----------------------------------- sanji Fri Aug 31, 2007 2:54 pm Re: Nihonbashi ----------------------------------- Tapas Molecular Bar - Molecular Gastronomy Address - 4-12-4 Hamadayama, Suginami-ku, Tokyo Opening hours - dinner starts at 6pm or 8:30pm; 7 seats per round, reservation mandatory Telephone - 03-3270-8188 (from 9am to 9pm) Menu - In Japanese and English Credit Cards - OK Chef de Cuisine - Jeff Ramsey Assistant Manager - Naoya Sugino / Yutaka Shinoda Dress code - Smart Casual Molecular gastronomy is getting quite popular in Europe, but barely unheard of in Japan. Tapas Molecular Bar is an excellent opportunity to try this type of food. The restaurant is located in the luxurious Mandarin Oriental Tokyo, close to Mitsukoshimae station, on the 38th floor. It is in fact located directly in the Oriental Lounge and Bar, and a maximum of 7 guests starts eating at 6 or 8:30pm. They are seated in front of two chefs who prepare the food in front of them, commenting all steps. Those two chefs are in fact assistants of Jeff Ramsey, but they both worked in some of the most famous molecular restaurants in Europe. Molecular gastronomy term was coined by Hungarian physicist Nicholas Kurti and French chemist Hervé This. The concept is to apply modern science - mostly physic and chemistry - to culinary problems, inventing new recipes, and using new tools and methods. At the Tapas Molecular Bar, only one menu is served, consisting of about 20 small dishes ("tapas"). Seeing the usage of new tools in the kitchen is part of the fun of molecular gastronomy, so all 7 guests are served at the same time the same dishes. If you want to try something really new, and learn a lot about food and science, by all mean try this address. Even people who have tested molecular food in Europe might be interested to give this address a try: several dishes are based on Japanese ingredients, so while some of the dishes are "standards" for molecular menu, some are completely original to Japan. Before describing some of the dishes, a comment on the price : the menu costs 12'000 yen + 10% service, and the drinks are not included (a 7'500 yen wine course is available, consisting of 1 glass of champagne, 1 of white wine and 2 of red wines - all of good quality). This is not cheap, but compare to similar restaurants in Europe, it is still a bargain! The two cooks we had are Japanese, and are in fact the assistant of the chef, who was not at the table that night. It seems that if you specifically request it at the reservation, the restaurant will make sure that someone speaking English is available during your dinner. Here are some pictures taken during the dinner. 726 Blue Hawaii Using liquid nitrogen is common in such type of cuisine, not only because it gives interesting properties to the food, but also because it is very easy to attract the attention of the audience. Instead of serving a mere cocktail, this Blue Hawaii drink was frozen at -196 degrees Celsius and served directly to the guests. If you eat it (rather than "drink") in the next 20 seconds, your mouth will fill with gas (the released nitrogen), while the taste of the cocktail starts to appear. 727 Ikura on passion fruit The fun of molecular gastronomy is not limited to the ingredients and the cooking procedures, it also resides in the way the food is presented to the guests. This test tube contains ikura which are to be directly sucked in your mouth! 728 Carrot Caviar A classic! Liquid carrot with sodium alginate are added dropwise (the seringues) to a solution of calcium chloride, which makes the spheric drops solidify on their surface. You get the size and consistency of caviar... which still only carrots. This is probably the most famous example of molecular food... 729 Unagi, Pineapple, Miso Except... there is no miso at all! But the combination of unagi, pineapple and avocado gives a taste very close to that of miso. Another feature of molecular gastronomy is to change the way aliment are perceived by your senses. 730 Desserts And a nice selection of desserts! Although less interesting that the rest of the dishes, perhaps because they were not prepared in front of us. 731 The best toilets in Japan ? Just look at the view... Some links for those who want to learn more about molecular gastronomy : - [url=http://khymos.org]khymos.org - molecular gastronomy and the science of cooking - [url=http://www.chefsimon.com]Chef Simon - theory and numerous recipes, in French Internet - www.mandarinoriental.com/hotel/558000169.asp Some blogs talking about this restaurant, with many pictures of the dishes (you will note that most of the dishes are the same as they were 2 years ago...) : [url=http://josephmallozzi.blogspot.com/2006/12/december-5-2006-part-ii.html]Joseph Mallozzi's blog ans [url=http://japanbystorm.blogspot.com/2007/04/when-chemistry-meets-cooking.html]Strange Girl in a Strange Land.