One of the highlights of our Tokyo Bitches tour was dinner on the final night in the Mandarin Oriental at their Molecular Tapas bar. I had heard about this after feverishly browsing the MO website once I knew we had booked there and decided it was something that we had to do. Deckers Centurion concierge managed to get seats for seven of us on the desired day. This was no mean feat as the Tapas Bar only seats seven and according to the Hotels general manager securing seven seats at once is almost unheard of.
The concept of Molecular Tapas is not a restaurant in itself, merely a bar counter in the Lobby Lounge wherein the Chef and his two sous work to prepare a meal consisting of about 25 tiny courses. Most of these are eaten/slurped/drank in one or two mouthfuls. This area is also where the lounge bar staff prepare the drinks, so results in the area being very buzzy.
For all the foodies out there I will go through each course, with pictures and give my own personal favourites. We started our meal with complimentary champagne, provided for us by the hotel as a further apology for the cock up with the prices at a meal in the Cantonese restaurant a few nights before. As I said then, all hotels make mistakes, the measure of truly great service, is not so much the mistake, but how they then deal with the response – in this case I think the Mandarin Oriental has given me the best service I have ever received in a hotel. Food would be passed to us over the counter which we faced, and used plates would be taken away and new cutlery given by staff from behind. To save Confusion pictures refer to the text below. Bon appetit [:p]
Our first dish was Yakult Beer with Crispy Beets and Crispy Risotto. The beer was simply that, a shot glass of beer topped off with a head of Yakult. Sounds disgusting, and as a non beer drinker I probably wasn’t the best to comment on it but actually the Yakult sweetened off the drink. It was best drunk in one gulp nonetheless.
The Crispy Beets and Risotto were again just that. Finely shredded beetroot deep fried and served in a one gulp ball. The risotto looked like a thin prawn cracker; again I think deep fried rice, puffed up and sprinkled with nori seaweed powder. Nice taste wetter.
Having a general aversion to potatoes the next dish I should have run a mile at, but in the interests of experimentation I tried. It was a Hot Frozen Soufflé. Served in a small ramekin it consisted of a layer of crispy frozen potato on the bottom topped of with a very light soufflé of warm potato mouse and then browned on top with a blow torch. The flavours were very light and delicate and the frozen / warm contrast just about worked.
We finished off the snacks section of the menu with a Liquid Candy Flossit was basically a sweet foam that started to disappear as quick as you could eat it. Just from these courses I knew the meal was going to be high concept.
We were then offered our first off menu dish, a Salmon Roe and Passion fruit Slurp. This consisted of a tiny test tube that you sucked back. I loved this; you got the sweetness of the fruit followed by the saltiness of the roe. I know this wasn’t everyone’s favourite dish.
First of the mains was Parmesan Linguini. Chef Ramsey had created pasta without any flour by boiling parmesan and water and solidifying the clarified mess. Honestly he described it much better than me but it produced, with the addition of small clams and roasted tomato puree a great tasking take on a pasta dish.
I loved the Sea Urchin and Green Tea. Its not everyone’s taste but went down well with the group. Delicate salty bits of sea urchin roe served with a green tea foam and powdered green tea. Sea Urchin is something I can eat every day since discovering it in a sushi restaurant a few year’s back.
Next was a Textured Gazpacho. This was the Chef’s first flirtation with dry ice. You had the usual Gazpacho, bursting with intense tomato flavour, served with a piece of melon and frozen (by the dry ice) shredded olive oil. When you bit into the olive oil it melted in your mouth and suddenly became the texture we know it for, this gave a great, if unusual twist on the soup.
Our second surprise dish was Langoustine and Oyster Mushrooms. It was simply that, cooked with a bit of butter and very tender and moist.
What followed was one of those dishes that you wonder how its done ( a few of these followed). Warm Sizzling Beef. This was no sizzling beef that you get at your bog standard Chinese. The chef cooked the joint of beef very slowly for 24 hours then let the cooked beef rest in a gas canister for another 24 hours. The result is very tender beef, that literally sizzles. Placing it close you can hear the sizzle and see the air bubbles popping out of the joint. Crazy. This was Richard’s favourite.
We then experienced one of Chef Ramsey’s signature dishes, Carrot Caviar. This basically consists of pureed carrot that is pushed through giant syringes into sugar syrup below. Once the droplets of carrot land in the syrup they solidify with a thin layer of syrup around them. The resulting texture is that of biting into caviar with the pop. Unfortunately the taste was simply carrot, so whilst being very high in concept the taste was somewhat left behind. A bit of a disappointment.
