There's a curious ritual that just about everyone follows before settling into dinner at Hugo Desnoyer. Once you've been shown to your seat upstairs and ordered drinks, you are encouraged to meet your main course.

Half of the counter in front of the open kitchen is covered with Desnoyer's signature steaks. Gorgeous dark-red slabs of French Limousin beef are arrayed next to paler cuts of premium pork and delicately marbled mounds of Japanese wagyu. It is a carnivore's dream come true.

Then, having picked out whichever glistening portion catches your eye and matches your budget — each piece has a tag identifying the cut, weight and breed of animal it came from — you are urged to pose for a photo with your trophy.

Sure, it's a great PR ploy, getting customers to spread the word on their social media accounts about what is currently Tokyo's buzziest restaurant. But it also reflects the refreshingly informal ambience: You may be about to tuck into some of the best meat in the world — as supplied to some of the fanciest restaurants in France — but you also have a green light to take selfies.

In Paris, Desnoyer enjoys celebrity status as the "butcher to the (Michelin) stars." Since opening here in Tokyo in early November, his new restaurant and shop in Ebisu has generated the kind of media overdrive usually afforded to the master-chefs of haute cuisine. But the dining room itself is absolutely informal, with cowhide on the comfy chairs and banquettes, knickknacks and books on the shelves, and a soundtrack of jazzy club beats.

The menu (all a la carte) is short and to the point. Once you've selected your steak and some sides to go with it — the pureed potato and pureed celeriac are excellent, as are the Brussels sprouts with bacon — all you need is a couple of starters. One of those really has to be Desnoyer's classic steak tartare.

This perfectly formed disk of gorgeous, gleaming-red sirloin is smooth, but not too finely chopped, seasoned expertly and simply garnished with a small scattering of spring onion. Could this be the best tartare in Tokyo? It's certainly a contender for the title. Is it the most decadent? If you order the optional supplement of caviar (for an extra Y2,000), it most definitely is.

What else is good? Just about everything. The pate de campagne is another clear winner, and so is the smoked pork salad, with its heaping mound of organic arugula and baby greens hidden under generous slices of lightly smoked meat — from happy, healthy Meishanton pigs — and dusted with piment d'Espelette, the piquant paprika from France's Basque Country.

The wine list (all French, naturally) is as short and to the point as the food menu. Most of the bottles are from biodynamic producers and priced on the right side of Y10,000, with a dozen available by the glass. There's no wine snobbery here. In fact, everything feels so relaxed, by the end of the evening you'll be on first-name basis with the waiters — and maybe the folks at the next table, too.

Robbie Swinnerton blogs at www.tokyofoodfile.com.