Dinner @ Restaurant André [Revisit] // CLOSED

December 28, 2016 in European, French

This may sound cliche but it was as though the universe was sending me signs to return to Andre when 3 parties mentioned Restaurant Andre on different occasions.

A few months ago, a friend casually brought up Andre after seeing pictures from his cousin’s instagram account. And a few days later, the friend who dined at Andre with me in 2010 revisited Andre and texted me to say the food has improved lots. Now, this particular friend of mine has really exquisite taste. If it’s a yes from him, the dishes must be really good. So when my IGGF (InstaGram GirlFriend) said she had been wanting to check out Andre, we decided to do just that. =)

I mean… I had to keep up with my 3-years visit too; Having dined at Andre in 2010 and 2013, I had to return before 2016 came to an end. Especially when Andre was recently awarded 2 Michelin stars. =p

Reservation was made 2.5 months in advance. And reservation procedure had become more complicated since 2013. But that’s not surprising as those were measures needed to deter last minute cancellation. To make reservation, one had to make a request from their website.

Within 2 days, I received an email with payment details as we were required to make a deposit of $50 within 48 hours to secure the table. The deposit would be used to offset the meal’s cost. And do be mindful of cancellation and last minute change charges. 20% for 72 hours notice, 50% for 48 hours notice and 100% for 24 hours notice.

My IGGF and I arrived excitedly on a Saturday evening in December. Upon entering, chef Andre Chiang was waiting at the lounge (to our direct right) with his staff to welcome us. Such a nice surprise! Thank goodness we were punctual. Keke. And I guess that’s also the difference between 7pm and 8.30pm. At 7pm, one gets to meet chef Andre in person before he becomes too busy in the kitchen. After exchanging some words, the staff led us to our table.


It’s a first for me to be seated at level 3. To reach the topmost level, we took the lift. The lift was located at the entrance of the kitchen (but shielded from patrons dining at level 1) as it’s used by servers to deliver food from kitchen to the various levels. So yes, felt very privileged to get a glimpse of the kitchen!

In terms of interior decor, level 3 is pretty different from level 2. It felt as though we were entering chef Andre’s living room with books, autographed plates and his Michelin star plaque adorning the walls on shelves. And one gets to see more of chef Andre at level 3 because there’s a mezzanine floor which served as his office.

And with that, we started our $350 octaphilosophy dinner menu with:-

1) Snack #1, Complimentary (above) – Capsule ball with cherry and balsamic, topped with red seaweed. And as what the staff said, it had an after taste of chocolate. Amazing.

2) Snack #2, Complimentary (above) – Crispy chips; Porcini mushroom (brown), scallop (white) and purple potato (purple).


  
  

3) Snack #3, Complimentary (above) – Butter squash, salted duck york and vanilla, fish and chip, wild mushroom tart dusted with coriander powder, celeriac puree with miso strip, and abalone and its liver on crispy seaweed. Presentation was superb. The staff shared that chef Andre worked with a local architect to design the display set. So yes, we were eating off Marina Bay Sands and Supertree of Gardens by the Bay. But because the display set was huge (as wide as the table), my IGGF and I had much difficulty trying to get everything into a frame. Keke. And of the 5, the fish and chip was my favourite!


  

4) Snack #4, Complimentary (above) – Charcoal dough fritter served on a bed of real charcoal, with dipping sauce of piquillo (pepper from north Spain) and sweet shrimp (amaebi) tartar. And this was another favourite. I loved it so much that I was tempted to ask for seconds. But I knew better not to; I needed to reserve stomach space. We haven’t even started on our dinner menu!


5) Unique (above) – Corn, horseradish, almond and vanilla. So while there’s a piece of sliced corn on the top, what’s more fascinating was the capsule ball beneath it. Bite into it to have corn soup bursting in one’s mouth.


6) Pure (above) – Crab ravioli, served alongside pear ice and leek water.

7) Bread, Complimentary (above) – It was a little weird to have bread served after 2 of our 8 courses since bread is often served before appetiser. But greedy me finished the bread nonetheless. Haha. And we were told the sourdough was baked from their sister restaurant, Burnt Ends. Okie, that’s new. I didn’t know Restaurant Andre had affiliated restaurants.