The mains kept on coming and what followed was Unagi - Eel with Pineapple. Tender grilled eel, served sliced with thin wedges of grilled pineapple. This was served with a caremelised orange slice and the best tasting avocado and chilli puree. This was a winner for me.
Next was the kind of dish that sets my pulses racing with anticipation. Foie Gras Cappuccino. Not that I’m a fan or anything. It didn’t taste massively of foie gras but had a really sweet buttery custard texture and topped off with some savoury chives. Yum.
Then onto another surprise course. Manchego Cheese Ice Cream. I often find novelty ice creams (take note The Fat Duck) a bit of a turn off. This was almost the same, but once I got my head round the concept, the filo pastry covered roll of slightly salty, cheesy ice cream tasted great. I’m not selling it am I… I did gulp another, left by Fozzyo.
The next dish was again, pure theatre. For The Emperor’s New Mojito Chef Ramsey poured nothing out of a cocktail shaker into seven glasses, each with just a stainless steel drinking straw and we were instructed to drink. I don’t know what was up the straw, infact I was expecting nothing, but what I tasted was very Mojito-y. What it was though I couldn’t tell you as I never saw it.
The Mojito was followed by a Curry Bun. No normal curry bun, but a deconstructed curry bun. You had carrots, quail and potatoes served alongside a slice of curry infused bread. I enjoyed the meat and veg, but the “bun” was just too cold and damp for my liking.
What followed was much better. This was his take on fish and chips, a Fish Fry. We had a small bit of fish, topped by a piece of bread, that fused to fish as it was fried. Served with a deconstructed (he likes deconstructing) tzasiki - fresh tasting yoghurt, rolled cucumber, lemon rind and dill. Everything worked so well together on this.
The following dish you either loved or hated, but at least must admire the skill. Again we have deconstruction, this time with Miso Soup. Served on a small spoon you had all the ingredients to make up a classic Miso; the warm soup itself, served in a fine sugar sack – the same process as the caviar - balls of tofu, and powdered seaweed. The knack was to simply gulp it down in one, where in your mouth it all reconstructed to form the soup. This was great, but a definite no no for some people.
The final main course was a Lime Disc; a dry ice frozen disk of ice sorbet that melted on the tongue and clensed the palate for desserts.
Off course these were no ordinary desserts. We started as we meant to go on with a Blue Hawaii. This was essentially frozen flavoured air. We were all given a bowl and had to eat what looked like blue lumps of sorbet in 20 seconds. As soon as some entered your mouth it melted and the result was a great refreshing flavour accompanied by lots of smoke. The sight of Mitchja and Decker, in particular blowing smoke out of their mouth and nose as they ate will stick with me for a long time. Essentially a concept over taste course, but was very good fun.
Next was ”Bacon and Eggs”. It wasn’t of course, although the likeness was excellent. The Egg was I think a mango gel resting on a coconut cream sauce. The Bacon was a striped cookie coloured and flavoured with tiny tiny lumped of crispy dried bacon. The taste of the cookie was amazing and something I will be trying to recreate at home at some point.
The penultimate course was a selection of petit fours. These were a Saffron Chocolate Torte. A tiny intense saffron tasting chocolate lump, encased in a sugar glass bowl. A Raspberry and Black Pepper Meringue, Cappuccino Candy Floss and a small breaded NY Cheesecake
The final dish, and another Molecular Tapas Signature dish was the Fruit Course. We were essentially given slices of sour citrus fruit, limes, lemons and the like. Along with this a small red berry, the Miracle Fruit. We were first told to lick or eat one of each of the citrus. The taste was, of course terribly sour. Next we had to chew the Miracle Fruit Berry for about a minute and then do the same with the citrus. What the Berry does is turn off receptors in the mouth that detect sour for a couple of hours. When tasting the citrus this time all you get is the sweet freshness with none of the bitterness. I had wanted to try this ever since I first read about Molecular Tapas and it didn’t disappoint. You could happily chow down with a big slice of lime. The fruit also affected the champagne we were finishing off and according to the chef meant to be great with Guiness.
The final flourish was presenting the bill, by popping it out of a toy gun. You couldn’t eat this though. I think we all agreed that whilst some courses didn’t impress as much as others (with over 25 there’s always going to be some slack) the night on a whole was truly memorable. Because of the food, the company, the location and the pure theatre of it, it was a wonderful night. Something that I am really pleased I got to try and something that I would recommend to any lovers of food. Whilst some dishes are always on menu (the Carrot Caviar and Miracle Fruit), many others rotate on a seasonal basis so it is somewhere I would consider returning to and hopefully will.
