Savoring Traditional French Cuisine in Tokyo’s Bistros

The mood of Paris settles over Ginza, with cabaret and chanson drifting through the room to recall the bistros of old. Regional favorites fill the menu — tripe à la mode de Caen (beef tripe), quiche Lorraine, cassoulet — alongside a full range of late-night à la carte dishes.

French homestyle cooking finds its place in Asakusa. Confit of duck leg hails from France’s southeast; carbonnade of pork rib, stewed with onions in black beer, hails from the north. For the most satisfying experience, order à la carte and pick the dishes that appeal to you.

This is the place to sample the traditional fare of Lyon. Cochonaille pork charcuterie, savory cake salé and Lyonnaise salad topped with soft-boiled egg are just a few highlights, paired with wines from the region. Interior accents and furnishings hand-picked in Lyon complete the sense of dining in the city itself.

French tradition is alive and well at this bistro, where the menu spans piping-hot bouillabaisse (fish stew) served in cocotte, boudin noir sausage (blood sausage) crafted terrine-style and Paris-Brest choux pastry. Preparations are authentic and portions generous.

A bistro with an impressive roster of pork items, including choucroute (sauerkraut with sausages) and andouillette (traditional French sausage) that ooze regional character. To bring out the flavor of each cut, ribs are pickled in salt, while spareribs coated in herbal breadcrumbs and grilled. Ratatouille and gratin dauphinois represent the home cooking of the French south.

In this shop, reminiscent of a French city bistro, oven-baked escargot à la Bourguignonne (baked snails), salad Lyonnaise and southern-French fish soup are typical fare. One could draw a map of France with the menu alone. Generous portions earn full marks — another sign of a proper bistro.

At LAUBURU, the cuisine of the Basque region takse center stage alongside a varied menu of pork dishes. Charcuterie such as cured ham, terrine and sausages highlight the skills the chef honed in Basque country. Classics like piperade, a stew of tomatoes and bell peppers, and gâteau Basque, an almond-flavoured confection, round out the options.

This restaurant conveys the food culture of southwestern France, passed down from the chef’s mentor, a native of Landes. It’s the place to try dry-cured ham from the Noir de Bigorre, a heritage pig raised in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Garbure, a hearty stew of dry-cured ham and white kidney beans, captures the rustic flavur of the Landes countryside.