On the first floor of a rather drab building and to the right of brightly lit signs displayed by the various tenants, mainly bars and clubs, was a plain white door with the simple lettering BLANC. Inside, a bar with ten seats was to the direct right of the small room and a few tables were arranged in the rear.

The menu was written in Japanese with no translation available and initially no one could speak English. They asked me if I spoke French and I answered, “A little, but I understand a lot especially, regarding culinary matters.” It turned out that one of the employees spent a few months in France. His French was not that good but between the two of us I was able to get a vague idea of what was offered. As the evening wore on, it turned out that one of the waitresses actually could speak a little English but was too shy to admit it at first.

Fortunately, I could understand the wine list as all wine selections were French. They had an excellent selection of Bourgogne and Rhône wines at quite reasonable prices. For instance, they had three selections of various producers in different vintages at ¥3,000.

The food was plain and nothing extravagant, although good quality nonetheless.