Ao Nishiazabu – Tokyo, Japan

Next up on our trip in Japan was a dinner at Ao Nishiazabu. The restaurant was awarded Tabelog Gold with a score of 4.57, which would make Ao one of the best restaurants in Tokyo. Using Omakase, reservation here is still relatively easier for foreigners comparing to other restaurants. We were able to book two seats for a 5 pm reservation a few months prior.

Ao is located a short walk from Roppongi Hill. We were the first guests to arrive a few minutes prior to our reservation time. Walking in, this was a very small restaurant with 8 seats right in front of the open kitchen. The owner, Minemura-san, warmly welcomed us and we were promptly offered hot towels. In front of us was the menu with the dishes for the evening as well as pairing options. I went with the special wine pairing course, while my partner went with wine by the glass. Shortly after, the other guests arrived, and the meal started right on time. Minemura-san came around again to welcome each guest with ingredients for the evening. He explained the key ingredients, from truffle to Tajima Wagyu. Shortly after, the first course arrived.

Shinkei-Kime Red Sea Bream Consomme from Mr. Fujimoto. – The consomme looked simple but was full of flavor. We were told no salt was added at all in the dish.

Chilled Fedellini with Akoya Pearl Oyster, Caviar – one of my favorites for the night. The chilled pasta was well cooked, and you could taste each ingredients in the dish. Very clean flavor with a touch of olive oil

Charcoal-grilled Blue-eye Tuna smoked with Lemon – another highlight. The skin was charred making the crispiness a nice contrast with the meat. Freshly grated wasabi was a nice touch to cut the richness of the fish.

3-year aged Potato Gratin, truffle – Creamy potato topped with load of black truffle. This was as good as it looked.

Charcoal-grilled lobster, Bisque – Ao’s signature dish. We were told that we should try the lobster on its own, then dipped in the bisque. The lobster was firmed and cooked to perfection. Bisque was a tad too sweet for me. Overall, a decent dish.

Risotto with Female Snow Crab – at this point, we had quite a bit of crab from other restaurants, which I’ll post about in Toyama and Fukui. Maybe we were “crabbed out”? This was nothing special.

Mousse of Watermelon Radish – a palate cleanser. This came at a nice time after a few courses of rich ingredients.

Shinkei-jime Sea Bream with Oura Gobo – we were told that Hasegawa-san is the top fishermen in Japan, and Ao is one of the few restaurants that get the ingredients from him. Similar to other dishes, flavor was clean and fish was well-cooked. Decent dish.

Granite with Yuzu – another palate cleanser before the main courses.

Charcoal-grilled 42-month old Tajima Wagyu, Lily Bulb – this wasn’t as good as I thought it was going to be. Of course, it was delicious. I wished they would add more salt.

Risotto with clear soup made from clams – second risotto course. This was fine. I didn’t really get the point of the dish to be honest. We were getting quite full at this point, and this felt like a filler.

Soup with Strawberry from Kinpara Farm – this was a stellar dish. Another favorite of the night. The dessert tasted perfectly cut the richness from the past few courses.

Ice Cream from egg of Hinai wild chicken, sake – this was delicious but at this point, we were quite full.

Mignardises & Cafe – the cream puff was freshly made and came out warm. Yes, I was full but this was one of the best cream puffs I’ve had. On the other hand, he canele was nothing special.

The Special Wine Pairing was like the name quite special. This was one of the few places I felt like it was well worth the money considering the wines they served. Happy to share write out the list if anyone is interested.

It was abundantly clear the emphasis the restaurant put into getting the best ingredients in Japan. The flavors of most dishes were quite straightforward. Don’t expect flashy techniques or dishes with a lot of acid, heat etc. Ao may not be the restaurant for everyone. If you would like to taste the best version of a Japanese ingredient, I’d say this is the place for you.