Located right next to the New Majestic Hotel...
service was great and i made friends with the restaurant manager, finding out that he is frm the czech republic and has only been in singapore for 6mths! the team comprised of alot of different nationalities including a malaysian and japanese
this was the menu
basically it had no explanation whatsoever but fully explained chef andre's philosophy
Starters
serving out the first course... we were served with basically really awesome thin marsala chicken skin that had some caramelization on the top and in the 2nd photo from the left was... amberjack tartare wrapped in a thin slice of bread with shredded cheese, vanilla popcorn, a very thinly sliced onion dusted with shaved parmesan
Pure
it's called pure coz the chef lets the natural flavors of the ingredients shine through by using no salt or pepper — and no traditional cooking methods. i found the following description off wsj's blog:
Hokkaido scallops: The chef sources live scallops in the shell from Hokkaido — winter is the prime season for scallops there — and slices them thin, like sashimi, to be used as a wrapper around a scallop-paste filling.
Scallop paste: To make the paste, an entire scallop, including the red roe (called the “coral”), is ground up and dehydrated until it forms a paste similar to the texture of grainy peanut butter. Removing the moisture concentrates the scallop’s natural briny flavor.Purple cauliflower consommé: In lieu being boiled in water to make a broth, the cauliflower is put in a vacuum distilling machine, which extracts the flavor at a lower temperature to better capture its freshness. The entire process takes up to two hours.
Flowers: “I season a lot of my dishes with flowers instead of herbs,” says Mr. Chiang. “They have the same aromas, but are milder in flavor and give you more control when cooking.” For instance, in place of garlic chives and dill, he uses the flowers of the two plants.
Cured shallots: To add an acidic zing to the dish, shallots — which also fit the purple-color motif of the dish — are cured in white wine. The wine helps mellow the sharp onion flavors, and the crunch of the shallots add a level of texture.
it was a very interesting dish... a very refined way of serving out the ingredients and something i've never tasted before
Salt
oysters wrapped with seaweed, with a seaweed flower placed on top, granny smith apple foam with flowers, cubbed apple placed around it more for decorative purpose than actually adding flavours
but the cubbed apples were so perfectly cut, its a wonder how they do it
but the cubbed apples were so perfectly cut, its a wonder how they do it
Artisan
as you can see at the bottom left, this plate was handmade pottery by the chef himself
this dish was rather forgetable... i think it was eggplant topped with caviar and to the right was a form of foam and fried onions haha i knw its a terrible description but i'll update this once i check with claud
South
the cold dish to the left was basically really good sashimi cube with tomatoes, japanese seaweed and a tomato sorbet which was actually quite good by itself. to the right was the hot dish of seared sea bass and more sashimi atop spanish rice, razor clams and shellfish foam
Texture
when we were served this our server had a grin and said... please go figure out with is the squid ink and which is the cauliflower. a very simple and beautifully plated dish that had a very good twist to it
Unique
White Alba Truffle, Iberico Ham, slow-cooked Black Chicken Egg, Girolles, Morels and Veal Jus
we were told that the eggs were delivered to the restaurant daily
even though it was named unique, i wished this dish would actually live up to its name... i think while eating this i was just very unsatisfied. firstly the combination was hardly unique and the truffle didnt add to the taste but more for decorative purposes. i mean if you're going to use a perfectly good slice of truffle at least let it play some part in the taste? but it got lost with the ham. and another thing was the egg... when claud and i broke into it, it had the appearance of a poached egg but the yolk was kinda stiff like the japanese eggs - very anticlimatic as we were expecting oozy yolk. dont get me wrong, it was a yummy dish, just not unique
Memory
this had to be the best ever dish i've ever had. it totallly wins over joel robouchon's version
Foie Gras Custard with Black Truffle Coulis
i would go back just for this. simply amazing
Terroir
last but not least.... a really awesome piece of beef, beef jus, garlic crumbs, green pea pureés and some root vegetable wormy looking thingy which gave the dish a crunch
a wonderful way to end the degustation. the beef was cooked to perfection. i have to say even better than the steak frm my favourite restaurant - Mastros
Caramel Sponge, Chocolate Dust, Chocolate Crisp, Chocolate Sphere and Tonka Bean Ice Cream with Fromage Frais
a brilliant chocolate dessert that was not overwhelmingly filling but the taste was so simple and clean, i just fell back in love with chocolate all over again. the caramel sponge was another thing i've not had before and it was great! i would love to learn to make this
while having our tea in yet another pottery made by the chef, we were serve this - some kind of caramel biscuit with creme fraise and some kind of pearls. not amazying but still good nonetheless
a meal at restaurant andre has turned me into a huge fan of this really tall, good looking chef of whom i'll totally would marry just coz he's tall and can cook awesome food if only he wasnt already married. with wine pairing (which i totally regretted getting, coz it was really bad... will just stick to bottles next time) it has definitely blown my eating out budget for awhile. but i'm a total fan and cant wait for someone else to come visit so that i can have a good excuse to go back
