Friday, April 16, 2010

Les Amis @ Shaw Centre

When Singaporeans think of French cuisines in a fine dining setting, the name "Les Amis" will most probably pop out. Les Amis, which means "the friends" in French, is the flagship French restaurant of the Les Amis Group which opened here at Shaw almost 14 years ago.

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It was renovated not too long ago, and the interior now boast an elegant crimson hue and I love the big chandeliers.

Ordered the Voss sparkling water which originated from Norway. Not as good as my favourite Acqua Panna from Italy's Tuscany region.

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Guess what is inside these adorable looking silver cups?

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It's French butter.

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I was hungry (and greedy!), so had both the white bread and the brown Walnut bread. The Walnut bread was better.

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Something familiar which I saw previously here.

Can anyone advise me where can I buy something similar to this here in Singapore?

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After placing our order, we were served our Amuse Bouche - Crispy bacon with tofu and quail egg. I am not sure how they made the bacon into small thin strips, but the whole dish really works. Kindda like a comfort food.

So we had the "cheaper" 4 course menu at S$180 and also Chef Armin Leitgeb's brand new Degustation at S$320 .

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Caviar & Blinis with Alaskan King Crab and Avocado. I like the mini pancakes where u can spread the caviar, king crab and avocado paste on it.

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The first appetizer from our 3 course menu was the Fish with Ravioli and green asparagus. The Ravioli was superb, but I am not sure what's inside it.

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When this dish came, we were very intrigued by the presentation of the Broiled Japanese Sayori with Marinated fruit tomatoes, melted eggplants and caper-lime vinaigrette. Frankly speaking, the fish meat was so-so. But the presentation became an interesting topic.

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Maitake mushroom risotto with char-grilled Japanese squid and confit egg yolk . The Japanese squid is grilled until tender yet retains its QQ texture.

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I *heart* Les Amis version of their Homemade Black Truffle Pasta with lobster. Lobster is very very fresh, pasta was homemade and the black truffle infused sauce added a touch of class to this simple pasta dish.

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Foie Gras - It was of very good quality. But I wasn't in the mood for something high in oil content that night, so I didn't really tried much.

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Les Amis actually occupies 2 stories, the 1st being the main dining area and the 2nd for private group dining.

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For the degustation menu, the main course was the Lightly smoked Mayura Wagyu "cubes" cooked in hay spinach leaves, artichokes and truffled french fries. Unfortunately, the wagyu beef suffered from too much smoking. It would be great if it was really lightly smoked.

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The main for the 4 course menu was the Kurobuta pork loin, roasted hen of the wood mushrooms, spinach and crispy pork crouton. The pork loin was juicy and tender. But I didn't like the crispy pork crouton which I found to be a bit too dry.

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A twist to the original Tiramisu: Amao Strawberry with Yuzu Tiramisu, chocolate tuile and strawberry granite. Sour, sweet and creamy all mixed together.

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The dessert for the 4 course menu was Compressed poached pear with caramelized filo pastry, stewed huckleberries and cocoa sorbet. The poached pear was extremely tender. Sweet, tangy and juicy.

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Mignardises - More French restaurants in Singapore are now offerering these cute little dessert bites after the entire meal, to go with coffee or tea. The Canele here is a bit too dry as compared to Gunther's. But the Madeleine was one of the best I had. Light years ahead of what Delifrance offers.

An enjoyable dinner with excellent service. Definitely proven itself to be in the Top 5 restaurants in Asia.


Les Amis
1 Scotts Road
#02-16
Shaw Centre

2 comments:

  1. You should be able to find these tea light candle lamps at Taka B2, fine china section. Used to be near the cashier. You have to look around, it's quite a small tower shelf.

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  2. Thank you Chloe! I will go to Taka to check them out!

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