Bistrot du Sommelier: revisit review

I reviewed the Bistrot du Sommelier in 2012, click here for that review. I was impressed with the quality of the food then, and was rather keen when I received an invitation to try out their new Fall menu. 

From the 2012 review, they have a new chef de cuisine, in the form of the young Brandon Foo. 

We started with the famous Duck Rillette, 100gm ($10.80++)

As with my experience earlier, this is a winner. Rilette is a typical French style dish, like pâté, the meat is cubed or chopped, salted and cooked slowly in fat until it is tender enough to be easily shredded, and then cooled with enough of the fat to form a paste. They are normally used as spread on bread or toast and served at room temperature. And the one at Bistrot du Sommelier is fantastic. Spread on a nice crusty bread, it is delicious enough to be a complete meal.

The bread, was of course up to par. Crusty, but deliciously soft within. Very good with the rilette and with the next dish: the  Rabbit, Pork, Duck Foiegras Ballotine, 150gm ($18++)

Traditionally a ballotine is like a sausage, and usually with poultry. But these days all kinds of meat can be used. And in this dish, Chef Brandon used rabbit, pork and foie gras. The ballotine is rather firm, and was served with some greens and cold. It went well with the bread. Kin thought it to start to grow on her as she ate, while I preferred the rilette. 

We had double salads...First a warm salad: Chataigne, Bettrave et Sabayon aux Cèpes ($19++). Chestnut mousseline, steamed beetroot and cèpes mushroom sabayon 

Not quite what I was expecting. The sabayon dressing was warm and wonderful. The other components of the dish was excellent as well. Great way to serve up vegetables. And they used both red and white beetroot, which is rather unusual, I guess. The beetroots were cooked beautifully, enough to be tender, but not mushy. 

The second was actually a seafood salad: Panaché de Fruits de Mer ($19++). Prawn’s ‘Babajuan’, confit trout, sautéed squid and Pourpier salad 

The trout and squid were marvellous. The prawn was hidden in a crusty pastry, and I couldn't really taste the prawn. The salad was excellent, as was the dressing. Chef Brandon really knows his way around the flavours as they remained distinct but at the same time melded well with each other.

Then on to the mains. We started with the fabulous Roast Chicken: Poulet rôti, Cuisses en Vol-au-vent de Foie gras, jus Volaille aux Epices (Serves 2, $68++)  Oven roasted French chicken, legs and foie gras in puff pastry, spiced chicken jus

Beautifully roasted. Half a chicken, we were told French origin, but was not sure if its the famous poulet du Bresse. It was magnificent.  Below the chicken leg, and within the Vol-au-vent of puff pastry is a serving of rich, sinful, gorgeous duck foie gras. The dish was served with a side of whipped potato, which I felt was a bit too creamy, but Kin enjoyed. The whipped potato was very finely done, with no lumps, or bits of potato. 

A closeup of the meats...the breast meatwas moist, tender and flavourful. The leg had a heavier flavour, but still very tasty. And the skin was springy, yet had a crispness that tasted absolutely sublime. 

And we also had the pork chops: Côtelette de Porc Canadienne rôtie, Pomme Vigneronne ($38++). Oven roasted Canadian pork chop served with potato Vigneronne 

Very Provence style. Basic, earthy. And most wonderfully delicious. The pork was cooked to perfection. And perfection is not used carelessly. The cooking was superb.

The pork was wonderfully pink and moist within. And a crust had begun to form on the outside. The chef must have seared the pork chop to create the beautiful, Maillard-ed crust, then finished it off in the oven at just the right temperature for just the right amount of time. Even as I write, I can almost smell the wonderful aroma of the pork. The accompanying potato gratin was also excellent. My favourite dish for the evening.

