The French Kitchen

After Saint Pierre, instincts led me to visit TFK for their 3-course lunch deal ($36++) next.

One block apart, Emmanuel Stroobant's two french assets is differentiated by a stark factor: Hospitality. The feeling of being welcomed from the chef himself- it's one clear pivotal edge over their pretentious neighbor. I’ll raise both hands for an affable chef!

bread & condiments

Also appealing is Chef Jean-Charles Dubois' approach to food. He gives classic french titles his personal Dubois-tweak, then execute them with attested care. Traditional essences are retained even after his novel strokes, & you can always trust to get a thoughtful surprise or two.

Our lunch's raisin & brown bread slices didn't just arrive with plain-jane butter... Instead we had piped French butter with a ramekin of pink salmon rilettes. Fishy as it may be, those fragrant olive toppings were a huge lifting factor.

Amuse Bouche: Egg cream

The amuse bouche was one of those unpretentious-seeming thing that *BOOM* explodes unexpected pleasure in the mouth. I spooned out puffy eggy mousse, already piquantly seasoned yet further perked by olives & a parmesan crisp. Homemade brioche by the side. oh i think i sniffed some truffle oil too!

Never belittle what can emerge from cutie eggshells.

Bisque de Homard

Moments later he proved that signatures ain't signatures for nothing.

I have to say TFK serves up the best, if not one of the best Lobster Bisque i've had. The splendid garden of pastel orange housed a pair of meaty tiger prawn tempuras and brilliantly correlating leek custard pudding. Every drop of the steamy hot soup was visually & gastronomically accomplished! *slurpsss.

Cabillaud

Elaine can never see the word Cod & not order it.

Cabillaud is prepared classic french; primarily salt-seasoned. The flaky oleaginous piece was endowed with salted brown crust, alongside dashes of artichoke puree and skillfully hand-cut potato crisps. A huge pity the scant splat of bouillabaise emulsion was insufficient to moisten the fish, making it badly dry.

Mental note: Loving all cods but Miso Cod definitely tops the satisfaction-o-meter.

Kurobuta Pork Loin

Dad met his lucky day when the server introduced an alternative Kurobuta Pork Loin as Day's special. I knew he's bound to have it. On his plate laid a beautifully browned loin paired with brown sauce and truffle mash, once again overly salt-adorned.

Dark Chocolate Creme Brulee

Here's the signature Dark Chocolate Creme Brulee dessert. Pairing icecream with creme brulee sounds like a rare recruitment but when the vanilla icecream melts into the fluidy dark chocolate custard, whatsoever weirdness is wiped out by the black-&-white blend.

Who would defy a marriage of premium chocolate & quality vanilla?

Sabayon au Champagne

Champagne Sabayon with forest berry icecream was another worthy mention... An egg custard dashed with champagne, embedding bite-sized pear marmalade & berry chunks. It may be slightly off-putting for yolk-shunners, but the addition of fruits and berrylicious icecream are 2 reasons to scoop up.

Chef Jean-Charles Dubois is made of sugar, spice & everything nice..

May cupid be with TFK always.

The French Kitchen

7 Magazine Road

#01-03 Central Mall

Singapore 059572

6438 1823

Saint Pierre

Tracking Saint Pierre's lunch series is as challenging as following scenes from Fast & Furious. Their lunch menu changes so frequently (weekly?) that it is almost impossible to encore any favourite dishes.

What makes the chase worthwhile, is the disposition of Chef Paul Froggart's brain-childs. He's a natural when it comes to food-play, meddling with shapes, colours & textures to create interesting compilations. He makes dishes fun and entertaining. To bonus that, i caught glimpses of Emmanuel Stroobant and Paul Froggart in person... ooh charmings!

Bakes clearly weren't their forte. Both the sun-dried tomato roll and baguette stirred no commotion, merely carbs to kill waiting time.

Anything cooked detaches from that fate.

The kitchen shows how an uncomplicated Mushroom Cappuccino amuse can convey reassuring flavors and be a foamy joy to bottoms up... Cheers to my funghi-ccino.

