Moliere is a French (2017 3* )restaurant in Sapporo
I booked the lunch two months in advance by calling, it took a while to get through but once on the phone I was able to make a reservation in English. I booked the menu saison for 14 800 yen.
The restaurant is located right next to the famous Jingu shrine but sadly theres also a busy road.
Once I arrived I was seated in the corner and met the star of the show, my server. I cant remember his name but he was an ex-noma 1.0 manager and the son of Hiroshi, the owner and chef. He spoke perfect english and was both very elegant in service as well as welcoming and friendly.
As for the food, the courses were the following:
-
cold corn soup with hot corn on the cob
A great starter that really got my palate going with a deep savoury sweetness. -
shiitake tempura
A dissapointing second dish, nothing special just a decent tempura mushroom. -
24 vegetable salad with different sauces
An absolute masterpiece that still confuses me. All the vegetbles were perfectly cooked, at the right temperature. They tell you to mix it yet every bite was different and worked. I dont know how they did it but they did. Best salad ive ever had. -
Giant clam with wasabi-white wine vinegar
Very tasty, refreshing -
Hairy crab risotto with lobster sauce
You know this is amazing and it was even better than it looks. I could eat this every day. Up there with the salad. -
Tea and lemon sorbet with poire williams
Lovely palate cleanser, nothing special -
Local wild deer with berry sauce and gratin
I had the option to choose beef or deer and they recommended the deer so I went for it. It wasnt medium rare as they said but more of a medium ( not that i minded). The dish was super tasty but had too little sauce. However they were happy to give me as much extra as I wanted. The gratin was divine, super creamy and tasty. Reminded me of the top restaurants in Bordeaux. -
Hokkaido milk icecream with olive oil and black pepper
Might seem weird but another top tier dish. The quality of the olive oil and pepper was superbe and it was very refreshing after the hearty deer dish. Absolute banger. -
wild mint, lemongrass and lemon balm (?) tea with lemon jelly and fresh beignets
Lovely tea, the jelly was nice and refreshing but a bit too strong in lemon flavour. The beignets were lovely.
Overall id rate it 9-9.5
If not for the bread being a dissapointing baguette and the uninspired shiitake tempura it would have been a 10, definitely at this price. Also the nearby road noise isnt too pleasant but at tht point im just nitpicking.
Service was definitely an 11/10.
I wouldnt call it a 3* restaurant because its not innovative enough I feel like. But definitely a great 2*. If youre in Hokkaido, go to Moliere! You wont regret it
Let me know any questions in the comments
by Normal-Metal3664