And then we waited a while for the dessert. Soufflé à la Noisette, for 2 ($25++). Hazelnut soufflé and dark chocolate ice-cream

When it arrived, it looked like a soufflé should. The eggs had risen to a magnificent overflow to the bowl, with a membrane like topping sprinkled with castor sugar. As the waiter placed it on our table, it wobbled...like a proper soufflé should. My standards of reference are rather high...Chez Dumonet in Paris. OK, this is not near the levels of Dumonet. But was very close. I found it slightly too sweet...yes, I know desserts should be sweet, but this for me was a tad over. But I was bowled over with the crispy whole hazelnuts within. And the beautiful chocolate ice cream served at the side. So, overall, for me, this was a winner.

We also had some French wine to go along with dinner. The house Bourgogne Rouge: Bachelet Monno 2012 ($88++ per bottle) was rather nice. Chosen by the sommelier as a house wine, it had plenty of pulpy, citrus fruit over a base which is bright,  chalky minerality, and then refreshingly pithy, zesty notes on the finish. 

The Bistrot also offers a TGV Menu for lunch...fast, quick like the French high speed rail for busy folks. Three course prix fixe menu for only S$35++. 

We enjoyed this visit to the Bistrot du Sommelier as I did the last time I was there, and made a mental note that 3 years is too long for a revisit, and will return soon. The cuisine is hearty, the cooking excellent, and the ambience was very nice. 

Le Bistrot du Sommelier

53 Armenian St, Singapore 179940

www.lebistrotdusommelier.com

Lion D'or in Geneva

I have written about my experiences at the 1 Michelin starred Lion D'Or in Geneva once. Actually I eat there almost every year, and am constantly delighted with the quality of the cooking as well as the excellent service.

As it is SIHH season again, I had the opportunity to dine there again. I started with a lobster dish, Lobster “à la plancha”, medley of autumn vegetables artichoke fritters, roquette salsa

At first taste, I wanted to rise to my feet and applause the chef. The lobster was truly excellent. The flesh nice tender, but not so tender as it melts in your mouth. It has a nice, firm feel to the bite...I suppose al dente is the correct description. But yielding with pressure, and releasing a wonderful aroman and flavour. Very sweet meat. Magnificent. The vegetables served well as supporting cast, but the lobster was certainly the star.

My dining companion had the cannelloni with black truffles.

As the dish was presented to the table, I could already breath in the wonderful aroma of the fresh black truffles. Shaved in thick slices, and placed over the rolls of canneloni...the pasta, was of course cooked perfectly. And the simplicity of the dish made it all the more excellent. I tried one canneloni piece with a slice of truffle. Heavenly....unless you don't like truffles...but otherwise, highly recommended, despite the high price of CHF95+++ for the dish.

I had the whole sole from Brittany, sauteed in a butter mixed with meat sauce potato mousseline and wild mushroom enhanced with crispy sage petals

Also very good...though just short of the supreme excellence of the lobster and truffle pasta dishes. The sole fish was superbly fresh, and perfectly cooked, with the butter sauce permeating and embuing the meat with a wonderful mouthfeel and flavour.

For dessert, I had the souffle.

Ultra light, warm qunce souffle with a walnut biscuit and quince sherbert. Again quite excellent. The souffle was a bit smaller than I had expected, being used to the huge, airy soufles in Paris, but it was nonetheless very light, very tasty. The light quince flavour permeated nicely, and ably supported by the sherbert, which gave a more accute and sharp taste of the quince.

Overall, excellent plus plus restaurant and great cooking. A bit pricey as Michelin starred restaurants tend to be. Highly recommended if budget permits.

Lion D'or
chefs: Dupont & Byrne
Place P. Gautier 5
CH-1223 Cologny
+41 (0)22 736 44 32

A Christmas meal with great friends: Black Sheep Cafe

I have written about Black Sheep before...but good things like this little cafe stands to be repeated. So when a small group of friends decided to get together for Christmas, we decided to that a revisit to Ratha's little restaurant was in order.

We had Chef Ratha design a special meal...the rib eye, roasted, as I understand slowly. But I am ahead of myself...first the starter...