Appetizers took another step up. There's no doubt to how Saint Pierre's Confit of Ocean Trout can become elaine-pleasing material. A semi-translucent, delicate babe was aptly jazzed with herbed breadcrumbs. And everything else from the greenish quenelles, citrus compote to zesty sauce did complementary favors to it.

Swallowed every flake in im-loving-it conviction.

And even as the lunch menu blows around, 3 permanent residents stay for good. One of them is the signature Pan-fried Foie Gras which the restaurant totally prides on. They ought to.

I brightened up after a bite of creamy liver cellulite sealed under perfectly crisped crust. The skin is so well seared, it feels like a wrapper in the works. Froggart's touch is shown through tiny granny smith apple globulars, in both raw & caramelised forms to provide a play of textures. Who cares about the $8 top-up when foie gras is done so skilfully delicious!

all my fave fishes deserves 2 shots hehe

My mind was long set on having mainstay #2: White Miso Black Cod. But perhaps because i'm more etched towards the heavily miso-ed japanese cod, i thought their cod tasted kinda... weak. The miso flavor was almost indiscernible and i would have preferred stronger seasonings to justify it as a miso cod.

The other fish dish on the menu was a Flash-fried Tuna Steak, slightly asian-inclined paired with sauteed bak choy. Flash-frying gives it its unmistakable outer brown jacket and maintains the fish's rawish centre. Dad likes his tuna done this way.

Grandma Stroobant's Gateau au Chocolat with yoghurt espuma a.k.a mainstay #3, was another joy to speak of. It is a moist, densely knitted square that proved chocolately just right... you won't need extra fudge or chocolate toppings, nor complain of cocoa cloyingness from it. It's delish the way it is.

Berries stunned me with an out-of-the-ordinary appearance. First i popped soft sweeties of torched baby meringue kisses like swallowing the clouds in the sky, then went on to the baked papa meringue kisses & mama meringue sticks... surprisingly without signs of meringue overdose. Now that's the hallmark of good meringue.

There's a whole bunch of places offering competively-priced set lunches nowadays, but only the ones rendering true value & quality warrants revisit. It needs to possess a combination of exciting the eyes, tastebuds & emotions; be senses-evoking and perpetuate unpredictability. Saint Pierre clearly fits as one of them.

Update: SP has recently upped its lunch prices, from $38++ previously to $48++ for 3 courses now. Whoa a whole $10 hike!

Saint Pierre

3 Magazine Road

#01-01 Central Mall

6438 0887

Besotted.

how much i love thee.

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where else but thou?

Now thy favourite place for sushi.

Tatsuya Japanese Restaurant

22 Scotts Road

Goodwood Park Hotel

6887 4598

Gordon Grill

Gordon was more than i thought.

Entering Gordon Grill clueless, expectation-less & assumption-less got me leaving positively pleased.

With 3 other food passionates, i embarked on the 3-course UOB Chef's Creation Series Lunch at $68++ for 2. Two knotty choices offered per course.

If you're cynical to why restaurants would serve a stuffing truck of bread, Gordon will enlighten you. Cos you definitely need a truckload to get enough of their bakehouse's virtues... one FULL truckload of it.

Among onion rolls, olive foccacia & brown bread slices, the first two were amazing breads to boot.

Onions & foccacia form my perfect configuration. But even when they're not merged as one, Gordon manages to form 2 impressive equations...

onion + roll = fragrant goodness

olive + foccacia = cushiony goodness

There's no reason to resist Gordon's toasted onion rolls with nice clingy innards and prevalent delightful fragrance. Then sink into an olive foccacia... whooooo i was totally wowed by its incredibly soft & fine nature! Only olive bits to view, no olive pungency to kill. Excellent stuffs worth every pre-meal calorie.

onion seconds!

Cold japanese pasta, salmon confit, caviar & white truffle oil

Hokkaido scallops, pork belly & black truffle vinaigrette

See why i say knotty?

The appetizer choices got me jammed in see-saw midpoint... One's salmon, one's scallops. One's white truffle, one's black truffle. I'm stuck.

After a long mental fight, i tippled towards Hokkaido Scallops. No regrets. A tender cushy pair, sheltered by black truffle leaves and moreish apple puree nulled the salmon-loss. The only component i couldn't link was the pork belly carpet.

Roasted turkey supreme w chestnut ballotine

Mains was a straight-forward leap. Roasted Turkey for me.

