Japanese gastronomy in Monaco

Today is armistice day (to celebrate the end of World War I), and also a public holiday. we spent some time contemplating how to spend the day (as it was on a Wednesday, no way to do a long weekend). After contemplating various options (doing sport, hiking, a day visit somewhere, a museum, a good restaurant), we eventually decided on the meal option (the sky was rather grey, which made the choice rather easy). Most restaurants in France are shut on public holidays, but thankfully, that's not the case for Monaco (as the principality is not a part of France)! After some contemplation we decided upon a restaurant called Yoshi.

We took the train down to Monaco, and walked over to the restaurant. And quite a nice walk it was, walking down to the port of Monaco, then walking up to Monte Carlo along the port, taking in all the impressive yachts. We then passed Hotel de Paris (with the mandatory Ferrari parked up front), and the Casino, and eventually found the Hotel Metropolitan, which is where the restaurant is located (as a side note, the Metropolitan shopping centre was rather impressive too)

Yoshi is, as you may have guessed, a Japanese restaurant. And not just any Japanese restaurant - it's the first Japanese restaurant created by acclaimed chef Joël Robuchon. He's had a strong connection with Japan for quite some time, having founded several French restaurants in Japan. The chef is one
Takéo Yamazaki, who earned his spurs cooking French cuisine in Japan. And now he's cooking Japanese cuisine in France (well, Monaco).

We decided to go for the set menu, with Japanese beer to go with it (we considered sake, and quickly changed our minds after we saw the prices...). So what's the verdict ? Well, the food is certainly sublime, as one would expect from a restaurant having one Michelin Star. The service was spot on and friendly (we even had a chat with the waiter about Hokkaido - he had lived their, and we visited this summer!). So, the best Japanese restaurant we've done in Europe, I would say (some say it's the best in Europe!). That said, the food wasn't up to the same level as some of the Kaiseki meals we've had in Japan. But, let's not get overly picky here - we loved Yoshi! ;-)

After the lovely meal, we wandered back down to the port, and checked out a pretty cool photography exhibition on the works of Steve McCurry (one of the great travel photography in the world).  All in all, a great way to spend 11th of November!