The meal is split between the levels of the refurbished venue which is a first for me and a very nice way of doing things I thought.  It is also a clever move to regulate table turnover and courses for each sitting and table as well as being good variation for the diner (new setting, leg stretch and interest levels etc).  The canapés are served in the ground floor open kitchen area where there is also a presentation of all of the ingredients sourced and used and each table is invited to the counter in turn to have an in depth explanation of each one and where it comes from.  There is significant care and attention in this operation and was lovely to have laid on at the start of this meal.  The mains and savouries including pre-desserts are served on the first floor dining room and the coffees and petit fours are served in the second (or top) floor of the venue that resembled a lovely lounge area laden with fine whiskeys and liqueurs.
Canapés in The Kitchen
Initial canapés included a Choux de Bourgogne – gougere with three cheeses (perfect light outer coating and pleasant cheeses); ‘Ráraka’ Kalix Löjrom which was a potato rosti with crème fraiche, brandaide pickled shallots, chive and vendence roe from Sweden – this was absolutely stunning and with the lightest of crunches.  Croustade crustacean, fennel & artichoke was a delectably light croustade with artichoke purée, lobster, fennel, tarragon leaves and bronze fennel.  This was stunning with warm lobster in the thinnest pastry case ever had and a lovely, complemented by a perfectly gentle kick of wasabi – a knock out and world class canapé.
Truffle scrambled egg, yuba was scrambled egg with maple syrup and butter with truffle from Australia winter truffles, held within a soy bean ‘skin’ or, extremely thin tartlet like case.  This was very light and with deep flavour coming through.  The final canapé was Gunkan foie gras, unagi, sakura – brioche with goose foie gras, apple balls marinated in hibiscus, unagi with sweet wine and oxalis flowers.   great combo
Mains in The Dining Room
When invited upstairs to the dining room, I was escorted to my table overlooking a charming terrace garden.  First to be served was crudo (raw fish dish): Saba, radish oroshi, fermented strawberry & coffee – chutoro from Crudo tuna served with Saba (a form of grape), radish oroshi, fermented strawberry & coffee with chutoro (fattiest kind of tuna from the belly) tartare.  This was simply gorgeous and a brilliant combination of fat and sweetness.
Chawanmushi, engawa , coriander, white asparagus was next.  This was essentially an egg-based custard, engawa (skat of flounder) coriander, white asparagus broth, gin, lemon juice and coriander and citrus leaf oil – a complex combination but with very pleasant umami.  Hirame (flounder from north Japan) came with teardrop peas, wasabi & ginger yoghurt, whey dashi, Thai basil oil and Thai basil flowers.  This for me was absolutely outstanding and the dish of the meal. It was fragrant, aromatic, light and in beautiful harmony with the earthy peas combining with the gentle wasabi and Thai basil.
Onion, toasted almonds & liquorice powder and cream, almond foam made with milk from Haikado (very fatty milk from finest cows on the planet) was next and this came dangerously close to being as good as the previous dish.  Two absolute knock out sensations one after the other is rare and I was forgiving the bill more and more with each mouthful.  Next up was flatfish from Kinki (region in Honshu, the southern island of Japan) was served with an all-time favourite sauce of mine – vin Jaune (creamed sauce made with dessert wine), walnut and Zén Réserve caviar.  This had different levels of salt, and fat in each bite and the combination of textures here was interesting.
A selection box of beautiful knives from Morakniv were displayed and I was given the choice of which one to use for my game.  Guinea fowl, mitsuba (parsley) & mustard emulsion, sudachi kosho (fermented paste of Sudachi type of citrus) was served next.  The guinea fowl was decorated with an emulsion of Japanese parsley and mustard spray of Sakura flowers in vinegar with chanterelles which was a magical combination of everything.  Utterly succulent game with a gentle kick of mustard, again judged to perfection served with Hokkaido asparagus for textural crunch.  Colour, texture, protein, fat and low carbohydrate – it was close to a perfect dish as any.  French toast “Grande Tradition 2008” with Balsamic vinegar, parmesan custard, Manjima West Oz truffles was next in the form of a ‘bite’ and this was absolutely superb.
Finally, a pre-dessert of sorbet made of yuzu, konatsu (citrus fruit), Buntan (family of grapefruit) & saffron, kokuto (Okinawa black sugar) aspic (jelly) and Kinome plant leaves.  This was an incredibly smooth sorbet but quite bitter and had wood-like notes which sadly didn’t work hugely for me as a combination as pretty as it was. Momo (Japanese peaches), from Yamanashi near mainland are the highest grade of peach (Daitaro) which came with pêche, elderflower, peach sorbet, star anise cream, 3 peppers, arctic raspberry, rhubarb root oil and crystallised roses meringue sticks seasoned with three types of pepper (roast, long and black – all from different parts of world in Asia and Africa). These were extraordinary peaches in an extraordinary consommé and the beauty and power of this simple offering was worth the long process of being at that table for that offering.
Coffee and petit fours in the Living Room
The final part was served on the upper most level where the first to be served was Muskmelon & Manzanilla sherry gel, Miyazaki mango with coconut rum and vanilla, Shine muscat grape from Japan and grapes infused in verjus, rose, seasoned with house gin and honey vinegar.  Again, one cannot fault the power of these ingredients and as is customary at the end of a Japanese meal, the finest fruit is seen as a delicacy and privilege.  Coffee was from a Singaporean company called Papa Palheta and served with with Hokaido milk.  Along with this came a ‘Waffle party’: Swedish waffles from woodruff cloudberry jam, tonka and almond cream, sea buckthorn and brunost caramelised brown goats cheese (akin to Norwegian Gjetost which I had much of growing up).  The final Western petit fours were Sicilian pistachio macaron, blood miso and matcha with fleur de sel (French salt flake) – all of which were as well made as they can with the simple pistachio actually being the favourite.
If that was hard to read for the detail, spare a thought for how much goes in to that meal and one can understand more regarding the experience and the usual question I receive which is, “Was it worth it?”.  Emphatically yes is my answer to this experience and I would happily save up and go again.  A genuine 3 Michelin starred experience and somewhere you are going to get sheer quality.
Food Grade: 96%

