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Bon Chemin is really a gem in Tokyo: fine meticulous French food, with a slight Japanese twist. I am actually not a big fan of Japanese-French fusion, but I think Bon Chemin managed to execute it perfectly. I came across this restaurant by casually browsing my slightly dated Tokyo Zagat book from 2008, and it was listed on the page with the heading "Highest Food Ratings" -- boasting a 27 in taste. To give this rating some context, Jean Georges scored 28 in 2007 and the French Laundry scored 29 in 2009 in 2009 (according to the other two Zagat books I have).
The head chef has worked in numerous Michelin starred restaurants before opening his own. The restaurant is small and cozy, and seats only 22 guests; but because of the limited number of diners, the head chef makes sure to come out and greet his patrons, and sometimes even explains his dishes briefly as they are ushered to the dining tables.
On to the meal (for two people):
Chips with the wine. Crispy, thin and lightly-salted, butterflied with a leaf of parsley within.
A really cute gesture 
Guest Cambium, thank you for coming to our restaurant despite the rain.
Amuse-bouche: raw anchovies. Artfully executed, bold flavours, perfect dish to begin a meal.
Bread and spread. This is possibly the most amazing spread I have ever had. Normally, spreads are made from some form of oil, be it olive oil, butter or lard, but Bon Chemin brought this to a new level: tuna with foie gras butter. It's like a luxurious tuna-salad sandwich. I had 3.5 of these containers because I was so blown away.
Another bread (Whole wheat! These are almost impossible to get in Tokyo)
Gazpacho appetizer: very interesting dish, I am still unsure whether I liked it. Crab meat with tomato (didn't catch what the green stuff was when they explained the dish in fast Japanese and poor English  )
Anago appetizer: this, on the other hand, is absolutely AMAZING. The beige pieces in the middle are yam, and the white surrounding is made from Japanese salt-water eel. It tastes amazing with the bitter-melon sauce on the side.
More bread and spread after the appetizer. I told you I loved it...
Fish of the day from Tsukiji: sea bass. I love, love, love sea bash, especially in French cuisine. I was delighted to find out that it was the fish they were cooking for the seafood dish. The base is a rice risotto in a cheese sauce. Rice was slightly chewy, but the sauce was fabulous.
Entree: kobe beef (cheek meat). I know it doesn't look too appetizing, but the meat was perfectly cooked, and it literally melted in my mouth, without ever needing to chew. The pumpkin sauce (yellow thing) added great depth to the dish.
Entree: duck confit.
Interior decor. The air conditioner really ruins the painting I'm going to crop it out later.
Dessert: creme brulee. It's pretty good, but I've had better, and I am not that into desserts in general.
Dessert: Strawberry tarte.
Coffee dessert: macaroons.
One complain I had with the restaurant was with its service. The server was too attentive and overly servile. To the point that I felt bad whenever he delivered me dishes or poured me water. Overall, an excellent meal.
I hope you enjoyed reading the blog
edit:
Also got a pair of jeans recently:
Selvage 
 
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everything looks so small how much would all of that cost?
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Very nice. looks like a very baller meal.
Are you going to grace us with more reviews like say to Ryugin ?
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On May 25 2010 23:28 lixlix wrote:
Very nice. looks like a very baller meal.
Are you going to grace us with more reviews like say to Ryugin ?
Ah! I'm glad you mentioned it. I *might* visit Ryugin, but I plan to visit La Table de Joël Robuchon and Beige first
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ooh looks good. do you know what that one 3 star tempura place in tokyo is called? i remember reading a good review about it and planning to go next month but i can't find it anymore.
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I'm guessing ... $80 meal?
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Look very nice. I'd wan't them all in a one plate tho
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Calgary25981 Posts
Looks very nice. It's not something I do often, but going for a ridiculously fancy meal is always fun on a blue moon.
I actually said to myself "I'm just going to look at the pictures" but the pictures were so good I ended up reading the blog entry too
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5/5
Also the kobe beef may be delicious it really looks like ***. All brown and yellow/orange ... how can you serve that? huge lack of taste.
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wow some good shit (esp. that bread and spread)
curious how big of a dent your wallet took that night thou
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Belgium9947 Posts
On May 25 2010 23:51 lac29 wrote:
I'm guessing ... $80 meal?
Pretty sure this is an understatement.
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On May 26 2010 00:29 RaGe wrote:Pretty sure this is an understatement.
With tip ... then up to $100?
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On May 26 2010 00:39 lac29 wrote:Show nested quote +On May 26 2010 00:29 RaGe wrote:On May 25 2010 23:51 lac29 wrote:
I'm guessing ... $80 meal? Pretty sure this is an understatement. With tip ... then up to $100?