Very special. Fresh, succulent scallops, cooked to perfection...well, simply...as the shellfish was especially fresh, only a light searing was sufficient. Indeed the scallops were very delicious, but what made the dish special was the ingenious use of a some diced lup cheong (Chinese dried sausages) steamed, and sauteed. And with a leek fondue sauce. Very special and very delicious.

The roasted Angus Rib eye on asparagus with crabmeat-peppercorn béarnaise was the main course...a rather large portion...

The ribeye was slow roasted as a block, weighing some 2+kg, and sliced after roasting and resting into 8 portions. And then seared beautifully before serving. The sauce is magnificent, as was the meat. Truly beautifully well done, and wonderfully tasty. Definitely one of the better tasting ribeyes I have eaten.

And for dessert, Chef Ratha's speciality of a kalua souffle, with the soufle poured on the table.

Another truly magnificent dish. The soufle rose to the occassion...pun intended, and within a thin, slightly elastic skin was the light, almost frothy interior, which went beautifully with the sauce and ice cream.

A magnificent meal, the cooking was quite inspired. The company was superb. And the wine, an interesting shiraz from 2001 by Paracombe was delicious.

We brought our own bottle, and corkage is $15 a bottle, a rather reasonable price, in my view. Brilliant restsurant, highly recommended.

Black Sheep Cafe
Thomson V, B1-30
11 Sin Ming Rd

Osia Bar and Restaurant at Resorts World Sentosa: Highly Recommended!!

I will come out up front and say it...I love the food at Osia. This bright, airy Resorts World Sentosa eatery has captured my gastronomic imagination like few others in Singapore. Chef Douglas Tay is a genius in creating incredible looking and tasting dishes, and I highly recommend this restaurant.

Having come up with the recommendation up front, I also declare up front, that I have eaten a few times at Osia, and always on invitation of Resort Worlds Sentosa who have hosted the tastings.

And this incredible meal is no different. A huge tasting lunch, with numerous courses. Starting with the Seafood Ice Experience, served in a set of test tubes, with 6 interesting iced creations.

Watermelon raspberry Vinegar, Amabi; Calamari mojito with Hokkaido scallop; Sourz apple with salmon trout; coconut with Maine lobster; pineappple rum with tuna and lychee martini with oyster. I found all the appetizer ices to be very good, but was particularly impressed with the coconut with Maine lobster to be the most outstanding of the flight. Very strong, beautiful coconut flavours and aroma, complemented nicely with the sweet, firm bite of the lobster meat.

Then follows 5 appetizers, starting with the HJokkaido Scallop:

Beautiful hokkaido scallop, citrus cured on a bed of cauliflower cream, black truffle salsa and seaweed vinaigrette. The flavours are marvellous. The scallop sweet, very fresh, and the vinaigrette provided the acidity to cut into the richness of the cauliflower cream. Very nice.

The next was a Fjord trout

the trout is cooked sous vide, a la confit in a 42C water bath. Served with spiced cashews, a pineapple vanilla rum jelly and cilantro butter gell. Again, very beautiful flavours, coming together very well. The trout was mild in taste, but the other ingredients lifted it to quite a nice aural experience.

A soup of Norwegian Prawn

The very fresh prawns, deshelled and cooked in an emulsion, citrus, fennel and dill...the emulsion soup tasted very much like a very good lobster bisque, and the prawns, being very nicely fresh was crunchy and very sweet, with a very nice crustacean flavour.

A beautiful slice of turbot was next

A slice of turbot, with broccoflower, snap peas, cheddar, salted lemon, surf clam volute espuma. Very mild tasting, with a light flavour. Although the list of ingredients in seems rather long, the fish remained very delicately flavoured. Very nice.

And razor clams with Atlantic halibut and Hokkaido scallop

supported by an able cast of black garlic paste, green onion puree, potato foam, Iberian chorizo and artichoke barigoule. I found the scallops to be very intense tasting, bursting with flavours the seafood is famous for...sweet, very nice. The razor clams were also very nice. A superb texture and sweetness. I found the halibut a bit lacking in this company, but still quite nice. Delicious!

