Tokyo Food Page
★Leroux/
Yoyogi-Koen: French
▼3467-1247
▽Data
Leroux is a neigh-
borhood budget
French place with a
creative kitchen and
a strong emphasis on
vegetables and fresh
herbs. If you're the
kind of person who
likes to know where
his carrots come
from, you'll appre-
ciate Leroux's web-
site, which features
beauty shots of this
season's vegetables
along with the farms
they grew up on. But
while this is one of
the few French
places in town with
an all-vegetable
prix-fixe dinner
(Y3500 for seven
courses), carnivores
and seafood fans
will find plenty to
satisfy them.
Many of the vegeta-
ble dishes are pre-
pared rather simply,
relying on the
freshness and high
quality of the in-
gredients rather
than elaborate reci-
pes. The bagna cau-
da, for example, is
just a big platter
of ten or eleven raw
vegetables (includ-
ing two different
types of baby toma-
toes), photogenical-
ly arranged and
served with a
piping-hot anchovy-
flavored dipping
sauce. The magnifi-
cent grilled shii-
take (in season)
comes with just a
wedge of lime and a
pot of herb-infused
salt.
The scallop and
vegetable tartlets
show off more of the
chef's creativity,
with a nice textural
balance between the
seafood and the
crunchy, finely
diced zucchini and
cucumbers. Our fa-
vorite starter
though is the home-
made sausages - a
bit smoky and in-
fused with interest-
ing herbs and
spices, served with
caponata and a sweet
and fruity Marsala
wine sauce. Who
needs mustard!
The chicken diablo
is also excellent,
coming in a large-
size portion that's
big enough to share.
And as a grand fi-
nale, the chocolate
terrine dessert is
outstanding - creamy
dark chocolate en-
livened with tiny
bits of praline and
toasted nuts. Even
the home-made bread
is good. All in all,
Leroux has a very
high batting aver-
age, offering great
value for money.
The small, smoke-
free dining room is
plainly decorated
but pleasant enough,
with a tiny counter
at the back and an
attractive terrace
out front looking
out onto Yoyogi Park
(and Inokashira-
dori). The jazzy,
nondescript back-
ground music stays
well in the back-
ground. The wine
list offers a decent
selection of moder-
ately priced bottles
(with many good
choices under
Y5000), plus a whole
separate list of
vins biologiques
(produced without
sulfur dioxide).
Budget around Y5000-
6000 at dinnertime;
prix-fixe dinners
(meat, fish or all-
veg) are Y3500, and
lunches start at
Y900.
(Note: non-meat-
eaters may wish to
call ahead to re-
serve a vegetarian
version of the vege-
table dinner menu.)
▼Photo (small)
▼Photo (large)
▼Map for AU phones
▼Map for DoCoMo
◎Tomigaya 1-16-3.
[on Inokashira-dori
about 1 min. south
of Yoyogi Koen po-
lice box]
◎Open 11:30am-2, 6-
11pm (LO). Closed
Mondays.
戀Tokyo Food top