When chef-owner Jason Tan of Corner House strongly recommended Le Sputnik on his Instagram, I knew I had to check out the Michelin starred French restaurant. And thus, reservation was made on Tablecheck via Le Sputnik’s website.

Shortly after I made my reservation, I received an email from Le Sputnik team. In it, they mentioned they often serve game animals such as venison, duck, pigeon, etc for main and asked if I had any objection. To which, I replied with my dietary restriction of ‘no beef’. And at the same time, I also requested for the ‘foie gras-beetroot’ dish as I wasn’t sure if it was included in the lunch menu. So yes, if one is only lunching at Le Sputnik and wishes to have the ‘foie gras-beetroot’ dish, one would need to request for it as they don’t normally put that on the lunch menu.

It was a breeze locating Le Sputnik with Google map. Upon entry, the staff led me to my assigned table which gave me a good view of the kitchen through its full height glass door. And with that, I commenced my 8-course tasting lunch menu, ¥6000 with:-

1) Dish #1 (above) – Japanese pear wrapped with tile fish, served on a handpicked volcanic rock from Mount Fuji.

  

2) Dish #2 (above) – Burdock-wrapped sweet fish (ayu) placed on a huge pile of fried burdock strips. The staff mentioned the sweet fish was dusted with five spices and burdock powder, and asked me to enjoy it with the balsamic vinegar sauce. I tried my best to finish the fried burdock strips, but I just couldn’t. Too much lah.

3) Bread (above)

4) Dish #3 (above) – Cod milt (shirako) topped with burnt butter sauce, and served with olive oil and herbs.

  

5) Dish #4 (above) – Foie gras torchon and beets. And ain’t it a beauty? Assembled to look like a rose. And yes, the thin crispy beet chips were ‘stuck’ into the foie gras, which also had a layer of beet jelly over it, to hold them in position. Innovative!

6) Dish #5 (above) – Fermented mushroom crepe with grated truffle. And when this was first served, it looked pretty non-appetising because everything on the plate was brown. Ie, no vibrant colours. So thank goodness for the egg and asparagus within the crepe. And I liked how they played with (contrasting) temperatures; Warm cooked food and cold mushroom ice cream with bacon bits.

7) Dish #6 (above) – Garoupa with dashi-broth foam.

8) Dish #7 (above) – Grilled deer. And no, the (real) branch was inedible.

  

9) Dish #8 (above) – Sake kasu ice cream, and ball of yuzu jelly and chocolate mousse that’s covered with meringue sheets and grated yuzu peel. I really liked this.

10) Petit fours (above) – Cream puff choux dusted with matcha powder, and hojicha pudding with olive oil and rock salt.

11) Coffee, Complimentary (above)

I left the restaurant feeling very happy. Corner House’s chef Jason Tan was spot on with his recommendation. Food was great, atmosphere was comfortable and service was professional.

There’s no menu at Le Sputnik. Only a piece of paper to introduce the restaurant’s concept. I guess the absence of a menu was the restaurant’s intention to maintain the customers’ anticipation of what’s going to be served next. So when every dish was served, the staff would give a very detailed introduction. And a particular female waiting staff manager stood out. I liked how she was able to inject interesting comments on top of the already-lengthy introductions. I had lots of good laugh thanks to her. And throughout my meal, I could sense the team’s passion and sincerity in wanting to share chef-owner Yujiro Takahshi’s creations with customers.

As taken from their website, ‘Sputnik’ is a Russian word originally meaning a ‘travelling companion’. And as very beautifully described by website EATPIA… Every diner becomes a fellow traveler on chef Takahashi san’s gastronomy journey at Le Sputnik.

Do I recommend 1 Michelin star Le Sputnik? Definitely!

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