8) Salt – Squid pasta and potato puree in kelp jus, with barley and puffed grains.


9) South (above) – Scallop lasagna with gillardeau oyster, caviar aubergine, watercress foam and vinegar.

10) Artisan (above) – It’s hard to tell but we were told there’s 17 types of vegetables. With (striped horse mackerel) shima aji added to support the flavour. And when we were done with our dish, the staff came with a tea pot and poured fermented broth of the vegetables trimming. “Chef Andre believes we should not waste our food. This allows us to finish what remains in the bowl,” she said as she nodded at the remaining basil vinegarette. Respect.


  

11) Texture (above) – Risotto Risoni pasta with mushroom and buckwheat wafer. It being the (alba) white truffle season, the staff said we could top up $90 for 5g which will be used on 1 course, or $180 for 10g for 3 courses. I decided to go with 5g. And so, mine came with shaved truffle. Else, the staff will come along and shave belper knolle cheese onto the dish. And we were surprised to find yoke and chicken stork in the centre which flowed out like a lava cake as we tucked in. Brilliant.


  

12) Memory – And we were presented with chef Andre’s memory; Foie gras jelly served with black truffle coulis. This was created when he was a young chef in 1997 and his head chef challenged him to make something. Chef Andre liked his creation so much that he put it on his menu. And indeed, I had this when I last dined at Restaurant Andre in 2010 and 2013. Except this time, they upgraded its presentation. Keke.


13) Terroir (above) – Pigeon baked in a ‘soil’ bed of coffee bean, cacao nibs and lindqvist. And we were served the breast and thigh, which we were told chef Andre believed these were the best parts, alongside leek powder and chips. I especially liked the thigh with the crispy skin.


14) Pre-dessert (above) – “Green tea ceremony,” the staff joked. Cold green tea ice cream, green tea chocolate with warm green tea foam. I wished there was more ice cream though. Keke.


  

15) Dessert #1 (above) – Hand sliced grape on raspberry sorbet, served in white peach soup and topped with pink coriander flowers.


16) Dessert #2 (above) – Hay ice cream on camembert cheese. The ice cream had a really unique taste. Somewhat similar to earl grey. And the texture of cheese was like souffle; Light and spongy. And it was amazing how the two went very well together.


  
  

17) Petit fours (above) – Cinammon churro with chocolate-cinnamon dip, earl grey crystalline, verjus (juice of unripe grape) pate de fruit, kaya ‘toast’ macaron, cherry madeleine and root beer float ice cream stick.

Octaphilosophy (Unique, pure, texture, memory, salt, south, artisan, terroir) is the restaurant’s overall philosophy; It’s chef Andre and his team’s method of encouraging and managing the creative process, and a principle to live by. Octaphilosophy was developed as a tool to explain a dish. And as taken from their website, all dishes are there for a reason and all are equally important.

And indeed, every dish was superb. Like seriously… Every dish! My friend was right to say chef Andre has improved much. Definitely worthy of his 2 Michelin stars. I was initially worried there would be repeated dishes as what I experienced in 2013. But thankfully, there wasn’t any except for his ‘Memory’ dish which chef Andre said would still be on the menu when I return in 2019. Keke.

Our dinner stretched over 4 hours. Though in all honesty, it didn’t feel that long. I guess time just slipped by in front of good food and wonderful company. =) But I think 45 minutes were probably spent taking pictures of our food. Oops.

Will I recommend Restaurant Andre? Definitely!

RESTAURANT ANDRÉ
41 Bukit Pasoh Road, Singapore
6534 8880, Website, Facebook
Overall: 9
Opening hours:-
Food/Beverage: 10
Wed, Fri : 12:00 – 15:00 (Lunch)
Ambience: 8
Tue – Sun : 19:00 – 22:00 (Dinner)
Value: 9
Service: 9
* Closed on Mon, alternate Sun

UPDATE: Restaurant was awarded 2 Michelin stars by Michelin Guide Singapore 2017.

Dinner @ Saint Pierre

August 10, 2016 in French

And so, after celebrating my friend’s birthday, mine was next in line. Yeah! Haha. And because I haven’t had French cuisine in a long while, I decided to go with Saint Pierre.

