Restaurant André: Gourmet Chick in Singapore
I spent most of my time in Singapore eating cheaply at the excellent hawker markets (more to come on those in another post). But Meat-and-Three-Veg and me decided to splash out for one budget breaking meal. After a little bit of research I settled on Restaurant André which was just ranked 38th in the 50 best restaurants in the world list.
Restaurant André is obscenely expensive (which is pretty typical of fine dining in Singapore) but there is the option of a lunch degustation which is more limited than the evening menu and slightly more reasonably priced.
Porcini in chocolate and garlic “soil”
The restaurant is housed in a renovated old shophouse in Singapore’s Chinatown district and is split over three levels, the kitchen and adjacent chef’s table downstairs and then upstairs an intimate dining room decked out in soothing greys.
Lobster at Restaurant André
It felt a little eating at Chef André Chiang’s home. A feeling that only increased when Chiang did the rounds after lunch to speak to all the diners. The menu is probably best described as modern French. It’s constantly changing depending on what produce Chiang can get his hands on each day.
Restaurant André
To start, we nibbled on a paper thin porcini wafer actually shaped to look like a mushroom and growing out of chocolate and garlic “soil”. Chocolate and garlic is certainly not a combination I’ve ever started a meal with before but somehow the savoury and sweet balanced each other out. Next was my favourite dish. Morsels of pearly white lobster and Japanese rock fish drizzled with a rose water and champagne vinaigrette. It was delicate and delicious. A further seafood dish of seared sea bass sitting on cubes of soft herby potatoes also impressed.
The signature dish at Restaurant André
Chiang’s signature dish is a foie gras jelly with truffle consomée. This is a dish he created when working with the Pourcel brothers at Le Jardin des Sens in Montpellier. It tasted like the most creamy, decadent scrambled eggs. The only slip in an otherwise perfect meal was the Kurobuta pork belly. The pork was cooked in milk so it was incredibly tender but disappointingly there was no crackling. The meal finished on a high with a brilliant chocoholics dessert. There was a royal chocolate palet with rich caramel cacao sponge and a scoop of burnt butter ice-cream. This was one of the best desserts I’ve had and I’m still dreaming about it.
The most amazing chocolate dessert at Restaurant André
Watch out for the wine list at Restaurant André – it’s very steeply priced. The sommelier unhelpfully explained to us that we would never have heard of any of the wines on it as they were mainly from obscure French vineyards. We stuck to one glass each of a dry and mineral tasting white, a 2011 Cuvée Lais from Domaine Olivier Pithon. Despite this, I loved our meal at Restaurant André. The food was creative and interesting and service silky smooth. I think it deserves its spot on the World’s 50 Best Restaurant List.
Essentials
Details: Restaurant André, 41 Bukit Pasoh Rd, Singapore 089855 (Ph+65 6534 8880)
Damage: Budget breaking. $SG128 each for lunch.
9/10
Gourmet Travel Tips
- We flew to Singapore from Australia with Qantas using frequent flyer points so the cost was about $400 in taxes only. There are some good deals to Singapore though so look around.
- We stayed at and the The W in Sentosa Bay and Naumi Liora in Chinatown.
- Taxis are really cheap in Singapore and plentiful plus the underground trains are brilliant.
- We enjoyed exploring the Chinatown area, visiting the spectacular Marina Sands, shopping in Haji Lane and going on Tony Tan’s food walking tour.
Category: Travel - Singapore Tags: Singapore, Travel, World's 50 Best Restaurants