Cheers!
Dean
The concept of Molecular Tapas is not a restaurant in itself, merely a bar counter in the Lobby Lounge wherein the Chef and his two sous work to prepare a meal consisting of about 25 tiny courses. Most of these are eaten/slurped/drank in one or two mouthfuls. This area is also where the lounge bar staff prepare the drinks, so results in the area being very buzzy.
For all the foodies out there I will go through each course, with pictures and give my own personal favourites. We started our meal with complimentary champagne, provided for us by the hotel as a further apology for the cock up with the prices at a meal in the Cantonese restaurant a few nights before. As I said then, all hotels make mistakes, the measure of truly great service, is not so much the mistake, but how they then deal with the response – in this case I think the Mandarin Oriental has given me the best service I have ever received in a hotel. Food would be passed to us over the counter which we faced, and used plates would be taken away and new cutlery given by staff from behind. To save Confusion pictures refer to the text below. Bon appetit [:p]
Our first dish was Yakult Beer with Crispy Beets and Crispy Risotto. The beer was simply that, a shot glass of beer topped off with a head of Yakult. Sounds disgusting, and as a non beer drinker I probably wasn’t the best to comment on it but actually the Yakult sweetened off the drink. It was best drunk in one gulp nonetheless.
The Crispy Beets and Risotto were again just that. Finely shredded beetroot deep fried and served in a one gulp ball. The risotto looked like a thin prawn cracker; again I think deep fried rice, puffed up and sprinkled with nori seaweed powder. Nice taste wetter.
Having a general aversion to potatoes the next dish I should have run a mile at, but in the interests of experimentation I tried. It was a Hot Frozen Soufflé. Served in a small ramekin it consisted of a layer of crispy frozen potato on the bottom topped of with a very light soufflé of warm potato mouse and then browned on top with a blow torch. The flavours were very light and delicate and the frozen / warm contrast just about worked.
We finished off the snacks section of the menu with a Liquid Candy Flossit was basically a sweet foam that started to disappear as quick as you could eat it. Just from these courses I knew the meal was going to be high concept.
We were then offered our first off menu dish, a Salmon Roe and Passion fruit Slurp. This consisted of a tiny test tube that you sucked back. I loved this; you got the sweetness of the fruit followed by the saltiness of the roe. I know this wasn’t everyone’s favourite dish.
First of the mains was Parmesan Linguini. Chef Ramsey had created pasta without any flour by boiling parmesan and water and solidifying the clarified mess. Honestly he described it much better than me but it produced, with the addition of small clams and roasted tomato puree a great tasking take on a pasta dish.
I loved the Sea Urchin and Green Tea. Its not everyone’s taste but went down well with the group. Delicate salty bits of sea urchin roe served with a green tea foam and powdered green tea. Sea Urchin is something I can eat every day since discovering it in a sushi restaurant a few year’s back.
Next was a Textured Gazpacho. This was the Chef’s first flirtation with dry ice. You had the usual Gazpacho, bursting with intense tomato flavour, served with a piece of melon and frozen (by the dry ice) shredded olive oil. When you bit into the olive oil it melted in your mouth and suddenly became the texture we know it for, this gave a great, if unusual twist on the soup.
Our second surprise dish was Langoustine and Oyster Mushrooms. It was simply that, cooked with a bit of butter and very tender and moist.
What followed was one of those dishes that you wonder how its done ( a few of these followed). Warm Sizzling Beef. This was no sizzling beef that you get at your bog standard Chinese. The chef cooked the joint of beef very slowly for 24 hours then let the cooked beef rest in a gas canister for another 24 hours. The result is very tender beef, that literally sizzles. Placing it close you can hear the sizzle and see the air bubbles popping out of the joint. Crazy. This was Richard’s favourite.
We then experienced one of Chef Ramsey’s signature dishes, Carrot Caviar. This basically consists of pureed carrot that is pushed through giant syringes into sugar syrup below. Once the droplets of carrot land in the syrup they solidify with a thin layer of syrup around them. The resulting texture is that of biting into caviar with the pop. Unfortunately the taste was simply carrot, so whilst being very high in concept the taste was somewhat left behind. A bit of a disappointment.
The mains kept on coming and what followed was Unagi - Eel with Pineapple. Tender grilled eel, served sliced with thin wedges of grilled pineapple. This was served with a caremelised orange slice and the best tasting avocado and chilli puree. This was a winner for me.
