L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon Singapore

We were in Singapore for our post wedding holiday (read: mini honeymoon) and could not resist going to L’Atelier which is located at Resort World Sentosa.   We were at the L’Atelier in St Germain Paris two years ago and it is one of our favourite restaurants.   Whilst the restaurant was great, food was perfect and service was good, it didn’t have the same feel as the Paris restaurant (and let’s face it, it never would have… it’s Paris!).

So first up we had bread and an amuse bouche of potato and leek soup… 

Entree of prawn in wonton skins…. it was perfect!

Scallops and jamon which was a totally perfect combination!

Wagyu beef with grilled mushrooms was great!

This was the ultimate dish… bone marrow on toast!   It was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten.

 

Mains were next, I had the perfectly cooked John Dory with a lemon butter sauce…

Hubby had fillet steak…. super tasty.

And of course, we both got sides of mash potato, which is their signature thing.  It was rich, silky and buttery!

For desserts, we share a serve of gelato and a chocolate delice dessert (which was chocolate mouse, chocolate base, with chocolate crackle).  All very good.

 

Food was sensational, service great, restaurant is beautiful.  Yes, yes, for the prices we paid one should expect nothing short of perfect.    We would definitely revisit (and visit any of the other 10 in the world!).

For more info and reviews check out TripAdvisor.

 

Attica – Mixed Emotions…

This is the post that’s long overdue,  and truth be told, I’ve been avoiding it a bit.  First of all, it’s a loooong post as I sat through a long degustation.  There were some highlights, and there were some lowlights.   And it’s Attica!  There’s a 6 month wait to get a table!  And it’s in the top 50 best restaurants in the world.   I’m very torn about this.  Having said that, my partner points out that it was a “complete” experience – food, atmosphere, service (I’m guessing he was more enamoured by this dinner than I).

A few interesting snacks to start…  There were breads, an olive oil mousse, buckwheat pancakes, and crumbed mussels (complete with crazy painted mussel shell).

Snow Crab, Mandarin and Sorrel.  Light, delicate and fresh.

Marron and Ground Greens.  Really, you can’t really do anything wrong with a marron dish.  Love.

A simple dish of Potato cooked in the earth it was grown.  First time I had this dish a few years ago, it was a revelation.  Whilst this time, it was not a revelation, it was still pretty darn good as I love a good potato.

Cucumber, Holy Flax, Sauce of Burnet.  Never ceases to amaze me how something that sounds so bland (cucumber) and good for you (holy flax!) can actually taste good!

Meat from the pearl oyster pinctada maxima with Radish.  Hmm… this was a real miss for me.  Weird consistency, weird temperature (it was warm and not) and a poor used pearl oyster!  It tasted good, but that was about it.

Wallaby with Herbs Tended by the Hands of our Cooks.  It was delicious.  Perfect proportions and the herbs tasted excellent.

At this point, we were invited to check out the herb garden at the back and were give a little chocolate ice cream treat.  It was nice to be outside and having the opportunity to chat to the chefs.

Blueberries, Vinegar and Fresh Cheese.  Perfect dessert.  Totally my kind of dessert and I loved it!

Raw Strawberry Jam.  This was good too.  Interesting in that it was like semi frozen jam on top of strawberries and other things.

Lastly, we were presented with a little ditty about a Pukeko bird and some chocolates.  Very cute way to end the evening.

So, one miss, and a few hits.  I’m not sure if I would recommend Attica to people as it’s a bit avant garde and a fair amount of dollars for dinner.   I suppose I will be back in a few years to see what new food experiences are there and if the old trusty potato dish is still there!

For more info and reviews:

Remarkable dishes at Sepia

Was in Sydney for a weekend trip to celebrate a friends birthday and the celebration dinner was held at Sepia.  Quite a prestigious little place, restaurant of the year and three hats.  Had the degustation with matching wine, and in hindsight, each dish was amazingly complex.  And the degustation was very well harmonised and built up with each course.

The dinner started with a delicate little dish: “udon, smoked roe, tomato“.

“Sashimi Yellow Fin tuna, Jamon Iberico, apple, daikon, white sesame cucumber and sake, wasabi” was texturally interesting.

Winning dish of the night:  “sashimi of bonito, flavours of roasted chicken, umeboshi, upland cress, green tea, nori“.  Maybe dish of the year.  The sashimi is topped by crispy chicken skin, and the cream at the centre of the plate taste like the best roast chicken in the world.

“Yabby, seaweed puree, ginger, shellfish and blood orange emulsion, sorrel“:  Sweet yabby in a thick emulsion… crazy textures, with a complex taste.

“Glazed smoked fresh water eel, sushi rice, shiitake mushroom, garlic emulsion, green apple, pickled aka seaweed“:  taste like an upmarket version of eel sushi!

“Chargrilled wagyu rump, sea urchin and wasabi butter, garlic chive mustard leaves, ponzu“:  this was amazing.  Salty tasty butter with a beautiful piece of meat.

“Sansho seared Mandagery Creek venison, beetroot butter, horseradish chestnut mushroom“:  Pretty as a picture, and great tasting.

Palate cleanser:  “Meyer lemon butter, ginger bread crumb, sheep yoghurt sorbet, fennel, olive“.

Gorgeous “strawberry and yuzu bomb” dessert – was like a surprise with each bite.

“Winter chocolate forest” Soft chocolate, hazelnut and almond, orange and thyme cream, sour cherry sorbet cocoa brandy jellies, green tea, licorice, chocolate twigs:  Complicated and yummy dessert.

Food was beautiful, service was good (but could be better) although perhaps looking after such a big party is challenging.   We had a group of 14, and dinner took about 6 hours.  Service was good, but there were a few hiccups.  For example, were were given bread between the third and fourth course (which had a significant wait).

Would I recommend Sepia?  Yes, not only was the food excellent, there were some really clever elements to it (fish and roast chicken!).  I look back at the experience and think that there were so many dimensions (lenses!) to each dish – texture, taste, colour, smell.  Quite remarkable.

For more info and reviews: