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A true Michelin star experience with amazing service: Restaurant Les Amis (2. January 2019)

| May 6, 2019 | 0 Comments

You might wonder why I decided to have dinner at a French restaurant when in Singapore – the answer is simple, there was only one Two Michelin Starred restaurant left in Singapore which wasn’t fully booked yet. And that was ‘Les Amis’. Once you’re seated, you are served some fluffy bread and butter.

What I really loved about the place was the “bread basket” – I mean, not only the selection they have ranging from ‘bacon croissant’ to ‘brioche’ but also the way it is set up. Lovely!

I decided to go for the “Le Menu Hiver” (405.00 SGD) which is definitely not on the cheap side but I suppose when you are going to such a place, saving is kind of not the right thing to do. The evening then started with “filou pastry, caramelized onions, truffle slices” which was looking better than it tasted as the onion taste was overlapping the rest completely.

As a second amuse bouche, a “soup made of Japanese Dai Kon with truffle and gold accompanied by a truffle bun” was served. While the soup wasn’t that amazing, I liked the bun a lot – mostly because of its fluffy and fine consistency.

Although I’m not huge on caviar, this was one of my more favored dishes this evening. The “La Pomme de Terre Roseval au caviar (caviar served on petals of roseval potatoes with condiments & fresh herbs)” was great because of the way it was executed. The potatoes were prepared in such a refined way you would just totally love looking at it! Perfect execution! And the good thing, the potaotes with the créme fraîche would balance off the saltiness of the caviar making it quite pleasant.

Next in line was the “La Noix de Saint-Jacques aux Herbes (slow roasted erquy scallop served with diversity of herbs & aromates)” which was fine as well. Nothing beats the scallop of the O Paparico but the buttery sauce was actually quite lovely in combination with the smoothness of the dish.

What I liked and didn’t like at the same time was the “L’Oeuf en Meurette (classic Burgundy dish of poached egg in a velvety red wine sauce & black truffle)”. The egg itself was lovely as it was cooked in a perfect way so the egg yolk was not yet fully hard but still a bit liquid. The truffle is a nice idea but the black truffle doesn’t do too much in terms of flavor and it was just applied to generously. Not in terms of flavor but in terms of consistency.

The “La Langoustine de Loctudy (langoustine from loctudy with courgette & emulsion of extra virgin olive oil from provence)” looked lovely! While I liked the fact that it was wrapped in zucchini as it made the ‘need to peel it’ obsolete, there was too much caviar for my personal gusto.

What I liked about the way it was served was the care with which they applied the sauce to the dish. Dropping it perfectly so it would not ‘harm’ the super tiny balsamico circle in which the langoustine was placed.

Net in line was the “La Bar de Saint Gilles-Croix-De-Vie (line-caught sea bass served with seasonal muscat grapes & verjus sauce)”. I was a bit skeptical at first as I thought ‘bland fish’ …

… but “with the grapes” this became my favourite dish of the evening. The sweetness of the grapes made it truly amazing and perfect. So lovely, smooth, so rich in flavor, so great!

The actual main course was the “Le Boeuf Japonais (omi beef with pomme soufflé & our chef’s interpretation of a Béarnaise sauce)”. The meat was so tender like I haven’t had it in a long while. It was just basically dissembling when you took a bite – just melt like butter. And the idea that you basically had to ‘create’ your own Sauce Béarnaise by mixing the three sauce parts together (and it actually tasted like Sauce Béarnaise) made it all the more interesting.

What I liked about the place was the dedication of the service. They were friendly, helpful, always there. However, you could see differences in their quality of service. While some were trained properly from which side to serve and which side to take the dishes, this was not true for all waiters and waitresses.

When the decision was taken to do an extra course from the “cheese waggon”, you could literally see the eyes of the waiter light up – it seemed like nobody had taken some cheese in a long while.

The “cheese selection” (45.00 SGD) on my plate was decent but the overall selection is frankly speaking a bit disappointing! And with 45.00 SGD a bit on the pricier side.

The pre-dessert was a “black chocolate tart” which was incredibly chocolatey! I mean, if you are in love with chocolate, it’s perfect but if you are not huge on chocolate, it kind of is not as great.

What I absolutely loved was “La Poire Williams (williams pear poached in an infusion of star anise with caramel cream)”. Not only because it was so fine but also because the way it was served reminded me a lot of that movie Ratatouille where the chef (rat) made this perfect ratatouille dish just out of vegetables slices (hence, the name of the movie). And I liked this dessert a lot because of the fine slices of pear all so lovely draped around the smooth and light cream of caramel!

Last but not least, you’d get some petite fours to finish off the dish and a ‘bread to go’.

I must say that the evening at Les Amis was a memorable one because it is not every day that you eat like that but frankly speaking, besides a few courses, I don’t entirely understand the two Michelin stars. Yes, the service is close to impeccable but not flawless, they put a lot of effort into every detail and are generally very attentive. Some of the dishes are great in terms of ingredients and execution and some even in terms of flavour combinations but the majority is just living from the ‘expensive ingredients’ like caviar or ‘truffle’ (and when it comes to truffle only the black one, less aromatic one is used).

When it comes to the beverages, they are also on the more expensive side (not surprisingly) with 8.00 SGD for a “double espresso”, 16.00 SGD for “Badoit, 0,75l”, 31.00 SGD for a glass of Heynen 1er Jus de Chavig or 185.00 SGD for a bottle of the “Cortese Rabaja Barbares”.

To sum it up, I’m glad I tried the place and it was a nice experience but it is not a place I would necessarily go to again. Too ‘standard French’, too much on the ‘expensive ingredients’, not enough ‘surprise moments’.

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Contact Details:

Restaurant Les Amis

1 Scotts Road, #01-16 Shaw Centre

Opposite HSBC Bank, Tanglin Branch

228208 Singapore (SG)

Tel.: +65 67 33 22 25

E-Mail: lesamis@lesamis.com.sg

Homepage: http://www.lesamis.com.sg

About the Author:

I started the blog in October 2009, while living in Milan which I definitely consider to be one of the food capitals of the world. I was in touch with food since my early childhood (as my father is a former chef). Whenever I can, I travel the world to discover new places, to meet people but mostly to try local dishes and to find hidden gems! If you know a place worth going, please drop a line to: info@thediningexperience.org. Currently, I am a member of the following food-related associations: Chevalier @Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Zurich-Ville; Membre Gourmet Dégustateur @Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Dégustateurs [OMGD]; Gesellschafter @Goldener Fisch and Member @Slowfood Convivium Zurich City.
1'397.10 SGD (incl. tip) Filed in: Restaurants, Singapore (SG), The World's 50 Best Restaurants
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