And this would be my third time dining at Saint Pierre. The first was lunch when they started out at Magazine Road, and second being brunch when they moved to Quayside Isle (Sentosa). So one can say it’s only natural that I had to have dinner at Saint Pierre, especially after they relocated (yet again) to One Fullerton. =p

Reservation was made via Chope. And in my reservation, I indicated it was to celebrate my birthday. I know, it’s a little thick skin having to arrange my own birthday dinner. Haha. But my friends know how I am like; That I like deciding where to go next from my to-try list.

For those arriving by car, try to park near Lift Lobby 3 at One Fullerton’s basement car park as it will take one straight up to Level 2 where Saint Pierre is located at.

My friend and I were greeted by the staff who was standing by at the entrance. And I was glad we were given a corner table just right by the full-height window. It gave us a perfect view of Marina Bay Sands, including Louis Vuitton Island Maison. In fact, halfway through our dinner at 9.30pm, we caught laser beams from Marina Bay Sands. But of course, we were too far to witness the Light & Water Show.

  

Once we were seated, the staff pushed a trolley of beverages and asked if we wanted to start with any wines, champagne or juices. My friend chose nectar juice ($14) from an assortment which included tomato, peach, apple, strawberry and orange. After which, we were presented with pre-appetisers. Yes, pre-appetisers before we were handed the menu.

And pre-appetisers included la tomate d’amour (stuffed cherry tomato, vanilla and lime zest), le saumon betterave (beetroot salmon graviax wasabi cream), la sardine (marinated sardine, olive sandwich), opera de foie gras (home made foie gras terrine with cherry marmelade), celeri pomme verte remoulade (celeriac and green apple salad, cream & mustard dressing) and bonbon avocat/coriandre (avocado and coriander cream dip in tomato.

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


  

1) Bread, Complimentary (above) – Besides being presented with a bread platter of mini baguette, milk bread and rosemary brioche, the staff gave us additional options of sourdough and fig bread. I went with the former. Although I didn’t manage to ask, I am pretty sure the sourdough was wholegrain. And I seriously loved their freshly baked bread! While the seaweed butter was interesting, it was the French salted butter that’s my favourite. It went extremely well with the sourdough.

2) Pre-appetiser, Complimentary (above) – Potato espuma served with soft-boiled egg and truffle.

3) Grand Earth, $188 comprised of:-

(A) Tomato (above) – Vanilla oil marinated Japanese momotaro tomato with coriander oil, balsamic vinegar sorbet and cashew nut papadum.

(B) Crab (above) – Dashi poached live Alaskan king crab with ginger infused roasted cauliflower puree, wild tarragon, cream fraiche, brioche and ikura.


(C) Scallop (above) – Soy-seared hand-dived Hokkaido scallop tartare with herb coulis, new harvest oscietra caviar and grated preserved egg yolk.


(D) Lobster (above) – Grilled Atlantic lobster ravioli revisited with veal jus braised celeriac, wild girolle mushroom, black winter truffle and foam of lobster bisque.


(E) Artichoke (above) – Crispy stuffed purple artichoke with turmeric sauce, herb crust, pine nuts and marigold leaf.

(F) Cod (above) – Coal-grilled white miso Atlantic cod flakes with caramelised fennel puree, oxtail consomme, fresh pea and chitose corn.

(G) Lamb (above) – roasted lamb saddle with sweetbread stuffing, confit of baby yellow squash and smoked tomato coulis.

  

(H) Pigeon (above) – Roasted pigeon breast with coffee dust, celeriac, chocolate armagnac marinated cherries, pigeon legs in foie gras ballotine, bacon and coffee emulsion. Having not eaten pigeon in a while, I forgot to check on how the pigeon was going to be cooked. It’s a personal preference to have it well done. If not, medium well. So when the pigeon was served medium, I was a little disappointed. I don’t like my pigeon too bloody.

(I) Palate cleanser (above) – Poured into a cup from a tea flask, palate cleanser was in the form of soup. Didn’t manage to catch the staff’s introduction of this, but its taste reminded me of a diet soup which I tried many years before. Haha. Of cabbage, onion and ground pepper.

