Les Amis – Lunch | Hungry Bird

This restaurant is probably the most famous in Singapore for fine dining French cooking. Like several restaurants I tried overseas, like Jean-Georges or Le Bernadin, this restaurant incorporates Japanese ingredients and influence in their cooking. This combination always seems to work. There’s no Michelin guide for Singapore but this restaurant was rated under Forbes as 4 stars. There aren’t many restaurants in Singapore that’s been rated under that guide I think. Even though there has been several changes of Chefs over the years and it may not be the same as when the restaurant just started and gained fame, I do believe it still holds a certain standard and is still recognized as top 50 in Asia according to that ranking.

For lunch they have 3 different menus to choose from. There is no restriction that all diners must order the same, so we had the Menu Découverte, Pour Le Déjeuner ($70.00++) and the Menu Le Déjeuner ($55.00++). Both menus are 4 courses and there are options for the main course.

Their bread was really good. There’s mini baguette, sour dough, orange brioche and tomato basil. The orange brioche was light fluffy and soft and I really liked the texture.

Tomato “fondant” with Australian Spanner crab served with a refreshing sauce – Menu Découverte, Pour Le Déjeuner

The sauce was lobster infused and the green sprig was Japanese shiso pepper and flower. Everything is edible. The Spanner crab was kind of salty so it’s best eaten in combination with everything.

Duck foie gras terrine from Landes, 10 days dry aged, accompanied with mango chutney and sour dough toast – Menu Le Déjeuner

I’ve has several bad versions which gives foie gras terrine a bad reputation in my heart but this is one of those which proves to be legit. It was creamy, smooth and it did not have a pungent animalic taste. It was one of the best of it’s kind I’ve tried in fact! And perhaps now I’ll be more confident about having foie gras terrine.

Silky daikon soup, Parisian horseradish with South American pink peppercorn – Menu Découverte, Pour Le Déjeuner

This soup was rather light tasting.

Spring Cep mushrooms in a duo with green pea in a hot soup – Menu Le Déjeuner

This one was heavier and much saltier. There was plenty of chopped mushrooms in there.

Angel hair pasta with lobster, crispy sakura ebi and a touch of parmesan – Menu Découverte, Pour Le Déjeuner

The cream sauce was packed with crustacean flavours from lobster and there were chunks of lobster meat. I liked the sauce as it wasn’t too heavy.

Wild Scottish salmon served in two way with aromatiques aromates – Menu Le Déjeuner

This was my main course and I absolutely loved it. The tatare was as good as fresh sashimi could be – maybe slightly better and the sear salmon was cooked to perfect doneness. The flesh was juicy and and tender. It’s not easy to find properly cooked salmon in Singapore and I’m glad I found it here.

Apricots and olive oil from provence in a soufflé, sweet almond ice cream – Menu Découverte, Pour Le Déjeuner

This was a more fruity dessert with tangy taste due to the apricots. The soufflé was light and airy.

Daily special dessert by Cheryl: chocolate tart with hazelnut ice cream – Menu Le Déjeuner

In my opinion, the tart is excellent and I loved every bite of it. The chocolate was dark and rich enough and I loved the crunch of the hazelnuts. Hazelnut and chocolate always goes well together.

Petite fours and tea was provided with the set. I regret that I did not touch my Madeleine with lemon curd, because I was stuffed beyond words at this point. 4 courses was enough for me and I doubt I could finish the 6 course Épicurien menu if I were to opt for that!