(Visited on April 10)On this day, I made a reservation for my birthday lunch for myself and visited with my parents in their 70s and my family.Located in the heart of Ginza, in the basement of the Mikimoto flagship building.I had known about this place for a while and recognized it as a long-established renowned restaurant, but embarrassingly, this was my first visit.Founded in 1974, it shares the same age as me, which made me feel a connection and inspired me to celebrate my birthday here.The restaurant is on the first basement floor, but first, we were guided to the waiting bar on the second basement floor.Wow, this is it! This wonderful waiting bar has an unmistakable sense of the extraordinary!It's reminiscent of grand maisons like Robuchon, Cezar, Tour d'Argent, and Apicius, and the special atmosphere really elevates the excitement!!!After a while, we were led to the magnificent dining space on the first basement floor.We had a table for six in a semi-private area that felt a bit secluded.I had pre-ordered the "Menu Comfortable Main Beef Dish (JPY 19,800)" through Tabelog.Initially, I thought we would start with champagne, and then we were presented with an array of six mouthwatering champagnes lined up before us, marking the start of the feast!To conclude, it was absolutely wonderful!Each dish was intricately prepared yet harmonized beautifully in the mouth, all incredibly delicious and served in just the right portions, allowing my elderly parents and me to enjoy it comfortably.The attentive service provided detailed explanations upon request, and the accompanying champagne and wine were spot on in flavor!The dessert felt like a second chapter, and above all, the location in the heart of Ginza, the exquisite decor, the outstanding service, and the remarkable course content for under JPY 20,000 is a miraculous value!This truly is a legendary restaurant that has maintained its reputation for over half a century, making it feel absurd to go to other hard-to-book places that charge over JPY 50,000 or even close to JPY 100,000 for a meal! Chefs like Inoue from Chez Inno, Takara from Raffinage, and Watanabe from Watanabe Restaurant, who is currently impossible to book, have all emerged from here, and the current 9th generation chef, Shuto Sugita, is only 30 years old!? He previously worked at Cezar, which explains the incredible flavors.There are many famous chefs who didn’t even become head chefs, making this place a true gateway to the French culinary scene in Japan!My parents, who usually speak quite casually, were thoroughly impressed and satisfied with the atmosphere, the food, and of course, the price, making it the best birthday lunch ever!By the way, here’s what we had:"Freshness" ~ Tokyo White Mold, Olive Oil from Shodoshima ~- An airy white mold cheese blancmange? Espuma? This was paired with tomato jelly and olive oil from Shodoshima, creating a wonderful balance of sweetness, acidity, and saltiness that melted in the mouth. It disappeared in an instant! Absolutely delicious!!!"Butter Aroma" ~ Aigamo Liver Pâté, Brioche ~- A brioche slightly larger than my middle finger topped with liver pâté and a layer of jam, finished with incredibly thin and airy shaved brown mushrooms. This was also incredibly delicious!!! By the time we reached the first two dishes, everyone was already on cloud nine!!!"Summer Memory" ~ Corn ~- A glass chilled to perfection with ice, topped with this dish, providing an outstanding refreshing sensation, and the sweetness of the corn was remarkable! It could easily pass as a dessert! The creativity of not serving this first was also impressive."Childhood" ~ Parklet Country Bread ~- Here came the bread and butter. The bread was rye with just the right amount of acidity, paired with creamy butter that had a subtle saltiness, making it irresistible to ask for seconds!"Aging" ~ Wakayama Prefecture White Sweet Sea Bream, Zucchini ~- Oh wow, white sweet sea bream!!! And it was grilled in the Matsukasa style!!! They incorporated Japanese techniques! This dish could easily compete with hard-to-book Japanese restaurants! The ingredients and preparation were exceptional, and it was served with a double sauce of basil and shrimp! Accompanying it were okawakame and winter melon cut into rounds, along with zucchini and flower zucchini, which had shrimp mousse stuffed inside!!! Beautiful!!! Intricate!!! And the taste was beyond amazing!!! This might have been the standout dish of the year! My parents were wide-eyed, asking, "What is this incredibly delicious fish!?" "Travel Mark" ~ Hakodate Onuma Black Beef, Shishito Pepper, Hatcho Miso ~- Finally, the meat! Honestly, this was the first time I had heard of this beef brand, but it turns out to be a cross between black-haired wagyu and Holstein, and this meat was exquisitely delicious! It was cut quite thick, but the knife glided through easily, and the texture was crisp and easy to bite into, with rich red meat flavor and a smooth sweetness from the fat—everything was a perfect steak! And the sauce paired with it was also incredibly delicious! Especially the red wine sauce! Accompanying it was a substantial shishito pepper that could stand on its own as a main dish, and there was delicious stuffing inside!!!So, this was the first chapter.After celebrating with a birthday plate, we moved on to the dessert-focused second chapter!Amuse-Bouche ~ Pure White, Aichi no Kaori ~- An ice made from pure white corn, with a base of Aichi no Kaori rice! This rice was cooked in milk or soba tea, and it had a few corn kernels mixed in, creating a truly unique dessert!Main ~ Black Sesame, Peach, Black Koji ~- The highlight was this dish. I honestly can’t remember exactly what it was! But it felt like a very sophisticated dessert and was delicious! It contained black koji, black sesame, cheese, and peach. You mix it while crushing the black sesame cracker on top. It was quite impressive!Remanence ~ Pineapple, Vanilla ~- Remanence means "aftertaste" in French. We enjoyed a macaroon topped with pineapple and vanilla as a petit four. It paired excellently with the coffee!We had three glasses of champagne, white, and red, all of which were delightful.Overall, it was an incredibly wonderful experience.As long as I can go to L'ecrin, I’ll be satisfied with French cuisine!Next time, I will definitely try the puff pastry!Oh, I should make a reservation for next year already!It was incredibly delicious!I’m also happy that we share the same age. I want to come back until I’m 100 years old!Thanks to everyone, it was a wonderful birthday lunch! Thank you very much!It was a great meal!