Its Tokyo, so I don't think there is tip but I wouldn't be surprised if it was about $200+/ per person.
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I'll be in Tokyo for a week around August 17th and I just might visit there. What's the price tag to all this luxury?
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On May 25 2010 23:34 Cambium wrote:Show nested quote +On May 25 2010 23:28 lixlix wrote:
Very nice. looks like a very baller meal.
Are you going to grace us with more reviews like say to Ryugin ?
Ah! I'm glad you mentioned it. I *might* visit Ryugin, but I plan to visit La Table de Joël Robuchon and Beige first
There's Robuchons all over the world. I really think you should go to L'Osier since that one is uniquely Tokyo.
Here is someone else's review
http://www.luxeat.com/my_weblog/2009/11/losier-tokyo.html
I really want to do a dining trip in Tokyo.
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On May 26 2010 00:44 lixlix wrote:Show nested quote +On May 25 2010 23:34 Cambium wrote:On May 25 2010 23:28 lixlix wrote:
Very nice. looks like a very baller meal.
Are you going to grace us with more reviews like say to Ryugin ?
Ah! I'm glad you mentioned it. I *might* visit Ryugin, but I plan to visit La Table de Joël Robuchon and Beige first There's Robuchons all over the world. I really think you should go to L'Osier since that one is uniquely Tokyo. Here is someone else's review http://www.luxeat.com/my_weblog/2009/11/losier-tokyo.htmlI really want to do a dining trip in Tokyo.
Ah, thanks! And why don't those damn reviews ever mention the price..
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Looks very nice. I think you made the right choice not going to the Jean Georges. (The one in Shanghai is also rated very high but is actually terrible). Dunno if the sommelier helped you to choose but the Crozes Hermitage 2000 is a great value. I am a little disappointed by the deserts though. There are plenty of "only" 1 Michelin star restaurant who offer something else than the basic Crème Brûlée.
5/5 .
I'll have a look to your previous blog entries.
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Probably spending over 5 grand for eating in Japan alone.....
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5/5
this blog made me extremely hungry ._.
esp. the desserts :D
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i bet *that* meal costed well above 200$, however much it might be in japanese currency..
i'm not a fan of seafood and i guess asian a cultures eat a lot of it and prepare it in some 'weird' ways, at least weird to us americans and etc.. i'm more of a chicken/beef/pork type-a person.. but I do try to change my opinion of things by trying new things.. i've tried sushi before, was a bad experience.. felt like i was on fear-factor, trying to hurry up and swallow it but i coudlnt .
the dishes, although looked elegant, i coudlnt imagine ordering some of the stuff (like the eel dish, although yams I R fan of)
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So jealous ... I love eel. I don't think I would be a big fan of French restaurants (never been to a super nice one), but I think that one would be amazing. Thanks for the awesome pictures and very well done review.
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That food looks awesome , though is it customary to japan to eat almost nothing in one meal ?<
or is it just fine restaurants that do that ?
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On May 26 2010 01:29 endy wrote:
Looks very nice. I think you made the right choice not going to the Jean Georges. (The one in Shanghai is also rated very high but is actually terrible). Dunno if the sommelier helped you to choose but the Crozes Hermitage 2000 is a great value. I am a little disappointed by the deserts though. There are plenty of "only" 1 Michelin star restaurant who offer something else than the basic Crème Brûlée.
5/5 .
I'll have a look to your previous blog entries.
Have you been to the other Shanghai heavy hitters like M on the Bund?
Whenever I'm in Shanghai I never really want to eat western food and just stick to my Jia Jia Tang Bao and Xiao Yang Shen Jian.
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On May 26 2010 03:30 DorF wrote:
That food looks awesome , though is it customary to japan to eat almost nothing in one meal ?<
or is it just fine restaurants that do that ?
I think it's the case for certain/most high/luxury/fine-dining places. Of course there are Brazilian steakhouses and even high-end steak houses where you pay a lot but get a lot of food but when people think of $50+ per person meals I think they think of these multiple small samplers.
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mmmm omg some of that looks so good ._.
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On May 26 2010 03:30 DorF wrote:
That food looks awesome , though is it customary to japan to eat almost nothing in one meal ?<
or is it just fine restaurants that do that ?
Most high end restaurants work on this type of system.
You pay a shit ton and you get small servings but you get many different things to try. Most of the time you can expect an 8-12 course meal in high end restaurants so the servings have to be small or you'll be too full to try all of it.
Trust me, it's more than enough food sir.
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On May 26 2010 03:30 DorF wrote:
That food looks awesome , though is it customary to japan to eat almost nothing in one meal ?<
or is it just fine restaurants that do that ?