Unfortunately, glitters vanished this round. The three meagre turkey slices served with mandatories of winter vegetables, brown giblet gravy & cranberry jam performed normal at best. And i cringed at that whammy chestnut ballotine.

Grilled beef tenderloin & braised cheek

Contrastingly, the beefers fell head-over-heels for their Grilled Beef Tenderloin. This is indeed a door-stopper. It's got one thick tenderloin steak AND braised beef cheek beautifully cooked & generously capped with bordeleise sauce.

For a lunch dish, the portion is unbelievably generous.

Chestnut Creme Brulee

Luck was with them as their swooning stretched over to the Chestnut Creme Brulee. Bearing festive notes of eggy custard, chestnut chunks and an OMG kickass whisky vanilla icecream dotted with strawberry cubes, this dessert spelt c-e-l-e-b-r-a-t-i-o-n.

Rhubarb trifle & vanilla sugar donut

But nothing compares to berry-magnificence in my eyes.

My feminine Rhubarb Trifle featured 3 tiers of delight; a slightly tart yogurt-ish cream, chunky strawberry mousse and strawberry jelly base. Shovel them all with the icy strawberry granite shavings and devour.... Berriliciously delish with no hint of artificiality!

Just close an eye about that dry sugar-coated donut ball and this becomes a bullseye dessert, especially for the ladies.

Lovely company and a lovely lunch. Gordon is an elegant hunk.

Gordon Grill

22 Scotts Road

Goodwood Park Hotel

6730 1744

La Strada

I'm having full faith in the Les Amis Group, since all my experiences with them have been disgruntlement-free so far. From splendid Au Jardin to the unparalleled Aoki to dandy Canele Patisserie, memories remain sweet and pleasant (: Next up: their italian counterpart.

La Strada offers a set lunch at $28++ (2 courses) or $34++ (3 courses), with three selections available per course.

In the bread basket was a decent ciabatta and wedges of their wood-fired pizza crusts smeared with tomato and herbs.

Butternut pumpkin soup

Memories were blurry from the few sips of butternut pumpkin soup i took, except it not falling into the too-thick or too-dilute extremes.

Smoked salmon with yogurt dill dressing

Smoked salmon is always my prime choice; even if this was just an average-joe smoked salmon salad comprising dressed mesclun, capers, mini croutons, balsamic glaze & olive oil drizzles.... Hmmm and was there supposed to be a yogurt dill dressing?

Char grilled 70 day grain-fed sirloin beef, mesclun salad, cream potatoes

Hearing the title of a '70 day grain-fed sirloin beef' is enough to make any beef-loving human smile. And indeed, the beef-lover across me spoke only praises of his tender, well-grilled steak served with creamy mash.

Pan-fried Salmon with mesclun salad, roasted new potatoes

For a non beef eater-cum-salmon fan like me, the choice is none other than a panfried salmon steak. La Strada's execution of the mundane dish was creditable... The skin was seared to a skillful crisp, flesh kept delicate, slightly rawish in the middle & pleasurably fat-laced ooooohhh. It's been a while since i had a decorous salmon steak like that.

Tiramisu

Their puffy light tiramisu-in-a-teacup was decent at best, without distinctly stunning details.

Orange ice nougatine

The orange ice nougatine was essentially a mascarpone parfait with chockfull of nuts & candied fruits, set over a chocolate feuillete base. I liked the nutty textures and christmas-y feel attached to it... makes me wanna sing the chipmunk song haha. Eat it quick before you start to see a grossly melted mush on your plate.

Planning to return for a taste of their famed pastas.

La Strada
1 Scotts Road
#01-10/11 Shaw Centre
6737 2555

Botan: For the Ravenous

There are generally two kinds of restaurants.

One, the fine-dining where you pay hefty prices for a tasteful experience. Two, the unpretentious who renders hearty homey food and send you leaving like a happy kid. Botan belongs to the second.

Familiar to the office crowd, Botan is most notorious for dishing out overly generous portions. Their Chirashi Don ($25) is arguably the most liberally filled chirashi in town and sure to fill even the hungriest diner.

Never underestimate how far this bowl can take you.

