La Lune

32 Rue Maufoux

21200 Beaune

France +33 3 80 20 77 42

BY NEAL MARTIN | FEBRUARY 11, 2026

The Food:

Edamame

Eryngii (King Oyster) mushrooms

Grilled scallops with petits pois, lotus root and shellfish curry

Tuna mi-cuit with sauce soja balsamique and tempura vegetables

Gâteau de chocolat 

The Wines:


<table><tbody><tr><td>NV (2019) Ulysse Collin Blanc de Noirs Les Maillons</td><td>96</td></tr><tr><td>2020 Domaine Jean-Claude Bachelet Saint-Aubin Les Murgers des Dents de
Chien 1er Cru&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td>92</td></tr><tr><td>2017 Domaine Armand Rousseau Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux Saint-Jacques 1er
Cru</td><td>93</td></tr><tr><td>2009 Domaine Armand Rousseau Chambertin Cru</td><td>97</td></tr></tbody></table>


 Lock me in the stocks and throw rotting veg at me.

Force me to eat a McDonald’s hamburger without removing the pickles.

My sin? 

Despite eulogising La Lune ad nauseum, I have never penned a standalone
Vinous Table for my favourite restaurant in Beaune. This year alone, I dined at
La Lune half a dozen times. Since opening in 2014, I must have entered its doors
on 50 occasions or thereabouts. The litmus test of a restaurant is not whether
it blows you away on your first sitting, but whether it blows you away on your
tenth, your twentieth. It’s like a great song or film—you never tire of it. Despite how many times I have eaten at La Lune, however familiar I become, I will always
depart feeling elated. 

<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1770831553886-la+lune+chef_Vinous.JPG">Chef Hirobe in his natural pose: head down, focused on assembling the
dish.

La Lune remains a bijou operation. The main man is Chef Seiichi Hirobe. He is constantly busy the L-shaped counter, skipping from handling a sizzling skillet to dicing vegetables to garnishing plates with the typical Japanese precision. Front of house changed last year, but it is Hirobe’s gig. Everything revolves around him. La Lune is limited to around 18 covers, so getting a reservation is like winning the lottery, though not as impossible as some claim. You just have to plan well ahead or drop in late. Chef Hirobe is happy to rustle up dishes at later hours when others turn customers away.

The interior is virtually unchanged over the years: cosy and intimate,
notes of various denominations pinned to the wall for no reason, a dozen
customers perched on wooden stalls around the counter so that part of the joy
is not knowing which stranger will be your neighbour for the night. There are a
couple of sought-after tables by the window, but I prefer the counter so that I
become transfixed watching the chef at work. Hirobe was always quite taciturn,
completely focused on cooking since everything relies upon him. Recently, he
has opened up and become chattier, speaking mainly French with a smattering of
English and, of course, his native tongue if you want to practice your Nihon-go.
I would caution that La Lune is not a place to dine if you are pressed for
time. Dishes are more or less cooked from scratch by the chef himself and are
therefore served when they are ready, which is partly determined by the rest of
that evening’s orders.

La Lune is not a Japanese restaurant in the traditional sense. Pop down
a few doors to Bissou if you want that, though La Lune is on a different level in
terms of quality, ingredients and attention to detail. Hirobe puts his own
stamp on every dish that might be labelled “French-Japanese fusion,” though the
menu stays within the parameters of Japanese cuisine, never straying too far
away from familiar Japanese dishes and ingredients.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1770831583048-erengi_Vinous.JPG">Eryngii (King Oyster) mushrooms. 

Every meal begins with a bowl of fresh edamame as good as you will find
anywhere in Japan. Pop those beans from out of their “sleeping bags” whilst Chef
preps your first dishes. Another regular is a rectangular plate of eryngii,
aka King Oyster mushrooms, which live up to their royal name. These are thinly
sliced and eaten raw to retain flavour and earthiness, served with shiso leaves
that complement the fungi (too many people leave the shiso aside) and drizzled
with a sweet soy sauce. Divine. 

<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1770831604122-scallops_Vinous.JPG">Grilled scallops with petits pois, lotus root and shellfish curry. 

The row of scallops is perfectly grilled and matches the petits pois and
lotus root. Alone, this might be a little one-dimensional, but the accompanying
shellfish curry lifts every ingredient. 

