Beige Alain Ducasse — Restaurant in Tokyo

This is the first time I visit a Michelin star restaurant. We booked it for lunch in early May 2024 to celebrate my daughter's college graduation. Our family was kind of looking forward to this event/meal base on the good reviews from various resources (Youtube, Michelin guide, etc).

The ambiance is nice with good view of Toyko's skyline. Service is..., how can I explain it...it doesn't feel warm. Maybe it is a 'Chanel' thing. When each course is served the server does explain what the ingredients are (in a very low tone). I was afraid to ask if she can speak a little louder due to the quietness of the environment.

I order the 'signature' course which include 3 entrées. My daughter order a smaller course which included 1 entrée. Since she always loves duck dishes, she pick the duck entrée as the main entrée. The 'signature' course also include the duck entrée.

I must say the HUGE HUGE HUGE disappointment is the duck entrée on its menu. Or maybe it is just on that particular day at that particular time the chef just doesn't know how to make it not rubbery for the 'signature' course and main entrée.

My daughter and I was kindly instructed by the server which side is the sharp side of the knife before hand since I am sure others had made mistake. However, when we cut into the duck meat, we still have doubts that if we are corrected. At the end we just have to chew into it, realizing that it is still rubbery, we kind of have to swallow the meat thinking that how can they serve this to customers.

Given that it is a Michelin star French restaurant, we are very disappointed that Beige doesn't know how to do a good duck dishes. It ruined the whole dinning experience we expected with a Michelin star restaurant no matter how good the rest of the ambiance/service Beige have reached. They should really take the duck dishes off the menu. If it wasn't for that duck entrée, I probably would still say I have an enjoyable experience with good food and the price is in-par with other Michelin star restaurant.

With inconsistent quality of the meal, and no flexibility to switch out the bad ingredients, I would say it is not worth the $$$$, or in this case lots of ¥‎¥‎¥‎¥‎¥‎.

Update in Nov 2024: I see that the owner has response and I have review their menu again. I am glad to see that the "duck entrée" is removed from the menu. Seems like they are willing to listen. I do hope that I am able to provide the feedback right after my meal at the restaurant (My wife stop me for doing that and there isn't anyone from the restaurant asking if our meal where 'ok' after...

As many people have pointed out, this restaurant is overrated. I had my suspicion as I was going through the reviews, but this was the only place with a reservation available on short notice so we decided to give it a try. The food itself would be a solid 1 star, but the service was disastrous, so big gourmand should be a fair rating. There’s no way it’s a 2 star. Most staff don’t speak comprehensible English and didn’t even bother to make the tiniest effort to make themselves better understood. We were initially served cold, dry leftover bread because we were talking in English. After we complained in stern Japanese, they brought us fresh bread. I can’t imagine they would do this to Japanese customers. Given the its location and menu, its main clientele appears to be travelers, making this level of racism and unprofessionalism totally unacceptable. Also, the full dinner course was way too short, took us only an hour and a half. This is the shortest French I’ve ever had. While the portions were generous and dishes like the gnocchi and foie gras were decent, the service overshadowed any positives. Deserts were horrifying. The pre desert was awful and a total interrupt of the flow, and among main deserts only the Chocolate was satisfactory. My advice: save your money and go elsewhere. The existence of such restaurants is an insult to both diners and the art of cooking.

Edit: I love when my fellow Asians back home pulling the logic trick with me- serving 常温 bread doesn’t mean it can be leftover. The fresh bread we received later was also at room temperature, but you could tell from the crust color, overall softness, and the grease that it was fresh. If you truly take pride in the name Alain Ducasse, act accordingly. From what I see, your kitchen is doing their job(at least for appetizers and main dishes) but your service is undermining the restaurant....

This review is complicated. We went to three Michelin star restaurants in our time in Japan. This one had the most stars and was hands-down the worst overall experience.

You'll definitely enjoy the food. There's no doubt that the chef knows how to cook.

And the service is mostly polite, impeccable in many ways. English friendly.

But there's some pretty critical things holding it back that you may or may not care about. Read on if you think you might. The food was worth the price, delicious but completely unimaginative. The wine list was laughably expensive. Many bottles that they charged ¥¥¥ were common and cheap in most countries. (Yes, of course there were some incredible wines as well that were about the right price point. But I felt like they were banking on me not recognizing names and years). and... They were incredibly pushy with the alcohol. Trying to get us to order bottles of wine before we even knew what we were eating. It felt cold and aggressive. I've never been to this nice of a restaurant and not have the Sommelier spend time at my table. the atmosphere was incredibly flat. There was no connection between the food, the service, or the alcohol as far as we could tell. It was cold and ostentatious. this again reflected in the clientele that they had managed to bring in. Most people were in designer clothing ignoring the servers in an incredibly rude manner, playing on their phones, and picking at the food.

So in short, if you're looking for a Michelin Star restaurant that feels like an experience... THIS is NOT it. If you're looking to see and be seen, then welcome.

To the restaurant and chef - I highly recommend that you visit the Nut tree in Oxford, UK. They've nailed the ambiance + food creativity +...