<a target="_blank" href="https://www.hortensiatokyo.com/english.html">Hortensia</a>

〒104-0041TokyoChuo CityShintomi1 Chome−5−12エスパシオ 2階BY NEAL
MARTIN | JUNE 3, 2026The Food:Japanese
tomato with lobster, crème fraîche and edible flowersAmuse-bouches
Hokkaido
hairy crab, layered types of crab consommé, apple dressing, crab miso and
caviar with shellfish stock, crab espuma and miso tuileSurf
clams wrapped in shiso leaves with flounder, beurre blanc and seaweed chipsGolden-eyed
snapper, sautéed bamboo shoots, fried garlic sprouts, pea sprouts and green
beansHida
beef steak, beef tongue and stuffed, red-wine-braised shoulder loin; boiled burdock
root and potato millefeuille; celery root and black truffle purée Shellfish
risotto with powdered/frozen Perilla leavesLychee
purée yoghurt, Okinawa pineapple compote and vanilla purée, fresh Miyazaki
lychee, rose-scented espuma

The Wines:


<table><tbody><tr><td>2024 Hideaki
Koyama Rue de Vin Sauvignon Blanc</td><td>86</td></tr><tr><td>2019 Domaine
Fontaine-Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet Clos Saint-Jean Rouge 1er Cru</td><td>92</td></tr></tbody></table>
Food is
a lingua franca understood by everyone. Delicious food is delicious, whatever
tongue you speak. That said, many gourmands feel trepidation ordering from
menus in a foreign language. They fear looking foolish or perhaps committing a taboo.
This can cause unease for the customer. Japan can be intimidating for the first
timer because, communication aside, menus are often written in kanji script. Plus,
there are questions of etiquette from the moment you enter and wonder if you
should take off your shoes…or not. In a country that rewards the adventurous, language
barriers risk herding you into tourist pens and sanitising your entire experience.

Many
chefs and hospitality teams across the contemporary Japanese restaurant scene do
not speak English, a result of an education system that prioritises reading
over speaking. Based on my experience, I would say that for every English-speaking
waiter or chef, there are three who will look at you in puzzlement. On the
other hand, there is the communicative power of hand gestures, not to mention bilingual
menus with photos and illustrations, the beloved plastic recreations of dishes
in windows, increasingly efficient smartphone apps and so forth.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1779830755968-chef+koga_VT.JPG">Hortensia’s
kitchen is staffed solely by Chef Koga and his assistant, whose expertise in
her own right was apparent.Let us
focus on Hortensia. This seven-seat, Michelin-starred restaurant with a hemispherical
counter has three staff, none of whom spoke a word of English on the night when
two-and-a-half of their four diners spoke not a word of Japanese (I consider
myself the “half”). Now, this is not a barrier that could deny anyone from savouring
Chef Tetsuji Koga’s culinary skills or experiencing one of the finest dinners in
Tokyo. To overcome this obstacle, Koga spoke into a mobile device that instantly
repeats sentences in English, with the odd mistranslated word for comic effect.
This added to the joy of the evening. Every step of the way, Koga was
determined to communicate the minutiae of every creation, from the sourcing of
ingredients to concept and execution. What initially felt a little stilted
became part of Hortensia’s charm. By the end of the night, Chef Koga had loosened
up to the extent that we jabbered away long after the final dish.



The
evening had begun four hours earlier with a dinky bowl of tomatoes sourced from
around Japan, served with fresh lobster, crème fraîche and edible flowers—perfectly
balanced, intense but not overpowering, each element enhancing the other. The
dish boasts a sense of sophistication and simplicity, revivifying the senses
and prepping them for what’s to come.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1779830785836-amuses+bouches_VT.JPG">Amuse-bouches.

What
follows is an astonishing plate of amuse-bouches, surgically placed one by one
with tweezers. The technical prowess of combining so many ingredients in a single
mouthful meant that it took a few minutes to explain. We enjoy a stuffed cube
of Parmesan cheese and bacon (I assume the dark grey pigmentation derives from
squid ink) that is not unlike Japanese chawanmushi; tongue tartare coated with much-coveted
Tomigold tomatoes, sweetcorn and vegetable gelatine; potatoes topped with squid
tartare and yuzu pepper vinaigrette; a tiny foie gras terrine with raspberry
gel, coffee-infused crumble, green apple and Ebisu pound cake; beef tongue
boiled with fava beans and coated with cocoa butter and pecorino; a fried
Monaka spring roll with potato confit and marinated sardines with ravigote
sauce; a tuna and truffle croquette topped with potato espuma and black truffle;
and churros made with red shrimp and garlic sauce. The attention to detail,
sublime presentation and harmony of diverse
flavours are proof of a chef with typical Japanese dedication, going over and
beyond what one would expect.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1779830798759-crab_VT.JPG">Hokkaido hairy crab, layered types of crab consommé, apple dressing,
crab miso and caviar with shellfish stock, crab espuma and miso tuile.

The
next dish consists of hairy crab from Funka Bay in Hokkaido. The three layers
consist of roasted peppers and crab consommé, then crab consommé mixed with
sautéed vegetables and crab meat, and then crab meat mixed with chrysanthemum
jelly. Crab on top is combined with apple dressing and garnished with crab miso,
caviar, a foam made from crab consommé and ginger juice and finally, a cream
espuma made from shellfish stock with crab miso tuile. Heavenly.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1779830811764-flounder_VT.JPG">Surf
clams wrapped in shiso leaves with flounder, beurre blanc and seaweed chips.

