Determined to find us a good recommendation after our second consecutive not-so-good meal, I suggested to my friend to have French cuisine instead.

I have been wanting to check out Rhubarb Le even before they were awarded their Michelin star. So with a star to their name now, I was confident my friend and I wouldn’t be disappointed especially after seeing the impressive plating of their dishes on Instagram.

With that, reservation was made for 2 weeks later through the online booking system on their website. My friend and I meant to meet earlier, but Rhubarb Le was fully booked for the immediate week. Not surprising since the restaurant has 7 tables only.

And on the day of our dinner, I received a text message from the restaurant to confirm our reservation. To which I replied “Yes, it’s VERY confirmed.” Haha. I was excited much.

Finding a parking lot was a little tricky in notorious Tanjong Pagar. But my friend and I were lucky as a car exited the gantry car park within 5 minutes of waiting.

And from the dinner menu (pages 1, 2), we ordered:-

1) Pre-appetiser, Complimentary (above) – Amberjack (hamachi) and flying fish roe served in a cone.

2) Emulsion, $26 (above) – Smoked chestnut & mushroom, black truffle puree. And what’s pictured had been portioned for two. When the staff learnt that my friend and I were sharing our appetizers, he said he will portion the soup emulsion so that it’s easier and less messy for consumption.

3) Foie gras, $32 (above) – Seared duck liver, mirabelle, hazelnut, grape.

4) Scallop, $28 (above) – Pork belly, cauliflower & white chocolate, chicken skin.

5) Veal, $58 (above) – Dutch veal, black fig, earl grey, “pommes mousseline”.

6) Pigeon, $64 (above) – Breast & confit leg, rhubarb & rose puree, grapes ‘a la aussignac’. I normally go with ‘well done’ for my pigeon. But I forgot to state my preference cause I wasn’t asked how I would like to have my pigeon done. But it was a good thing that they didn’t ask cause while the pigeon was served medium done, it wasn’t too bloody. Something which I often experience at most restaurants. Rhubarb Le managed to nail the texture very well.

7) Strawberry, $20 (above) – Fromage blanc, jelly, pistachio, olive oil cake, nata de coco.

8) Chocolate, $18 (above) – Warm coffee/caramel mousse, gingerbread, vanilla ice cream.

9) Petit fours, Complimentary (above) – I was a little disappointed to see a repeat of candied grapes which I had earlier from my main of pigeon.

For the amount we paid, my friend and I felt dinner was reasonable and not too bad. It wasn’t too expensive, and food was decent. Although it wasn’t to the extent that it wow-ed us. Service standard was as what’s expected of a fine dining restaurant, although we did experience one unpleasant incident.

My friend and I usually order our wine by allowing the sommelier to assist. And we had always been lucky where the sommelier would always get us the right wine within two to three recommendations. Thus, it was somewhat taken for granted that we would be recommended a wine to our liking as we stated our preference for our white wine to be dry.

Unfortunately, the recommended wines were not close to what we usually drink. The two wines were too fruity. And what took us aback was when he went “I can’t continue to recommend. I don’t know what you want.” Before leaving us to a (long) period of awkward silence.

It’s either we caught him on a his very bad day which I honestly felt wasn’t an excuse for him to vent his anger on us. Or he must have thought we weren’t serious about ordering our white wine. Which even if it was so, I expected him to handle the situation better and professionally.

In any case, my friend texted a friend and managed to find out the wine we usually drank. To which the sommelier came round and managed to propose something similar from the wine menu as they don’t carry Domaine Leflaive. So while we got our suitable wine, it was not without leaving a bitter aftertaste.

UPDATE 1: Restaurant was awarded 1 Michelin star by Michelin Guide Singapore 2017.
UPDATE 2: Restaurant was awarded 1 Michelin star by Michelin Guide Singapore 2018.

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