Abysse is a classy and intimate one-Michelin star French seafood restaurant situated in the Aoyama area in Tokyo where various forms of seasonal seafood are lovingly showcased (there are no meat-based dishes at Abysse), and each dish is executed to technical perfection. The zesty and sweet bouillon here had a chicken stock-esque savoury fullness of flavour, while elsewhere the robustly fresh and well-endowed oysters possessed the perky plumpness of a matronly baroness.
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The service at Abysse is familiar, warm and personal (by way of comparison, in stark contrast to the confident, brisk efficiency of Florilége), with the general manager striking an engaging conversation with us about fine dining in Singapore and Tokyo at the end of the meal, and the chef and general manager greeting us at the door as we were leaving and not going back in until we were out of sight. The chef, Kotaro Meguro (@kotamegu), even prepared a jar of açai berry jam as a small token for me as my dining companion had indicated the meal occasion as “birthday”. On the basis of these little but important experiential flourishes, I might just prefer the modest players to the commercial heavyweights.