Ingredients
for the following dish were sourced exclusively from Hokkaido. Surf clams were
wrapped in shiso leaves and pork fat and roasted, then placed atop a base of flounder.
This is served with a reduced balsamic vinegar sauce and a beurre blanc made
from vegetable stock, Calpis butter and Chardonnay, as well as brittle seaweed
chips. Again, the balance of flavour is exquisite, with just the right salinity
to counter the sweetness of the sauce.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1779830827039-snapper_VT.JPG">Golden-eyed
snapper, sautéed bamboo shoots, fried garlic sprouts, pea sprouts and green
beans.

Continuing
the pescatarian theme, the golden-eyed snapper from Numazu in Shizuoka comes
topped with sautéed bamboo shoots from Chiba, fried garlic sprouts and a salad of pea sprouts and green beans. It
is served with cauliflower purée and a drizzle of shiso-infused oil.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1779830840118-beef_VT.JPG">Hida
beef steak, beef tongue with stuffed, red-wine-braised shoulder loin; boiled
burdock root and potato millefeuille; celery root and black truffle purée.

The
cut of fillet steak is a breed from Hida in Takayama, the meat cured in kombu
and kiln-grilled for two hours, served with a small cube of beef tongue and
stuffed shoulder loin braised in red wine. The salad on top consists of a dough
similar to Nagano’s oyaki (a fermented buckwheat dumpling). It comes
with burdock root boiled in consommé and cut into fritters, underneath which is
a potato millefeuille. Koga spoons on the celery root and black truffle purée,
reduced with veal and chicken stock and mounted with a touch of freshly grated
wasabi. This is simply some of the best beef you can put in your mouth. The dish’s
elements combine effortlessly. I did not want it to end.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1779830870096-risotto_VT.JPG">Shellfish
risotto with powdered/frozen perilla leaves.

Our
final main dish comprises a shellfish risotto cooked
in a broth made from scallops, clams and chestnuts.
Perilla leaves are flash-frozen with nitrogen then turned into a powder and
sprinkled on top. This dish is more neutral in flavour, in a way, homier and
comforting—a gentle come-down to avoid overwhelming the senses after the
previous gustatory fireworks.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1779830886133-dessert_VT.JPG">Lychee
purée yoghurt, Okinawa pineapple compote and vanilla purée, fresh Miyazaki
lychee, rose-scented espuma.

Dessert
is a lychee purée yoghurt left to concentrate overnight, served with Okinawa
pineapple compote, vanilla purée, fresh Miyazaki lychee and rose-scented espuma.
Chef Koga sprays on a powder scented with yoghurt and roses.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1779830903222-chassagne+2019+bottle_VT.JPG">The wine list here is not extensive but it is well
chosen and, like many, leans towards Burgundy. I wanted to try a glass of
Japanese wine, so I plumped for the 2024 Sauvignon Blanc Rue de Vin from
Hideaki Koyama. The nose is not overly complex, with simple gooseberry and green
apple scents, just a touch of pyrazine lending it a Kiwi personality. That
translates onto the clean, fresh palate, which is simple and malic with a touch
of bell pepper on the aftertaste. Nothing to write home about, but at least it is
clean and without faults. I paid a corkage fee of 5,000 yen, around £25, for a
bottle of 2019 Chassagne-Montrachet Clos Saint-Jean Rouge 1er Cru from
Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard. I plucked it from my cellar without examining the
bottle, and what I presumed was white was in fact the red version. Sumimasen!
That said, sticking it in the fridge and allowing it to chill in the height of
Tokyo’s summer serendipitously allowed this Pinot to be
poured at exactly the right temperature. The 2019 performs above my
expectations, bursting with clean and precise raspberry, morello cherry and crushed
stone on the Volnay-like nose that maintains wonderful delineation. The palate
has the ripeness of many 2019 Côte de Beaune reds, but with sufficient acidity
to maintain tension and shape, the sapid finish beckoning you back for more. Do
not overlook this cuvée on the basis that it is the “wrong colour.”<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1779830927136-chef+koga+2_VT.jpg">This photo translates the meticulous presentation of every dish. Japanese
perfection.Hortensia
was deeply impressive from start to finish. Despite clear technical wizardry, the
cooking is self-assured without excess or showing off. Flavours marry
beautifully, presentations are stunning and there is continuity between dishes.
Nothing is left to waste: Koga reuses parts of dishes, such as the water in
which he boils the potatoes, to enhance others. How refreshing to see a
concerted effort towards sustainability.This ten-course
omakase menu at 25,000 yen per person (around £120) represents exceptional
value given the quality, which borders on two-star calibre. But it was Chef
Koga who made the evening, striding over the language barrier with his pocket
device. Sure, there was less interaction than between two native speakers, but there
was no awkward distance between chef and diner. And let’s get real, counters
even at this level are becoming more reliant on foreign epicures, especially on
traditionally quieter nights.





Hortensia
was not just my favourite meal of this trip to Japan, it was one of my meals of
the year.© 2026, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or redistributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.<hr> You Might Also Enjoy<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/vinous-table-moritaya-tokyo-japan-aug-2025">Vinous Table: Moritaya, Tokyo, Japan</a>, Neal Martin, August 2025 <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/vinous-table-maison-fujiya-hokkaido-japan-aug-2025">Vinous Table: Maison Fujiya</a>, Neal Martin, August 2025<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/vinous-table-uni-murakami-hokkaido-japan-aug-2025">Vinous Table: Uni Murakami, Hokkaido, Japan</a>, Neal Martin, August 2025<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/vinous-table-sens-saveurs-tokyo-japan-aug-2025">Vinous Table: Sens &amp; Saveurs, Tokyo, Japan</a>, Neal Martin, August 2025

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