Fancy a proper French meal during your stay in Japan? Finding somewhere affordable that still tastes the way it should can be difficult. So we took it upon ourselves to test a good many addresses, and here are the five we liked best in Tokyo:
Breizh café Crêperie
With two restaurants in Tokyo, one in Shinjuku and the other in Omotesando, Breizh café is a crêperie you may already know, because it exists in Paris too.
You will find real Breton crêpes, good cider, and French and Japanese staff who are properly bilingual.
Expect between 1300 and 2000 yen for a savoury galette and 900 to 1700 yen for a sweet crêpe.
The right place for anyone missing French food.
L’amitié
L’amitié is a small brasserie in the Takadanobaba district. The menu is entirely French, and the plates are put together as carefully as they are cooked.
Prices run a little high in the evening (expect around 5000 yen per person), but lunch is relatively cheap, with set menus at around 2000 to 2200 yen per person.
Do book, though: the restaurant is often full.
Aux Bacchanales
Aux Bacchanales is a well-known chain of French-style brasseries with branches in several Tokyo districts, and in other cities such as Osaka, Kyoto and Fukuoka.
For the length of a meal, you can forget you are in Japan: the room is modelled on a Paris brasserie and the waiters take your order in French.
The menu is built around traditional French dishes, and if, like me, you come from the south of France, you will appreciate ordering a Monaco — a drink you very rarely find in Japan.
Expect roughly 3000 yen for a main course and 700 yen for a drink.
Pâtisserie Criollo
Set up by a French pastry chef, Criollo sells cakes and chocolates of real quality at very reasonable prices.
There are three shops in Tokyo: Itabashi, Naka-Meguro and Azabudai Hills. The Itabashi branch, the largest, also sells good bread. That alone is worth the detour.
Expect between 500 and 800 yen for an individual pastry, the equal of anything in Paris.
Fromagerie Alpage
Every French person who has lived in Japan for weeks, months or years agrees on this: cheese is one of the things they miss most from home.
Fortunately, you will find a very wide selection, at varying prices, at Fromagerie Alpage in the Kagurazaka district.
Alongside French cheeses, it also stocks a number of Japanese cheeses from Hokkaido, which is worth knowing if you want to taste the local production.
Expect around 800 to 1300 yen for 100 grams of cheese.