(J) Strawberry (above) – Hibiscus-lemongrass extraction with strawberry emulsion, strawberry sorbet and basil. Comprised of layers of different textures, do ‘dig’ deep as there’s popping sugar at the bottom.


  

(K) Chocolate (above) – This was supposed to be a manjari chocolate sphere with a centre of passion fruit caramel and tahiti vanilla parfait. But because dinner was to celebrate my birthday, we were treated to a performance where the staff placed a glass panel on our table before continuing to plate our dessert. Our gigantic chocolate sphere didn’t last long though. It melted shortly after warm chocolate was poured over it. I am sorry but I don’t quite understand what-seem-to-be the recent trend of melting the chocolate sphere in front of customers. So while I appreciate the restaurant’s effort in making the dessert special, I guess I would have been happier if I was just given a candle cause the chocolate portion was very messy to eat.

(L) Petit fours (above) – Observed from neighbouring table, the staff would push a trolley filled with goodies for one to choose. However, for mine, a collection of 6 was included in my ‘special dessert’.

4) Nature, $148 comprised of:-

(A) TomatoVanilla oil marinated Japanese momotaro tomato with coriander oil, balsamic vinegar sorbet and cashew nut papadum.

(B) Winter melon (above) – Soy-marinated and braised organic winter melon tartare with herb coulis, pickled purple radish and grated preserved egg yolk.

(C) Truffle (above) – Cep mushroom ravioli with wild girolle mushroom, black winter truffle and smoked celeriac jus.

(D) Corn (above) – Coal-grilled chitose corn with caramelised fennel puree, fresh pea and seaweed stock.

(E) Garden (above) – Texture of jerusalem artichoke with baby leek, heirloom carrot and pumpkin seeds.

(F) Palate cleanser

(G) Chocolate – My friend’s was combined with my ‘special birthday dessert’. However, while his set menu only entitled him to 1 dessert, the restaurant gave him the other dessert of ‘Strawberry’ too.

5) Coffee, $12.50

Dinner was great. There’s always something charming about longer established restaurants, which I know I can count on for a beautiful dining experience. From food, to service, and to ambience.

  

And as we made our way out of the restaurant (immediately) after settling the bill, we were surprised when the staff quickly came up to us with a box of sweets and stationery. We were caught off guard, but one can’t deny the nice intention behind the tokens. Especially after reading head chef Emmanuel’s message.

Will I recommend Saint Pierre? Definitely!

SAINT PIERRE
1 Fullerton Road, One Fullerton, #02-02B, Singapore
6438 0887, Website, Facebook
Overall: 8.5
Opening hours:-
Food/Beverage: 8
Mon – Fri : 11:30 – 15:00 (Lunch)
Ambience: 9
Mon – Sat : 18:30 – 23:00 (Dinner)
Value: 8
Service: 9
* Closed on Sun

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.

Dinner @ Summer Pavilion

August 7, 2016 in Chinese

I will be really honest. I am not a huge fan of Chinese cuisine. When it comes to arranging gatherings, I would always suggest Japanese or French. If not Italian. But the latter is only so when I meet my Italian-cuisine-loving friends.

But this time round, birthday boy is a huge Chinese food lover. And with the recent launch of Michelin Guide Singapore, I made it into a win-win situation for us. Hahaha. He gets his Chinese food, and I get to tick one restaurant off the Michelin Guide list. That said, I got to make it clear that I’m not a blind follower of the list. Have tried 16 of the 29 (yes, even before there was a Michelin Guide in Singapore) and I don’t agree with some of the names on it. But I digress…

Made reservation via Chope for a weekday and indicated that the dinner was to celebrate my friend’s birthday.


Parking at the hotel wasn’t a problem. Parking lots were aplenty. However, it’s orientating oneself in the hotel to find the restaurant that was tricky as there was no signage. Summer Pavilion is located at the same wing with Shiraishi. Ie, opposite wing of Chihuly Lounge.

Upon arrival at the 1 Michelin star restaurant, the staff led us to our table. And the first impression of Summer Pavilion was the beautiful Chinaware on the table. Such intricate details!

Now… When it comes to Chinese food, I am not too good at ordering. I always go for my standard few dishes like sweet and sour pork, stir-fried long beans, etc. Which I personally think it’s a shame to order such at a fine dining Chinese restaurant. One would want to order dishes which allow the chef to showcase his culinary skill.

