EAT > Julia, Shibuya Tokyo (19/20)

I love wandering the fashionable streets of Omotesando in Shibuya, there are brilliant fashion stores, smart designer furniture and iconic one of a kind homewares. Some streets seem to have nothing but hair dressers and others feature brilliant coffee shops.

But venture just a little further into the more residential area of Jingumae (only a couple more streets) and you might just venture past one of my favourite restaurants anywhere in the world.

We wrote a review of Restaurant Julia after visiting in December of 2022, but at the end of November 2023 they moved across the laneway to a much larger premises and in doing so they went from being a restaurant run by husband and wife to a restaurant run by a team, from seating 12 to seating more than 20. From all being on a bench facing the kitchen to having individual tables, benches facing the kitchen and a lounge for drinks and appetisers.

So you won’t be surprised to learn that I was very keen to return to Julia in January 2024 to experience a new menu and what a few additions to the team could generate in flavour, complexity and service.

The entrance is a little hidden, at first you see the sign but not the door and it is not immediately obvious to ring the doorbell, but that is part of the mystery and intrigue. From the moment chef Nao opened the door, we were warmly welcomed back.

Downstairs is the lounge, comfortable dark leather seating and low tables are set for groups of two and four. The music is tasteful jazz, I recalled at the previous location the music was also a focus of making the room so warm and welcoming.

The food is ‘OMAKASE’ or degustation, there is one menu which typically consists of 8-12 dishes with drink pairing (both alcoholic and non alcoholic options are available). The alcoholic pairing focuses on Japanese wines and some sake.

Each morsel is prepared with incredible precision that showcases the skill and beauty in presentation, the balance of smooth and crunch in the mouthfeel and of course the multilayered complexity of delicious flavours.

So we sat at the first floor enjoying a glass of Japanese sparkling wine (Lumière sparkling wine from Yamanashi and made of 100% Koshu) and with it came a ‘high tea’ multi layered serving tray with six small delicious treats.

The first was caviar served on Jerusalem artichoke (two ways) there was a smooth cream on an almost candied Jerusalem artichoke crisp, with a mound of ibaraki caviar.

Red daikon formed into florets on a tart of yellow tail was fresh, zesty and oh so pretty. Hassaku orange (just the carpels which are like orange caviar) set on top of a cauliflower mouse and at the base is a scallop sitting on the crust. My first words after tasting these were “this is both very clever and delicious”.

Another tart shell this time with kintoki carrot (reminiscent of Kataifi) a top satsuma mandarin. Finally and the pièce de résistance was a macaron with duck liver parfait (oh wow). I am writing this article a full week after the meal and I can still recall the flavours – very, very good cooking.

We are then escorted upstairs to the dining room, all of those extraordinary flavours just an appetiser for the main meal to come.

MAIN COURSE

To accompany the first dish sommelier Kenichiro brought us a blend of Pinot Gris and Riesling, a perfect accompaniment to the squid served draped over segments of citrus with sansho pepper, kombu (a type of dried kelp) and a foam.

The next course was served with a glass of rose from Casa Norabuona, it tasted of strawberries and it was paired with a dish that looked like desert. Perfect slivers of strawberries in coated in gelatine. But the flavour was not overly sweet, rather beneath the strawberry was a layer of soft cheese and scallop – oh wow, so much flavour popped in my mouth, quite extraordinary.

The next course was abalone, a delicacy that I don’t usually enjoy as it gets over cooked and can be quite rubbery. However this dish arrived at the table as a perfect green ball of cooked spinach and a pale cream based sauce was served at the table. The abalone was delicate (not at all chewy) and quite delicious with the spinach and sauce.

Our next wine was red, a Muscat Bailey A from Tomoé which is a specifically Japanese grape a little like Gamay in flavour profile and it was served with Spanish Mackerel. The caramel crunch on the skin of the fish was a perfect contrast to the soft white flesh and very nicely matched to the wine.

We had red sea bream with satsuma mandarin powdered granules served with greens and a cream of mandarin sauce, on presentation it looked almost like a strip of pork loin. The flavours were nicely matched to an orange wine Paru Minor from Sakai Winery.

Venison was served with different types of mushrooms from the Ibaraki region and matched to a Marselan from Tsukuba Winery. Marselan grapes if you are unfamilar with them as I was are of French origin and a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache and has some of the characteristics of each.

The final course in the dining room is a cheese cake which is more like cheese icecream on a biscuit base, a delicious palate refresh served with Sake.

DESSERT

By now we are feeling a little blown away by the incredible flavours both in their originality, complexity and the layers of integration of the flavours but it was time to return to the lounge floor for the dessert course.

Dessert is served like the appetiser on a two tiered tray each only a bite but there are five final desserts.

A small pavlova with strawberries and cream, a rum & raisin tart, a layered chocolate torte, a mandarin and sweet white bean paste and a matcha terrine. Served with a delicious sticky wine.

One of the consistent factors about Julia is the connection to their home region of Ibaraki and the back page of the menu lists the regional suppliers who have provided the ingredients as part of the team.

My photos were snapped on the night as I greedily enjoyed each bite and in my opinion they don’t do justice to the beautiful presentation so I have included a few extra images of recent dishes from the Julia instagram site – which you can visit yourself if you want more inspiration! https://www.instagram.com/restaurant_julia/

Image Credit | Restaurant Julia

So how has the new Julia transitioned from the old location to the new? The old location was much more intimate and personal but the new Julia has expanded the range of flavours and complexity of the dishes. The new restaurant is still in it first couple of months so may be finding its feet but don’t delay if you are in Tokyo book now because very soon they will be discovered and then it will be impossible to get a booking!

Outstanding food, excellent service, a lovely room, interesting wine matching and an exceptionally lovely and friendly team. 19/20 can’t wait to go back – it was the best restaurant of the last year for me.