Uncovering the sashimi garden, some fresh some not so, i found morsels of hamachi, maguro, ebi, kani and fat-gleaming salmon (orange-to-white ratio hovering around 2:3?) over a crazily compact bed of rice. Oily fish is love and i rarely dismiss excessive fats. A spoonful of tobikko (flying fish roe) and some sweet pink cod floss contributes to enliven the dish.

But before you proceed into your rice, i suggest you have the chawanmushi first. Their silky, clean-tasting steamed egg custard with shiitake, fishcake & chicken met expectations and felt strikingly homey.

While nearing chirashi-completion, a realization struck me... Where was my tamagoyaki? If memory didn't fail me i recall having some tamago during my previous visit. After prodding the waitress, she returned with 2 omelette rectangles & then directed my attention towards the sushi chef... who gave two apologetic nods for his busy lunch-hour negligence. How mannerly.

Omg this was superb stuff. The meticulously layered sponge was baby soft like never before & finished off with a tiny smack of savouriness... nice!

The Botan Set ($25) consisted of sashimi, tempura, fried tofu, chicken and a compartment of random items. For those who like a variety.

Although Botan clearly lacks the poise & finesse of top-players like Aoki & Tatsuya, this is one place i would head for the heartiest honest japanese fare, or whenever a massive yen calls.

The comfort derived here is one of a kind.

P.S. It is really easy to miss Botan's obscure signboard so do look out!

Botan Japanese Restaurant

36 Pekin Street

#01-01 Far East Square

6536 4404

Aoki: My Sushi Haven

Aoki is perfection. Aoki is love.

Lunch at Aoki was sooooo good that i almost refused to leave my seat. Fine excellence aptly defines Chef Aoki's masterly finesse and it would be a total misdeed not to extol their virtues.

"tofu" otoshi

Superb sashimi and sushi wasn't the only coup; all that little thoughtful notches and details made them a clear cut above the rest. How nice to have individually unique tea cups and shoyu jars!

Lunch kick-started with a dainty gelatinous otoshi bearing a starchy aftertaste, subsequently washed off by salad greens.

salad with soy vinaigrette

Mazechirashi ($35)

If there is one dish a fervent japfoodie would eat and instantaneously nail as his prospective last meal, this stupendous Mazechirashi could be it. Sushi rice entirely buried under hordes of fresh toppings simply too many to count. There's an assortment of cubed raw fish, delicious castella tamago, lots of ikura, nibs of sweet uni (YUM) and miscellaneous minuscules scented with endearing yuzu touches. At the end of it, you've flown to Chirashi heaven~

Nigiri Sushi Jyo-sen ($30)

Nigiri execution was equally pristine. My eyes lit upon first bite... Soft supple sashimi draped over a clump of sweet vinegared rice. Precisely sliced. Meticulously molded. Ideal rice-to-fish ratio. Utterly complying. Pop one in & you're yearning for another.

I enjoyed chutoro & hamachi and doubly loved the lustrous hon maguro along with rubs of wasabi heat. Also swooped on those tamagoyaki darlings so neatly stuffed & strapped up in seaweed belts. Everyone should know by now tamagoyaki is a testament to the kitchen's skills and i dare say Aoki's sweet delicate omelette reigns over all the countless reels i've consumed. Simply top-notch!

One amazement level down was ikura gunkan, classic tekka & kappa makis which can't go wrong at Aoki-standard; followed by ika and one unduly cooked shrimp both too tough to chew.

my 2 favorites from the platter, tamago so loved.

Pair those premiums with a briney prawnhead-bobbing miso soup, especially crunchy pickles and Aoki-san's freshly grated wasabi and you completely win me over. You just did.

Dessert Trio

Dessert trio shows how an ardent kitchen would travel the extra mile to impress. No watermelons! My lovely tray comprised of a tiny sakura icecream, crystal clear ume wine jelly and a pleasing milk pudding laced with brown sugar syrup. Nothing too huge to feel queasy about.

Off food, i was engaged in Chef Aoki's dexterous slicing and assembling performance a mere armlength away. Highly captivating.

I'm convinced i just had my best japanese meal ever.

Aoki Restaurant

1 Scotts Road

#02-17 Shaw Centre

6333 8015