<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1770831619659-tuna_Vinous.JPG">Tuna mi-cuit with sauce soja balsamique and tempura vegetables. 

My favourite main is the tuna mi-cuit with sauce soja
balsamique and tempura vegetables. This is indescribably delicious, off the
scale. The first time I ordered this dish, I ascended to a gastronomic nirvana.
The half-cooked tuna leans more towards sashimi in consistency, lending it
mouthwatering moistness and highlighting the quality of the fish. A poached egg
perches atop; slice that open to let the yolk run over the tuna and base of
rice. Combine that with the sweetness of the soja balsamique sauce and
your taste buds will be eternally in your debt. The tempura is exemplary,
usually pumpkin, potato or courgette. It is my joint favourite dish in Beaune.

<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1770831634675-chocolate+gateau_Vinous.JPG">Gâteau de chocolat. 

I always leave room for the gâteau de chocolat that comes with
raspberry, redcurrant or yellow plum. It has the perfect consistency so that it
sticks to the fork, and the acidity prevents any cloyingness or heaviness. It
is a simple but masterful take on the classic French dessert.

The one caveat has been the wine list. There has always been room for
improvement, and some might find it disappointing given the standard of
cuisine. That said, there is usually something tempting on the list, and prices
are reasonable by Beaune’s inflated standards. Occasionally, there are a
handful of coveted bottles kept off the list, but you have to ask. 

<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1770831651200-La+Lune+Wines_Vinous.JPG">The NV&nbsp;Blanc de Noirs Les Maillons from Ulysse Collin came
from the 2019 base and was disgorged in February 2023. This is just an
exquisite champagne. It has such a pretty, seductive yet tensile nose with
glimpses of Morello cherry and white-tipped strawberry interlaced between
scents of crushed stone. The palate is poised and brilliantly focused thanks to
quite racy acidity. It coheres with effortless ease towards the textbook finish
with noticeable depth and grip. Superb. Over a few visits, I drank three of
four 2020 whites from Domaine Jean-Claude Bachelet on the list. They all
seemed to be drinking supremely well and were keenly priced. There was a
splendid showing of the 2020 Saint-Aubin Les Murgers des Dents de Chien 1er
Cru. Vibrant and well-defined on the nose, there is plenty of mineralité
here and as I wrote previously, it’s quite Puligny-like in style. The palate
has ample body as J-C Bachelet's wines often do, less glycerine than last year,
with that Clementine note coming through on the harmonious, generous finish. This
punched above expectations. 

The 2017 Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux Saint-Jacques 1er Cru from Domaine
Rousseau is drinking beautifully, like so many reds from this vintage,
though obviously there is plenty in the tank. Wild strawberries, leather and
undergrowth scents manifest in the glass, gaining delineation with time. As I
found from barrel, there is an underlying pepperiness on the palate, but it’s quite
firm in structure, just softening a little around the edges as it reaches eight
years old. That spiciness on the finish remains intact, a Lavaux ready for the
long haul. Rousseau’s 2009 Chambertin Grand Cru came from a small stash that
Hirobe had procured. Thanks to my generous friend Michelle for ordering it for our party. This Grand Cru is in a beautiful place. It boasts a cornucopia
of aromas on the nose. Effervescent red fruit, rose petals, freshly tilled loam
and light red brick scents blossom in the glass, each vying for your attention
and delineated to perfection. The palate delivers the sumptuousness of the 2009
vintage, all curves, belying the backbone behind that payload of fruit. There
is now a slightly melted quality to this Chambertin, a little gourmand
in style as it fans out on the finish in thrilling style. Perhaps the 2010 has
the edge, but this is à point.

La Lune is small but beautiful. It remains an exceptional value in
Beaune. Starters can cost between 8 and 10 euros, mains between 20 and 30
euros. I suppose overheads are kept to a minimum since there are only two
members on the staff, but still, that is an absolute bargain. Unlike the moon
that wanes and waxes, La Lune has remained unchanged. There was never anything
to fix. Frankly, I have never had a single dish that I felt could have been
improved—a testament to Chef Hirobe’s exacting skills. 

I cannot wait to go back next time. 

And the time after that. 

And the time after that…© 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.

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