Next was the kind of dish that sets my pulses racing with anticipation. Foie Gras Cappuccino. Not that I’m a fan or anything. It didn’t taste massively of foie gras but had a really sweet buttery custard texture and topped off with some savoury chives. Yum.
Then onto another surprise course. Manchego Cheese Ice Cream. I often find novelty ice creams (take note The Fat Duck) a bit of a turn off. This was almost the same, but once I got my head round the concept, the filo pastry covered roll of slightly salty, cheesy ice cream tasted great. I’m not selling it am I… I did gulp another, left by Fozzyo.
The next dish was again, pure theatre. For The Emperor’s New Mojito Chef Ramsey poured nothing out of a cocktail shaker into seven glasses, each with just a stainless steel drinking straw and we were instructed to drink. I don’t know what was up the straw, infact I was expecting nothing, but what I tasted was very Mojito-y. What it was though I couldn’t tell you as I never saw it.
The Mojito was followed by a Curry Bun. No normal curry bun, but a deconstructed curry bun. You had carrots, quail and potatoes served alongside a slice of curry infused bread. I enjoyed the meat and veg, but the “bun” was just too cold and damp for my liking.
What followed was much better. This was his take on fish and chips, a Fish Fry. We had a small bit of fish, topped by a piece of bread, that fused to fish as it was fried. Served with a deconstructed (he likes deconstructing) tzasiki - fresh tasting yoghurt, rolled cucumber, lemon rind and dill. Everything worked so well together on this.
The following dish you either loved or hated, but at least must admire the skill. Again we have deconstruction, this time with Miso Soup. Served on a small spoon you had all the ingredients to make up a classic Miso; the warm soup itself, served in a fine sugar sack – the same process as the caviar - balls of tofu, and powdered seaweed. The knack was to simply gulp it down in one, where in your mouth it all reconstructed to form the soup. This was great, but a definite no no for some people.
The final main course was a Lime Disc; a dry ice frozen disk of ice sorbet that melted on the tongue and clensed the palate for desserts.
Off course these were no ordinary desserts. We started as we meant to go on with a Blue Hawaii. This was essentially frozen flavoured air. We were all given a bowl and had to eat what looked like blue lumps of sorbet in 20 seconds. As soon as some entered your mouth it melted and the result was a great refreshing flavour accompanied by lots of smoke. The sight of Mitchja and Decker, in particular blowing smoke out of their mouth and nose as they ate will stick with me for a long time. Essentially a concept over taste course, but was very good fun.
Next was ”Bacon and Eggs”. It wasn’t of course, although the likeness was excellent. The Egg was I think a mango gel resting on a coconut cream sauce. The Bacon was a striped cookie coloured and flavoured with tiny tiny lumped of crispy dried bacon. The taste of the cookie was amazing and something I will be trying to recreate at home at some point.
The penultimate course was a selection of petit fours. These were a Saffron Chocolate Torte. A tiny intense saffron tasting chocolate lump, encased in a sugar glass bowl. A Raspberry and Black Pepper Meringue, Cappuccino Candy Floss and a small breaded NY Cheesecake
The final dish, and another Molecular Tapas Signature dish was the Fruit Course. We were essentially given slices of sour citrus fruit, limes, lemons and the like. Along with this a small red berry, the Miracle Fruit. We were first told to lick or eat one of each of the citrus. The taste was, of course terribly sour. Next we had to chew the Miracle Fruit Berry for about a minute and then do the same with the citrus. What the Berry does is turn off receptors in the mouth that detect sour for a couple of hours. When tasting the citrus this time all you get is the sweet freshness with none of the bitterness. I had wanted to try this ever since I first read about Molecular Tapas and it didn’t disappoint. You could happily chow down with a big slice of lime. The fruit also affected the champagne we were finishing off and according to the chef meant to be great with Guiness.
The final flourish was presenting the bill, by popping it out of a toy gun. You couldn’t eat this though. I think we all agreed that whilst some courses didn’t impress as much as others (with over 25 there’s always going to be some slack) the night on a whole was truly memorable. Because of the food, the company, the location and the pure theatre of it, it was a wonderful night. Something that I am really pleased I got to try and something that I would recommend to any lovers of food. Whilst some dishes are always on menu (the Carrot Caviar and Miracle Fruit), many others rotate on a seasonal basis so it is somewhere I would consider returning to and hopefully will.
Cheers!
Dean
