Restaurant Review: Le Sputnik
Ordinarily, my wife and I don’t go out to fancy restaurants. We’re more into cool local places, outsized portions, strange foods, cuisines we’ve never tried, and hidden gems. But every now and then we like to treat ourselves. Last year in Paris we went to a restaurant with one Michelin star and another with three stars that was one of the best meals of our lives.
This year, we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary, and decided to get dressed up and visit a fancy restaurant in our new city, Tokyo, which is home to more Michelin stars than, like, for real anywhere no fooling look it up. There were a lot to choose from, but we settled on a nearby restaurant with Instagram-worthy dishes we knew we had to try. Strap in, you’re about to see a lot of pictures of food.
Le Sputnik
Le Sputnik is a Michelin One-Star restaurant located in the Roppongi area of Tokyo, in a location that attracts the bare minimum of window-shoppers. You’ll have to get off the main drag onto a desolate side street to find the tiny-signed white exterior. This is a place you’d never just happen upon - you’d have to know about it and seek it out ahead of time, which is what we did. We saw some pictures of this place online and booked it well in advance for our fifth anniversary.
As the little card we were given explained, “Sputnik” is a Russian word for a traveling companion. Adding the “Le” symbolizes how the chef uses modern French cooking techniques and ingredients from around the world to create a challenging culinary journey. The interior is fairly cozy, not as stuffy as some other Michelin-starred restaurants, and wasn’t crowded since it was a Tuesday night. As far as fancy restaurants go, this one had a fairly causal feel and we got a decent amount of attention from the staff without being made to feel stupid.
Best of all, the other table in our room was occupied by what may or may not have been a “Papakatsu” relationship. That’s the Japanese version of a sugar daddy. We eavesdropped on them a lot. Added to the fun.
There was no menu (we had to ask at the end of our meal to receive a sparse card with vague descriptions), just a 14-course tasting menu where the chef took us where he wished for us to go. We had no idea what we were in for.
The journey begins: appetizer courses
Sea weed/Sea urchin: on a bed of… black, we got these green matcha bites filled with sea urchin. This was one of Eriko’s favorite things we had all night, a little crunch with a smooth interior, and a nice intro to the type of fancy creativity we were in for.
Green soybeans: the second small bite was an edamame churro on top of some in-shell edamame. I need to stress to you just how amazingly delicious this churro was. So crunchy, salty, sweet, life-affirming. I could eat a bucket of them.
Crab/Parsnip: imagine a fortune cookie with crab inside. Does that sound weird? It actually wasn’t. This one couldn’t compete with the churro but was another fun combination that didn’t taste quite like I expected it to.
Things get creative
Sardine/Cucumber: this dish is a good example of how the simple descriptions on the menu don’t quite cut it. This had far more going on than just sardine and cucumber. Not only was the dish super pretty, but it was refreshing and light and herbaceous (there were a lot of herbs throughout the meal). A nice fish course as part of a long procession, though on its own it might not have been exciting enough.
Chiffon cake/Corn: Up next, they brought out some bread: a freshly-baked cake that was like a light cornbread, filled with chunks of corn and onion. It came with some smoky butter that Eriko liked but that I felt was unnecessary, as the cake was good enough on its own. If you just gave me a plate of corn cake without the chunks in it, I would eat that all night.
Turnip/Scallops/Buttermilk: again, so much more was going on here than what was in the description. This was like a work of art. Flowers on top, then a translucent jelly, then some turnips, a blend of different scallops, a creamy base, and a green sauce in the middle. It tasted okay, but if I’m being honest, I think the crazy techniques here were just for show. If you gave me a plate of some scallops and other seafood, some turnips, fruit, and veggies, and let me eat that, I’d probably enjoy it just as much, if not more. The techniques did not add much to the ingredients.
Poor little fishes
Next, they brought out a little jar wish some cute little fish in it. The fish looked at me! So cute and sweet! I assume these are pets they have and bring around to show you OH NO THEY’RE GONNA COOK THOSE LITTLE GUYS!
Sweet fish/fermentation mushroom sauce/Sesame seeds: They fried that little guy up good. This was Waka-ayu, a young ayu fish with greens and a foam of fermented mushrooms, with a fish sauce in the middle. Most Westerners will probably be turned off by the idea of a fish with the head on it and bones still in it, but it’s a normal thing in Japan. The fried fish and sauce tasted good, but once again, I didn't need the fancy part (the foam) and would have been fine with a simple version.
At the same time, they brought out our freshly-baked sourdough bread and some butter. It was REALLY hot, but tasted fantastic. Could have eaten an entire meal of just this bread. I had some of Eriko’s. I’m a pig.
Foams and shavings and butters
Green pepper/eggplant/Squid/Green curry: I love green pepper, and it was really the star of the show here. A delicious fresh pepper. As someone who eats peppers several times a week, I know a good one when I get one (and this was a good one). I don’t usually eat eggplant, but this one was really good as well, perfectly cooked. The squid was a small, stringy piece, but again, really tasty and not too chewy. The herbs on top were kind of annoying and unnecessary, but the green curry sauce was delicious. The whole dish had the effect of making you feel like you were consuming a delicious Thai curry without actually having one. Wouldn’t have minded if they’d given me an entire glass of the curry sauce.
Mushroom/Chocolate: This was a crepe filled with big chunks of mushroom, with fresh chocolate on top ground tableside and mushroom butter. I’m going to be honest: I don’t like mushrooms, so this one was a struggle for me. The crepe was largely flavorless, but the mushrooms and sauce and butter and everything tasted like mushrooms, a thing I don’t like. I got through it, but I am not the audience for this. A mushroom person would probably have loved it. As a chocolate person but not a mushroom person, I did not. That was okay, though, because what we had next blew my mind.