But it was hard to order cause there were so many dishes and I wanted to try everything. But I couldn’t go crazy with my orders because the smallest portion are typically meant to be shared among 2 to 3. But thankfully, Summer Pavilion has launched a tasting ‘Michelin Star Set Dinner’ menu.

Before we had our orders taken (I took a really long time to decide), the staff asked if we wanted any drinks. For tea, they had options of jasmine tea, pu-erh tea and their special lychee oolong tea. And we went for the latter which was really interesting. It tasted exactly like oolong tea, but had the aroma of lychee.

And from the Michelin Star Set Dinner and Chef Recommendation menu, we ordered:-

1) Cashew nuts, Complimentary (above)

2) Michelin star set dinner, $118 comprised of:-

(A) Barbecued iberico pork, marinated sliced South African abalone, pan-fried prawn (above) – The iberico pork was the bomb! A very well-marbled piece, which explained its juiciness and tenderness. If I were to order from the a-la carte menu, this would come highly recommended.


(B) Double-boiled sea whelk soup (above) – With fish maw, chicken, served in whole coconut.

(C) Baked sea perch (above) – With hoi sin sauce.Our sauteed diced Japanese wagyu beef was replaced with fish since we don’t take beef. And the baked sea perch is also an item that’s available on their Michelin Star Set Lunch menu.

(D) Poached rice with diced ‘ding xing’ grouper (above) – In fish stock. This was so good! We concluded the secret was in the soup which was very rich. A must try.

(E) Sweetened almond tea (hot) (above) – With snow lotus.



3) Steamed zucchini flower, $13 (above) – Stuffed with prawn, chicken and mushroom. This was ordered upon the staff’s recommendation. Pretty interesting.


4) Marinated smoked duck, $38 (half) (above) – I originally wanted to order the barbecued pi pa duck ($38, half), but the staff recommended the marinated smoked duck ($38, half) instead. She said it was equally good with local duck being used. And when I further enquired about the difference between the latter and marinated smoked London duck ($45, half), she explained London fat duck was fatter but juicier. And I am glad we went with her recommendation of marinated smoked duck. If I could choose a meat, I would opt chicken over duck because of the thick layer of fats under its skin. But the ones used at Summer Pavilion was of topmost quality. The layer of fat was minimal. And the skin was cooked to perfection! Thin and crispy! The smallest portion of half duck was definitely a little too much for 2 diners, but I managed to finish off two-thirds. I am a huge eater. Keke.


5) Cheese cake, Complimentary (above) – And because I indicated the dinner was to celebrate my friend’s birthday, they surprised us with a big piece of cheesecake and a birthday song. And the cheesecake, which we suspect should have been taken from their other restaurant Colony, was so good! I wanted to steal just a small bite so that I could leave room for more desserts. But it was so good that I quickly filled my ‘other stomach for dessert’ with this.

Dinner at Summer Pavilion was great. I only wished we came in a bigger group to try more dishes.

And I have to make special mention of the service. Service felt very personalised. Our dinner kick-started with the staff introducing herself to us. She was very genuine in dishing out recommendations, and I felt very comfortable with her. Although she was tied up with the other tables (which I could tell were equally appreciative of her service), she made the conscious effort to check on us regularly. Our plates were changed regularly during the dinner, and our tea cups didn’t go past the half-way mark too. In fact, they even changed our cup once to make sure we were getting our tea hot.

Although one staff was a little too enthusiastic and cleared our dishes a little too fast. Example, our coconut was removed once we emptied the soup into our bowls. He could have left it a little longer on our table just in case diners wanted the coconut flesh.

Would I recommend Summer Pavilion? A definite yes if one’s looking for Chinese cuisine.

SUMMER PAVILION
7 Raffles Avenue, The Ritz-Carlton (Millenia Singapore), Level 3, Singapore
6434 5286, Website, Facebook
Overall: 9
Opening hours:-
Food/Beverage: 9
Mon – Sun : 11:30 – 14:30 (Lunch)
Ambience: 9
Mon – Sun : 18:30 – 22:30 (Dinner)
Value: 8
Service: 9

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.