A note on the words: rillettes is a French meat spread slowly cooked in fat and shredded into a savory paste, served here with bread. Potage is a smooth, velvety soup, served chilled here to highlight sweet seasonal corn. Fricassee is a traditional French preparation where meat is gently braised in a rich, herb-infused white sauce, featuring tender bone-in chicken thigh alongside rice. Creme brulee is a silky baked custard finished under a brittle layer of caramelized sugar.
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BRASSERIE PAUL BOCUSE Le Musee on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. Now then, the restaurant I picked for lunch this time is inside the National Art Center, Tokyo in Roppongi: “BRASSERIE PAUL BOCUSE Le Musee”! The building of the National Art Center, Tokyo itself is incredibly stylish, but beyond that, the shape of this restaurant is so fascinating, ha. It has a shape that makes you wonder, “Is this really structurally okay like this?” I had always wanted to visit at least once, but since it’s an art museum, there are crowded times and quiet times, and whenever I peeked in there was a line. But today it was raining. Thinking that on a rainy day it surely wouldn’t be too crowded, I decided to go. Just to be safe, I arrived right after opening, around just past 11:00.
It feels somehow like the restaurant is perched atop an ice cream cone. With virtually no walls to speak of, it is an overly open restaurant, ha.
MENU BLANC — 2,970 yen
MENU ROUGE — 4,400 yen
There are two options, Rouge and Blanc. Each has menu items with extra charges for the main dish or dessert. The difference seems to be whether an appetizer is included or not, perhaps? If that’s the case, Blanc should be plenty fine, so I chose MENU BLANC.
And what caught my eye was the seasonal corn soup. I thought, “+500 yen, huh…”, but it is the season when corn gets delicious, and considering it’s cheaper than ordering wine… so I decided to add this to my order as well.
We are on the third floor here, but since there are no walls, you can see clearly all the way down. You can clearly see people riding down the escalator pointing their cameras toward us to take photos, ha. Given the restaurant’s distinctive design, I completely understand the urge to snap a photo.
Rillettes. A light, fluffy paste, it has a solid level of saltiness, but after the fresh flavor of the paste, the salinity gently spreads across your palate. Delicious! Whether spread onto bread or eaten just as it is, it tastes great.
A potage. A chilled soup with a refreshing corn aroma and an elegant sweetness that tastes delicious. The presence of milk or cream comes through solidly, making it genuinely delicious. This is definitely one of those cases where ordering the add-on was the right call!
The sauce is practically a stew; the lovely scent of herbs wafts through the nose. Delicious. The bone-in meat is melt-in-the-mouth tender, perfectly matched to the richer sauce. A dainty scoop of rice accompanies it, making the volume completely satisfying. The broccoli garnish is delicious too, and the texture of burdock root — whether fried or dried — adds a nice little accent. Mmm, such an elegant flavor.
Dessert really has to be creme brulee, doesn’t it! Beneath the crisp caramelized crust lies a light, clean custard. The sweetness of the custard is refreshing and pleasant. That said, the caramelized crust is very sweet, ha, so it pairs just right with coffee. Since it is quite sweet, cracking little bits to eat and sipping coffee… mmm, truly elegant.
I had been thinking the Paul Bocuse logo was quite charming, and then I saw they were selling items by the register, ha: soup bowls and coffee cups. They were a pretty penny so I passed on buying them for the moment, but it’s neat that they sell such things. It was a chic, stylish space where the restaurant and all the dishes served felt in complete harmony with this art museum. Paul Bocuse “Le Musee” is well recommended!
BRASSERIE PAUL BOCUSE Le Musee (Bistro / Nogizaka Station, Roppongi Station, Aoyama-itchome Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.6
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
