La Cime which means peak or summit in French is one of the best restaurants in Osaka. La Cime is a two-star Michelin holder and No.8 on Asia’s 50 best. I happened to chance upon it on the UOB Reserve dining programme and have been wanting to try it out for quite some time. UOB Reserve card holders enjoy extra benefits such as an aperitif and priority reservations. La Cime serves up modern French cuisine with luxury ingredients from Western Japan. The restaurant has been around since 2010.
Booking & Prices
As with most Michelin establishments, reservation is a must. Furthermore, the level of complexity increases when you are looking at places in Japan. Japan is single-handedly the most difficult place to make dining reservations. Plenty of places only accept reservations through a concierge via your hotel or some third-party ones that you will have to pay a fee for. La Cime opens for reservations one month ahead. They have only 20 seats per service. They have a one-day cancellation policy. La Cime does both lunch and dinner. Both of them are the same price at ¥28,000 (tax included) for 13 courses. They are close on Sun. Lunch starts at noon and Dinner starts at 6pm
Location
La Cime is located in a quiet neighbourhood in the central business district. This makes it rather quiet in the evening after work. The two nearest stations would be Hommachi and Sakaisuji Hommachi Station. It is about a 10-minute walk from the nearest station.
Menu
They serve up a total of 13-course omakase menu. This is usually split into 5 Starter, 4 Appetizer, 2 Main courses, 2 Dessert, Confections and Tea. The number of course may differ due to the availability of ingredients.
You can also find a glimpse of the drinks menu here. They have an extensive wine list.
Arrival
There is only one slot for dinner and it starts at 6pm. The meal is about a 3-hour affair. I was here right on the dot. The restaurant has a classy and quiet exterior. I was warmly welcomed by the host at the door and ushered over to the table. They also helped us with our jackets and coats.
The host then came by to introduce herself and provide the welcome drink from booking with UOB Reserve. We got some champagne to start with and the pour was a delicious Richard Cheurlin Cuvee Jeanne Millesime 2015.
La Cime Dinner
Boudindog
Yellowtail / Taro / Rice Bran
Onion / Horse Meat / Maitake Mushroom
Salmon Roe / Peanut / Squid / Hardy Kiwi
Japanese Pear / Celery Root / Wood Ear Mushroom
Ginkgo / Hairy Crab / Yuba
Kintoki Ginseng / Persimmon / Spot Prawn
Jerusalem Artichoke / Laid / Chrysanthemum
Brioche Bread
Flounder / Lotus-Root / Ginger
Turnip / Duck / Green Onion
Kumamoto Beef / Manchurian Wild Rice / Winged Bean
Fig / Sesami / Hop
Passion Fruit / Pineapple / Arrowroot
Tea
Petit Fours
Conclusion
Can’t say that I enjoy every dish and love the ingredients but that is fun about a chef’s menu or omakase. I love the experience and getting to try them. The horse meat is certainly the highlight of the meal. It is nice that I had some extra privileges from booking via UOB Reserve. I did expect more from a restaurant of this level and calibre. The staff should have a better command of English given how they have international guests. It is hard for me to understand the explanations of the dishes at times. Service is also subpar and one of the worst among the 2 and 3-star establishments that I have been to. Little things like folding napkins and refills are basics. The dining environment is very cosy and comfortable. Dining here is an affair and no less than 3 hours. It is quite a value for money given the amount of courses.
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