Service: Excellent and very friendly.
Facilities: Great cleanliness overall. Superb washroom (mouthwash and toothpicks provided!)!
Prices: Reasonable to slightly expensive, very good value.
Strong points: Interesting wine list. Great use of local products, especially organic vegetables and Shizuoka-bred meat.
Last night, technically not New Year’s Eve yet but so for 95% of the restaurants downtown I twisted the leg of Chef Toru Arima/有馬亨さん at Pissenlit French Restaurant in Aoi Ku, Shizuoka City into preparing a New Year’s Eve dinner for two friends, the Missus and I. Actually only two more guests had been accepted as Friday night had been more than hectic and Toru was getting his hands full with the preparation of sechi ryouri/御節料理/End of The Year Traditional Japanese Cuisine served in boxes for no less than 28 customers!
He still managed to serve us a beautiful dinner with whatever was available in the kitchen!
Now, what did we enjoy?
Lightly marinated mackerel from Yaizu Harbor!
Note the edible shiso/perilla flowers and the menegi/leek sprouts! Both of them and all other vegetables in other dishes from all over Shizuoka Prefecture and mainly organically grown!
Served atop a bed of small apple cubes!
Cauliflower bavarois!
Served on broccoli coulis with iwana/Japanese char sashimi from Kakushima Farm in Fujinomiya City!
Topped with caviar and salmon’s roe for a little extravagance!
White asparagus with scallops!
Seasoned with local grated karasumi/Boutargue/Botarga/mullet eggs!
With a simple butter sauce liaising the juices of the asparagus and scallops!
Kinmeidai/splendid Alfonsino from Suruga Bay!
The organic Petit Vert is a Brussels Sprout variety first grown in Shizuoka Prefecture!
With a butter sauce seasoned with juices of the fish, the vegetables and yuzu koshio/lime salt!
The colors of the Petit Vert and young red beet are those of little jewels!
Blanquette made with veal raised in Fujinomiya City!
For another view of the ever so tender meat!
A traditional French dish which brought back so many memories of my childhood! Mind you, this is an extravagant way of preparing and serving it!
Filet of Ezo venison!
This deer would have feasted on those vegetables. Not to mention that the Port wine sauce ended up on my fingertips!
The perfect Automn/Winter main dish!
A little plate of French cheeses with figs, walnuts, pistachio and honey!
Can you guess what they are?
Served with the exquisite little finishing touch with coarsely ground black peppers and cumin seeds!
The little details that make the difference between enjoying and savoring!
Darjheeling Tea jelly before moving to the dessert!
Now this seemingly simple dessert includes an item served only at Pissenlit (so far, as it will certainly be emulated!)!
Not this delicious home-made pistachio ice-cream though!
Bavarois made with wasabi from Utogi, Shizuoka City and sauce made caramel and soy sauce from Amano Compnay in Gotemba City!
Happy New Year!
PISSENLIT
420-0839 Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Takajo, 2-3-4
Tel.: 054-270-8768
Fax: 054-627-3868
Business hours: 11:30~14:30; 17:00~22:00
Closed on Tuesdays and Sunday evening
HOMEPAGE (Japanese)
Credit Cards OK
Entirely non-smoking!
RECOMMENDED RELATED WEBSITES
Kraemer’s Culinary blog by Frank Kraemer in New York,Tokyo Food File by Robbie Swinnerton, Green Tea Club by Satoshi Nihonyanagi in Shizuoka!, Mind Some by Tina in Taiwan, Le Manger by Camille Oger (French), The Indian Tourist, Masala Herb by Helene Dsouza in Goa, India, Mummy I Can Cook! by Shu Han in London, Pierre.Cuisine, Francescannotwrite, My White Kitchen, Foodhoe, Chucks Eats, Things that Fizz & Stuff, Five Euro Food by Charles,Red Shallot Kitchen by Priscilla,With a Glass, Nami | Just One Cookbook, Peach Farm Studio, Clumsyfingers by Xethia, PepperBento, Hapabento, Kitchen Cow, Lunch In A Box, Susan at Arkonlite, Vegan Lunch Box; Tokyo Tom Baker, Daily Food Porn/Osaka, Only Nature Food Porn, Happy Little Bento, J-Mama’s Kitchen, Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Bento Lunch Blog (German), Adventures In Bento, Anna The Red’s Bento Factory, Ohayo Bento,
Must-see tasting websites:
-Sake: Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World
-Wine: Palate To Pen, Warren Bobrow, Cellar Tours, Ancient Fire Wines Blog
-Beer: Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!, Beering In Good Mind: All about Craft Beer in kanzai by Nevitt Reagan!
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery
Non gastronomy must-see sites by Shizuoka Residents
HIGHOCTANE/HAIOKU by Nick Itoh in Shizuoka City