Dinner for two~ @ Le Jardin

There is no doubt that having dinner at a highly acclaimed three star restaurant is a special experience, but what makes it even more enjoyable is the company that you are sharing the experience with. Being able to dine there with Mr. C, let’s just say it was more than a little interesting 😉

The menu for the evening was set by the chef and of course before the meal started, their always pleasing bread basket was brought around for our choosing pleasure. The first course was brought out soon after, I had my requested fois gras terrine, delectably smooth as always spread on thin toasted bread with the sweetness of the fig jam, it was a pleasure to eat~

Mr. C had Le Homard, maine lobster with tofu, lemon olive oil and a bright green smear of avocado coulis. I tried some of his tofu, which was pointed out to me as being organic and it was pleasantly smooth with a nutty flavour. I thought the zestiness from the oil went very well with the dish making it extremely refreshing. A perfect appetiser to start off the evening.

Our next course starred L’Oursin or sea urchin, was presented elegantly as three small items. We were suggested to start with the radish wrapped cylinder encasing a filling of fresh crab meat with a citrus dressing topped with fresh tongues of sea urchin. This was pleasantly light on the palate and it is best to eat this in one go as from observing Mr. C’s efforts it was quite messy to cut. Next, on the left was a shallow bowl of sea urchin custard with crab meat hidden inside. This was gorgeously creamy with subtle hints of brininess from the sea urchin used. And lastly was their signature sea urchin dish with lobster jelly spread with a thin layer of cauliflower cream. I have had this before and the quality of this dish is always unwavering. The taste of lobster in the jelly is quite concentrated and with the addition of sea urchin it adds an intense shock of flavour to the palate. For lobster lovers, this is definitely a dish for you.

I was so happy to be served the next course of their current seasonal dish of La Truffe Noire. A signature dish of perfectly shaved black truffle slices with a mixture of pearl onion confit and smoked bacon layered on a crispy base and drizzled with goose liver oil. The aroma from this dish was absolutely amazing, heady and rich you could already feel that this was going to be something special. The truffle slices were shaved thicker than usual so I could feel its slightly rough texture and I loved the delicate shatter from the flaky base. This is something that really needs to be tried~

The evening seemed to be filled with truffles as our soup course featured black truffles in a chicken broth, La Soupe aux Truffles. The soup was covered with a crispy net which we were advised to break into the soup. This was so so good. Very rich, the soup was creamy, infused with a significant amount of truffles. The crunchiness of the crispy net was softened by the soup making it easier to eat, and hidden at the bottom of the bowl were small parcels of perfectly al dente ravioli with a melted centre of Comte cheese. Very sinful~
Accompanying the soup was a toasted sandwich with slices of truffle inside, very crunchy, but I did prefer their previous version where it was spread with a mixture of truffle and cheese.

The fish course of the evening was grilled sea bass slices with parmesan cheese foam and artichoke puree. The sea bass was cut into thin steaks and I could feel the texutre was more meaty than usual. I actually really enjoyed this as it was quite light, but wholesome.

Our last savoury dish of the evening featured baby lamb cutlets for me and wagyu tenderloin for Mr. C. My dish arrived as a serving of five delicately petite cutlets, each one bite-sized and juicily tender. This was amazingly good and what made it even better was the accompanying side of truffled mash potatoes… buttery and flawlessly smooth, the addition of truffles just made it that much more indulgent~

Mr. C’s tenderloin was presented with two generous portions of foie gras sandwiched in between with a bright orange smear of kumquat sauce. Unable to resist his offer of foie gras, it was wonderfully fatty and just melted in the mouth  Despite not trying the tenderloin, from its appearance, it was cooked to a perfect medium rare and its tenderness evident from the way the Mr. C’s knife glided through the meat.

