The Room
Tableaux opened in 2000 in the Sunroser Daikanyama building's basement — a 1920s-American-jazz-bar-meets-pan-European-brasserie space dressed in Moulin Rouge baroque: deep-red velvet, gold-leaf ceiling, framed mirrors, and a Great-Gatsby register that few other Tokyo rooms attempt. Twenty-five years later it remains one of the most-photographed Tokyo dining rooms among the foreign community.
The space is divided into two sections: the dining room (90 seats) and the Tableaux Lounge cocktail bar that hosts a different live-jazz band every night with the first set at 8:30pm. Service is brigade-international with English-fluent floor staff.
The Food
The kitchen runs European-brasserie classics with a serious dry-aged steak programme — the 250-gram 55-day dry-aged sirloin is the signature. Charcuterie, foie gras torchon, escargots, Dover sole meunière and a serious cheese board fill out the menu.
Wine programme is broad — French and Italian-leaning with serious Champagne and Burgundy depth. Cocktails are classical with a strong New York jazz-bar register.
Best Occasion Fit
Birthday: Tableaux's baroque dining room is the Tokyo birthday venue for the diner who wants the night to register as cinematic. The jazz lounge afterward extends the evening.
Close a Deal: Tableaux is the Daikanyama deal dinner for the agreement that wants European-brasserie register rather than Japanese formality.
Proposal: The corner banquette at the back-left of the dining room is one of Tokyo's most-photographed proposal seats. The jazz set after dinner extends the night.