Now we’re talking: pieces de resistance
Foie gras: that’s all it says on the menu for these two courses, which were delivered simultaneously, one plate of each for the two of us to share. I don’t think that quite gets the effect across.
This rose was why we’d come that night. We’d seen a picture of it and knew it would be a perfect anniversary meal. The petals are crispy beet pieces, but they’re not disgusting like beets are. They were sweet, crunchy, delicious. I loved them. Inside the beet-red base was foie gras, which was creamy and delicious and went perfect with the sweet beet flavor. This dish is a miracle. It somehow tastes better than it looks. You must try it to believe it.
The next dish was… a, um… a layered French pie thing. I don’t know what it’s called. I’m not a chef, and the Le Sputnik chef didn’t put this one on the menu. Just know that the layers alternated fruit and different kinds of meat, all encased in a light pastry, and every layer was PERFECT. Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry would be proud. Sausage, chicken, lamb, other stuff - all delicious, cooked to perfection, and went amazingly together. If they’d only given us this pie-tart and the rose, we would have considered that a successful anniversary dinner. But we weren’t done!
It just keeps going: fish and meat courses
Tile fish/Fermentation cabbage: underneath more foam and some unnecessary cabbage was a piece of fish whose flavor was consumed by the foam and sauce. It was an okay sauce, but more unnecessary herbs and fancy techniques. This one was forgettable.
Deer/Grape: ah, yes. Another one we’d seen a picture of and that I’d really hoped we’d get. Two kinds of venison (the smaller piece was the most delicious), with rich sauce and spicy powder to dip them in, a chunk of perfectly-cooked sweet potato that honestly might have been the tastiest thing we had all night, and some yummy juneberries.
This course was beautiful and delicious, though it had a pointless stick in it. Eriko was getting full, so I finished her venison. My one complaint was that the big piece of deer was underseasoned, but then I tried Eriko’s and it turned out it was just my piece that was missing salt.
A lesser man may have been full at this point. I am not a lesser man (as my pant size will prove).
So many desserts
Pear/Mint: once again, the description doesn’t do it justice. Here we have yuzu ice cream topped with fresh Japanese pears and unnecessary herbs, and then the server brought a big tub to our table and scooped out chunks of liquid-nitrogen mint ice cream on top of it all. The effect was incredible. Not only did it look cool, and the mint ice cream made our breath smoky like dragons while tasting super light and crunchy and delicious, but it mixed perfectly with the pears and the tart yuzu ice cream. Wow. Just wow.
Peach/Lime: somehow, this dessert was even MORE delicious than the last. Rose chocolate on top, fresh peaches, jelly on bottom, and a meringue shell, inside of which was lime vanilla ice cream.
That ice cream was so delicious. I couldn’t take it. Eriko was about to burst, so I don’t think she appreciated this one as much, but I LOVED it. One of my favorite things we had. Only gets points taken off for the unnecessary flowers.
Chocolate/Prune: since they were actively trying to kill us with food, we also got tiny chocolate tarts filled with prunes during our coffee time. The prune filling gave me nice memories of Grandma’s house, and went well with the double espresso I absolutely didn’t need. We’d gotten to the end. All in all, a satisfying meal.
One last little touch
I had forgotten, but when I booked our meal online, they asked if we had a special occasion, to which I said “anniversary.” They then asked if I wanted a special message in chocolate, and I said “Happiko.” You can imagine my surprise when they brought this out, a candle with chocolate “Happiko” next to it.
It was strange we couldn’t eat anything on the plate with the message (Eriko thinks we could have eaten the candle but we didn’t), but it was a nice touch at the end of the meal so we could take pictures with it. And as we left, the chef came outside to thank us and say good-bye, another nice little touch. Great fun for our anniversary. Let’s do another five years.
Conclusion: should you eat at Le Sputnik?
In all, we paid 50,820 yen, which at today’s exchange rate is $344, less than we paid for our other visit to a one-star Michelin restaurant in Paris. I’d say that restaurant was better, but this one provided way more food for our money.
Le Sputnik has some really tasty dishes, but my complaint is that it’s too much. Too many courses, yes, but also too much in way of ingredients and techniques. A lot of the foams and butters and whathaveyou felt unnecessary, and got in the way of the ingredients rather than helping them. It’s true that the coolest thing was the rose, and the deer course and liquid-nitrogen ice cream were both pretty and delicious, but I’d say the layered French pie, a purely classic dish, was better than anything that had foam or flowers on it. Perhaps this place could benefit from some simplification. But as an anniversary choice, it’s an experience we won’t forget, and definitely delivered on the fun.
As far as a recommendation, it’s tough to think of who this place is for. Tourists to Tokyo will probably want to go to a Japanese place, and there are plenty of Michelin-level restaurants in Tokyo that serve Japanese cuisine. That leaves residents, and Le Sputnik, though not overly expensive, is too fancy and too lengthy of an experience to be a “hey we’re all going out on Saturday” type of meal. This place is just for special occasions, notably romantic ones, where the meal is the main event of your night and possibly your entire month.
If you’ve got an anniversary or birthday and want to take your special someone out for a laid-back romantic dinner full of surprises, and especially if you’ve never been to this type of fancy creative restaurant before, give Le Sputnik a try. The rose alone is worth the price of admission. Bring it to me. I want it. NOW!