I was actually quite looking forward to dessert as they had just changed the menu to include their version of the egg souffle which I had really enjoyed at Robuchon au Dome last time~ But before the main event, I was presented with another new addition to their set menu. A raspberry dome of mascarpone cheese with a bottom layer of lychee jelly and a drizzling of black fruits coulis. The mascapone was very creamy, with light raspberry flavour and it concealed a centre of sponge-like cake. Not only did it taste good, it was visually very pretty, shaped into a blossoming flower and coloured a bright lipstick red. Very appealing~

And then my egg souffle was served~ Perfectly risen, it was light and fluffy with a sweet vanilla flavour. Digging deeper, I found the souffle became more moist and soon revealed the liquid egg yolk on the bottom. Eaten together, the golden yolk added a richness to the overall souffle and alternate with a spoonful of creamy vanilla ice-cream to stimulate the palate with the change from warm to cold. Recommended~

Of course, a meal at Robuchon can not end without petit fours and my latte~ Not drawn by the usual person, but it was just as appreciated 🙂

So so Christmas dinner @ Petrus

There are always so many choices for Christmas dinners each year that it becomes quite frustrating to decide on one. This year, after perusing through a few of the set menus, Mr. C and I decided that the menu at Petrus seemed quite decent and it was also a plus for me since it would be my first time there.

Inside the Island Shangri-La hotel, Petrus sits high up on the 56th floor. Dimly lit, the decor of the setting is supremely grand with a touch of old-world elegance adding to its charm. We were seated at one of the tables next to the window offering an unobstructed view of the water. Although it was really too dark to appreciate the water view, I can imagine how beautiful it would be for those dining during lunch time on a cloudless sunny day~

As soon as we were seated, we were offered an apertif of champagne and a variety of breads were brought around by the waiter for our selection. The quality of bread was quite good, my choice of baguette was crunchy with airy, soft insides while the butter roll was pillow soft with an almost croissant like taste due to the amount of butter used.

The first course was a caviar and rock fish soup jelly with marinated scallop. Very simply presented crowned with a generous serving of caviar, the scallop was fresh and sweet, but I found the rock fish soup to have quite a fishy smell, which was slightly off-putting, but taste-wise it was still acceptable.

Next was a lobster and chestnut bouillion with diced squid at the bottom and a lemon and fennel confit spooned on top. I do like lobster bisque, and the flavour of the bouillion was reminiscent of it with the only difference being the slightly thin texture. The lemon and fennel confit gave a pleasant zestiness to the strong flavour of the bouillon, but I have to admit that overall it was very salty.

A slow cooked organic egg with black truffle, purslane and Jabugo ham was served next. The egg was cooked perfectly, barely set egg whites and when pierced a gorgeous orange lake of yolk gushed out. The heady flavour of the truffles were a perfect match to the richness of the egg yolk, but I found that the jus poured on top overpowered the rest of the dish.

The first main course of the evening was a roast brittany seabass with shellfish. As this was served, once again I caught an unpleasant fishy smell arising from the dish, but fortunately when eating the seabass, the smell was absent. The fish was cooked well, but I found the brocoli florets to be slightly undercooked for my liking.

The meat course for the evening was mallard duck in salmis sauce with bacon roasted artichoke. The duck came in two parts, thigh and breast, the thigh meat was disappointingly dry and stringy, while the breast fared a little better. Cooked to a rare pink, it was significantly more moist than the thigh, but not quite tender enough. The accompanying salmis sauce was made from a combination of duck offal, the texture was not very smooth, a little grainy with a dominant liver taste.

Just before dessert, was their version of a cheese course an aged mimolette and black truffle sable. Served in a glass bowl, it was a gooey mixture of cheese with buttery, crunchy pieces of sable biscuit inside topped with a shaving of black truffles at the table. The cheese had a strong mature flavour which I did not mind, but after a few spoonfuls it became too heavy and salty on the palate.

As a palate cleanser they offered a spiced Christmas wine granita, which was actually quite bitter. Not really to my liking unfortunately.

I have to say, after so many mediocre dishes, the desserts were probably the saving grace of the evening. The lychee dessert by  Madame Claude consisted of a rose and lychee mousse paired with a quenelle of lychee sorbet. Bits of fresh lychee fruit was scattered around the plate and a delicate sugared rose petal graced the dessert. The mousse itself was light and airy with a delightful fragrance of rose while the lychee sorbet was refreshing on the tongue. I quite enjoyed this.

The second dessert was a chocolate cigar filled with chocolate cremeux and a cappuccino ice-cream on the side. The casing of the cigar was like a chocolate sugar crisp which broke with a satisfying shatter while the cremeux was rich and smooth which was perfect in tempering down the sweetness of the crunchy sugar casing.

And to end, coffees and assorted Christmas petite fours.

Overall, I have to say the food was a little disappointing, a lot of the courses were overly salted and the visual presentation of the dishes were quite lacking. I am not sure whether it was because they were handling a set menu during the holiday period, but hopefully their standard normally is not like this.