Le Trouvere
Le Trouvere is a medium-sized, stylish wine bar and homestyle French food bistro where you can enjoy the best oysters from around the world, including Hiroshima’s most famous varieties, at any time of year. Owner Hiroyuki Yamamoto first opened a fantastic French restaurant at this location (R.Gerant), he now continues to demonstrate a passion for meshing delicious food and wine with a convivial atmosphere; now in a more relaxed setting.
Le Trouvere is sophisticated and stylish, featuring subdued lighting, whitewashed walls, plush tables and chairs, select artwork and creative steelwork decor- perfect for a quiet drink, romantic dinner or a fun, private party of wine and oyster enthusiasts. The staff speak English very well and the quality of service is very impressive- you will never have to ask for your water to be refilled, or wait long for the staff to notice you’d like to order, no matter how busy they are.
Wine and oysters are the main attractions at Le Trouvere, but there is also a specials board offering a few select dishes in the categories of salads, cheese selections, meat dishes, seasonal vegetables and desserts. The menu reflects traditional French home cooking, but the ingredients are far from mundane. Yamamoto-san pays careful attention to sourcing his ingredients with a philosophy to prepare and cook them to highlight their natural flavor. If you like meat, the high quality organic Kagoshima Black Pork dishes (from ¥1800) raised on sweet potatoes are very highly recommended. On the lighter side, organic fresh salads or roasted vegetable plates (¥1200) and vegetable quiche (¥700) are colorful, healthy and utterly delicious. They have an excellent selection of wine to choose from and the staff can make great recommendations to suit your palate and what you are ordering off the menu.
If you like oysters, you will love Le Trouvere where even the squeamish can be converted. If ordering oysters, the staff bring over several large trays of the day’s selection on beds of crushed ice. The selection often includeds very young oysters as well as more mature ones grown off the coast of an uninhabited island in some of the cleanest waters of the Seto Inland Sea in Hiroshima. There were also several varieties of North American oysters too (which are enlivened in the local seas for 2 months before served). The prices ranged from under ¥200 for the small juveniles to around ¥500 for fat, juicy, mature Canadian Blue Point Oysters. We ordered 8 juveniles, 4 mid-grade, and 4 Blue Point oysters and shared a bottle of white wine recommended as complimenting the oysters bill came to about ¥2500 a head. It was really interesting working our way up from the young, very salty and “sea-like” oysters up the big, creamy Canadian ones – absolutely delicious and perfect with the wine. If you are not quite ready to go raw, steamed or deep fried oysters are also available (¥180+ each).
The top page of Le Trouvere’s website states its mission as spreading, their passion and love for the bounty of the earth and the sea. Much like the trouvère of medieval France broadcast their poetry. Customers are invited to make Le Trouvere a “puncuation point in a night out.” Spend a few hours eating and drinking, drop in for a glass of wine or share a bottle with friends, enjoy a cocktail or just a cup of coffee. Depending on the mood of your fellow customers you may even find your night ends with an exclamation mark.
Open: Everyday except Mondays and the 3rd Sunday of each month: Tuesday to Saturday 6pm~1am, Sundays 4pm~11pm
Walk-ins welcome, English speaking staff, Reservations accepted and recommended for parties or larger groups, party plans and special food & drink courses are available for advance reservations.
Tel: 082-228-5660
Facebook: Le Trouvere
URL: http://www.le-trouvere.com [ja]
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