Its just a high end dining thing.
as an example, here is a trip report from the #1 rated restaurant in the world (incidentally one that is in Scandinavia) and look at their portion size
http://foodsnobblog.wordpress.com/2009/06/20/noma-copenhagen/
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Look's amazing. The level of preparation and detail in Japanese cuisine is astounding.
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wow man
americans eatin dem mcdonalds b missin out
how much did that cost?
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Man, the food looks delicious and that's some sexy looking jeans. Btw, do you have any pics of the restaurant?
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all of this looks exotic and yet so good !
:D take me with youu
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Wow, got a lot more responses than I expected! With regards to the cost, this poster is correct ^^
It's about 76 dollars for the set meal, plus 10% mandatory tipping. With wine, it was about $90-95$ per person.
I think the meal was actually not bad in terms of "bang for the buck" comparative to a lot of similar venues in Tokyo (I feel that a lot of the highly-rated restaurants in Ginza are severely overpriced). I highly recommend it for those who are around the region.
On May 26 2010 00:44 lixlix wrote:Show nested quote +On May 25 2010 23:34 Cambium wrote:On May 25 2010 23:28 lixlix wrote:
Very nice. looks like a very baller meal.
Are you going to grace us with more reviews like say to Ryugin ?
Ah! I'm glad you mentioned it. I *might* visit Ryugin, but I plan to visit La Table de Joël Robuchon and Beige first There's Robuchons all over the world. I really think you should go to L'Osier since that one is uniquely Tokyo. Here is someone else's review http://www.luxeat.com/my_weblog/2009/11/losier-tokyo.htmlI really want to do a dining trip in Tokyo.
Thanks for the link. I might consider "Rogue" (not sure if it's lunch or dinner) since it's actually pretty decent value. One thing I'd like to mention is that even though Robuchon and Beige are "chain" restaurants, they vary greatly depending on the region. I think it's still worthwhile to see what these chefs can do with fresh Japanese ingredients, given how good local produce and meats taste.
On May 25 2010 23:41 chongu wrote:
are you rich?
By no means am I rich, but I think it's reasonable to splurge $100 or so dollars on a nice meal once in a while. I am on vacation after all!
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On May 25 2010 23:59 Chill wrote:Looks very nice. It's not something I do often, but going for a ridiculously fancy meal is always fun on a blue moon. I actually said to myself "I'm just going to look at the pictures" but the pictures were so good I ended up reading the blog entry too
Thanks Chill
On May 26 2010 00:04 Smix wrote:Absolutely love all your food blogs!! 5/5
and <3 smix
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On May 26 2010 08:44 Cambium wrote:
By no means am I rich, but I think it's reasonable to splurge $100 or so dollars on a nice meal once in a while. I am on vacation after all!
You've been on vacation like forever and a day 
I should blog about the Kaiseki Ryōri I had in Osaka one day; Something that I will never have again in my life. At least not with my own money, ahem.
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Michelin star food is what I dream about eating! Thanks a lot for these blogs Cambium.
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I agree ... nice photos and descriptions. Thanks!
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On May 26 2010 03:36 lixlix wrote:Show nested quote +On May 26 2010 01:29 endy wrote:
Looks very nice. I think you made the right choice not going to the Jean Georges. (The one in Shanghai is also rated very high but is actually terrible). Dunno if the sommelier helped you to choose but the Crozes Hermitage 2000 is a great value. I am a little disappointed by the deserts though. There are plenty of "only" 1 Michelin star restaurant who offer something else than the basic Crème Brûlée.
5/5 .
I'll have a look to your previous blog entries. Have you been to the other Shanghai heavy hitters like M on the Bund? Whenever I'm in Shanghai I never really want to eat western food and just stick to my Jia Jia Tang Bao and Xiao Yang Shen Jian.
M on the Bund is decent. But it's around $70 per person, and in a cheaper city than Tokyo. So I'd rather go to Tokyo to eat good french food.
Otherwise you are right, jiajia tangbao make excellent xiaolongbao. The only xiaoyang shengjian I know is on Wujiang road, and there are renovating the street now
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Osaka27151 Posts
I am glad you are still having a great time. First, I am surprised that you had to tip, I guess it is mandatory at high end restaurants, but at 99% of places in Japan you do not have to tip. Maybe a foreigner restaurant thing.
Also, the price is really cheap. If I go to the pub I can easily spend 70 on myself (although that is for booze too). When Haji, Chill, and I went out for dinner and drinks it was well over 200, so I am impressed with that price.
As always, let me know if you are around Kansai Airport one of these days.
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