Le Pristine Restaurant Tokyo — Restaurant in Tokyo

A Disastrous Michelin-Star Experience – Avoid if You’re Vegan

Our visit to Le Pristine Tokyo was an utter disappointment. As seasoned fine-dining enthusiasts, we had high expectations from a Michelin-starred restaurant and were looking forward to a gastronomic delight. Instead, we left feeling frustrated, unheard, and completely let down by both the service and food quality.

Zero Communication on Vegan Reservation

We specifically booked a vegan five-course meal and mentioned our dietary preferences at the time of reservation. However, upon arrival, we were handed a menu with little to no vegan options. When we inquired, the staff acted completely unaware of our prior request. Worse, one of them bluntly stated, "We don’t serve a vegan meal."

This raised two fundamental questions:

Why accept our booking if you cannot accommodate a vegan meal?

Why confirm our reservation via email without informing us of this limitation?

Reluctant and Incompetent Service

Realizing their mistake, the chef personally came to our table and offered to prepare a vegan meal. While this seemed like a good gesture, the execution was anything but.

The starters were forgettable, lacking creativity or finesse.

The main course was a disaster. The dish was so chewy and unappetizing that we had to send it back. Despite politely requesting an alternative, the chef insisted on re-preparing the same dish, which turned out even worse.

The service was inattentive and unsupportive, failing to uphold the level of hospitality expected from a Michelin-starred establishment.

A Weak Attempt at Compensation

After two failed attempts at serving a decent meal, the chef offered a complimentary tiramisu—a token gesture that did little to compensate for the overall poor experience.

Verdict: Not Worth the Michelin Star

Le Pristine Tokyo does not live up to its Michelin reputation. The lack of communication, poor service, and uninspired food make it a complete waste of time, money, and opportunity—especially in a city with outstanding Michelin-starred restaurants that truly respect their diners.

If you're vegan, avoid this place at all costs. There are far better restaurants in Tokyo that actually care about dietary preferences and uphold the culinary excellence expected of a...

I had lunch with a Japanese counterpart on 7 May during a recent work visit to Tokyo and chose Le Pristine more due to its location at the towering Toranomon Hills Station building near the Mori group offices nearby.

But as it turned out, it was more than just convenient and my Japanese associate and I had a great experience in the restaurant and enjoyed the lunch very much.

The restaurant is airy and its large tables and unobtrusive but attentive service facilitated our work discussions very well. We had the three course lunch set and I found the food and experience exceeded my expectations. It’s a refined and spacious space that was quiet enough to have good work discussions, and the food was very delicious without being so heavy as to be too distracting.

While I’m not very familiar with the relative price points of restaurants in Japan, I found Le Pristine’s light-filled decor, and the quality of the food and service of a high standard for the charges. Enough that after I returned home from Tokyo, I have since booked another lunch at Le Pristine’s other restaurant...

This was some of the best breakfast I’ve ever had. Everything was delicious and the food quality was outstanding.

The buffet selection is pretty standard but has good variety, you have a couple different proteins (ham, chicken, fish, sausage), various pastries, miso soup, rice, cold cuts, salad bar, fruit, yogurt, etc. I was pleasantly surprised at the consistent high quality of the food on the buffet across multiple days. The food tasted quite freshly cooked, not at all dry like a lot of buffet food is. The ham and the teriyaki chicken paired with the Hokkaido rice were my daily go-tos.

The a la carte menu is a fantastic addition to the buffet. There’s a lot of both Japanese and western options available and everything was cooked perfectly every day. My favorites were the strawberry pancakes and the orange porridge. The pancakes were so fluffy and the sweetness with the fruit and compote was perfect.

The service was also great, there’s lots of staff around so there’s always someone available to help you with whatever you need, and the a la carte food came...