A quick word on the restaurant itself: the staff were clearly all well drilled and knowedgable and this is a classy set up.  The hospitality was genuine and the staff were extremely attentive to requests.  Water was topped up at just the right moments (only when needed) and the intimate chef’s dining table overlooking the kitchen seemed a wonderful option to have amongst at least three other, larger private dining rooms scattered in the upper levels of the restaurnat.  The cellar was equally impressive with pebbles from France having been flown in especially to adorn the floor of the cellar to prevent breakages of bottles should they fall – a rather lovely touch!

The home made sourdough was wheeled to the table to be sliced fresh from the oven and was worthy of the ceremony as very good sour dough and even more wonderful butter from the Loire Valley. The ‘normal’ breads that were offered as part of a selection included bacon & mustard (gorgeous), fig and rum, raisin and Comte cheese buckwheat baguettes.  This was followed by the first of three amuse bouches which started with their signature cold, thin spaghetti with caviar, crystal flower & sisho.  Next a confit tomato from the Loire Valley was served on a crispy puff pastry with olive oil and parsley.  The absolute star of this was the delectably warm and thin pastry, whilst the succulent tomato was slightly subdued in flavour in comparison.  The third and final amuse bouche was a magnificent lobster jelly with crystal Kaluga caviar, cream of cauliflower, parsley purée.  This was very good.

My starter was a Parisian style egg Mimosa with caviar & savoury coulis. In essence, a French Maren egg sourced from West France had its yolk removed and filled with caviar, and the yolk turned into a mimosa emulsion on top. The dish was served with French dressing, parsley purée, mussel jus and red wine vinegar. It was all perfectly seasoned and a lovely dish, rich and all working very well together.

The main I opted for was the duck. A roasted Challans duck breast from Vendée (North Bordeaux) was accompanied by balsamic vinegar glazed turnips and served with Burlap cherries from Lyon. The duck was utterly tender and melted in the mouth and the reduction jus was served with the fat from the duck, gained via the same canard a la press method was indulgent and complimentary to the duck (sous vide and then pan-fried).  The huge Burlat cherries had much more texture and were a brilliant choice as are far less acidic than normal cherries or any cherry one might find anywhere in the UK and a pleasant change from orange to go with duck.

Pre-desserts of ice cream were proudly showcased (and rightly so as it turned out) and of the options, I chose pineapple sorbet (beautifully refreshing and exotic), pistachio ice cream (wonderfully creamy and nutty) and coffee ice creams that had very strong coffee flavour.  These were not your average icecreams and were at the highest of tiers one can go for a simple ice cream. 

Of the dessert options on the a la carte choices, it was clearly the Rum Baba all the way to go for.  There are several places that do this dessert particularly well, most notably Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, but I did like the way this came with a choice of rums to select for the important ‘dousing’.  The Baba itself was infused in aged rum, Agricole & citrus, accompanied by a lightly whipped crème Fleurette which was frankly sensational. The glaze on the baba was a triumph in itself and the additional flavours were superb, with these latter factors being why I think this is fractionally superior than that from Ducasse, meaning therefore until I find another that pips this one (unlikely), this is the best Rum Baba in the world.

Petit fours came in several flavours: raspberry tart, canalle, hazelnut chocolate truffle and served with Nespresso coffee which was surprising for a 3 Michelin starred restaurant to be using such a bog standard coffee.  I understand the logic of consistency for service, but if it is to be a household coffee, I would say the bill would merit a superior kind of coffee to offer.

That’s a minor dent in the proceedings though.  The whole meal was expertly executed and a pleasure to have.  I thought the staff were extremely good and I would recommend this restaurant to anyone for a romantic or special occasion accordingly.

Food Grade: 90%

I had a pleasant chat with a local couple that educated me to the fact that this wasn’t a traditional Singaporean breakfast but ever popular here none the less as the quality of the noodles were so refined (it can be very easy to make noodles unable to maintain texture having being in a broth for a lengthy period) and also on account of the wonderful sauce.  Although this isn’t what I would have for breakfast either, it was good to do and if you are planning on having this option, may I recommend bringing a book or something to pass the time in the queue and keep a very careful listen to the numbers being called out in the build up to your ticket and don’t miss it(!).