Japan. At the same time, without overweighting the fish main course, Yosuke Yamaji was in line with Michelin-starred restaurants in the US that we have visited in recent years (e.g., Imperfecto and Gabriel Kreuther).
by DrHippogriff