Then came the main courses, of which there were 3. Starting with the incredible beef short ribs

Cooked sous vide, a favourite of Chef Douglas, who prefers to use second cuts, as it is less challenging to cook with premier cuts of meat. Topped with a chestnut porcini mousseline, and on a bed of pulverised cider vinegar, compressed apple sauce and black truffle sauce. The meat was certainly very tender....not melt in your mouth tender...Chef Douglas takes issue with that..."beef should not melt in your mouth, it is not butter, but should have texture, and a mouthfeel"...to which I heartily agree that he has achieved. The short ribs were very flavourful, with powerful beefy flavour, and magnificently complemented by the chestnut paste. Very very good dish.

We also had some grain fed Black Angus beef tenderloin

Again sous vide, then seared before serving on a bed of creamed sunchoke, basil cepe, Aquerello rice, tomato parmesan and a red wine sauce in the small glass by the side. The tenderloin was supremely tender. The cut selected showed the characteristic tenderness, and less flavour than a tougher cut. The rice provided a textural change to the smoothness of the paste and the beef, with a nice crunch.

The marvellous milk fed lamb short loun and brest was next

The dish was served with a Swede carrot puree, Romanesco crumble, garlic cream spelt and Tawny Port jus. I found the lamb breast, shown partly on the left of the photograph to be a bit bland, but centerstage taken by the loin was brilliant. The lamb flavours were apparent, yet very mild, and barely noticable...just enough to remind one that one is eating lamb. Beautiful marbling makes for a very tender piece of meat, Very nice. Very, very nice.

Then came the desserts, the first was a pumpkin

A curious lemon mousse which went surprisingly well with the mango, goat cheese and frozen red wine. Marvellous dessert, but the best is yet to be. The Macadamia souffle was absolutely a brilliant way to cap off a wonderful lunch

Beautiful souffle. Superb! With a chunky praline, banana custard and sour ice cream on the side. One of the better soufles I have eaten for a long time...though, as long time readers will remember that my all time favourite was still the one at Chez Dumonet in Paris.

Truly marvellous cooking. Inspired. The chef, Douglas is a true genius in mixing the various ingredients to make a wonderful meal. Two thumbs up! Highly recommended.

Osia Bar & Restaurant
Resorts World at Sentosa
#02-140/141
26 Sentosa Gateway
http://www.osiarestaurant.com/home/

Gastronomy in Paris: revisit Chez Dumonet for killer Duck Confit

I took the opportunity to revisit some of my favourites in Paris...Chez Dumonet is one of my absolute favourites. In my books, best confit du canard in the world..

I wrote a glowing review the last time I visited...click here for earlier review.

Time time round, we arrived for lunch, sans reservation. It was a rainy day in Paris...and we sauntered over after some light shopping at Au Bon Marche, which is a short walk away.

So is the confit du canard still good?

Absolutely. The duck skin still earth shatteringly crisp. The meat within, still moist, delicious. Maybe my diet is a little different this time, so I am used to leaner food...but although I found the confit to be magnificently satisfying, I felt that it was a bit greasy....no surprise, as the method of making a confit is to immerse the entire duck leg in a pot of duck fat, cook it over low heat, seal the pot, and leave till needed. This was one method of food preservation before the days of prevalent refrigeration. When needed, the duck is removed from the fat, and fried till the skin is crisp.

And so was the soufle...still the best Grand Marnier soufle I have eaten.

Light elastic skin. Smooth, moist, delicious inside. Magnificent.

Service was a bit spotty, but the waiters were cheerful and spoke English. Which in Paris, well lets just say having waiters who are not grumpy certainly makes a nice day. And the food, divine. Certainly worthy a trip over to Chez Dumonet if you are in Paris.

Josephine aka Chez Dumonet
117, rue du Cherche-Midi, 6th (Metro : Duroc)
T : 01.45.48.52.40
Closed Sundays and Mondays