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After landing in Singapore on the overnight flight from Perth I was accompanied by the Boy and one of my business partners Woki to attend a friend’s wedding at the Fairmont Hotel. Not willing to be discouraged by our lack of sleep we refused to waste our free day and spent most of it exploring the city. We conveniently ended our self-guided tour at Ku De Ta which is situated on the 57^th level of one of the three Marina Bay Sands (MBS) towers. Sipping our drinks we watched a blanket of dark ominous clouds slowly envelop the city from our viewpoint on high and by the time the tropical storm reached us we were all seriously hungry. We headed back downstairs in search of some food.

Back on the ground floor foyer, we were served by a small framed, elegant woman who kindly took great trouble to ring around a few restaurants in the complex in search of a table. She managed to secure us a booking at Guy Savoy, one of the “celebrity restaurants” at the Casino. The only time available was just an hour away yet there we stood all wind-swept, sweaty and in no way presentable for fine dining.

Jumping in a cab the Boy, Woki and I made a mad dash to return to our hotel but as we crawled inch by inch through peak hour traffic I started to feel the tension among us rising.  By this point, the monsoonal downpour was in full force and I could barely see the road in front of us. Jumping out of the cab to proceed on foot was completely out of the question!

Upon our return to Fairmont Hotel we quickly raced upstairs dripping wet to our rooms. With my heart pounding in excitement I flurried about spraying my hair with a ton of hair products and my face with a lathering of makeup. After the finishing touch of a smear of bright red lipstick I prayed my transformation into something more elegant was successful.

However, our building anticipation was not to end there. It almost felt like fate was against us as we ended up taking the wrong train, got off on the wrong station and then took a full circle route on foot of the entire MBS complex before we could actually find the restaurant.  Let me tell you, it is not well signposted and MBS is huge!

A little flustered and nauseatingly hungry we were seated at our table ready for the fun to begin.  Our meal was kick-started by a few adorable bite size canapés.

The gluten eaters received a pint-sized foie gras club sandwich and similarly Lilliputian cube of parmesan waffle.

My gluten free canapés included a spoonful of miniature cubes of beetroot sprinkled with black truffle on a herb purée and some finely grated apple with baby celery leaves on an almond crumble.

As we allowed these flavours to entertain our palate, our waiter wheels out an old polished wood trolley with a whole leg of Joselito’s Ibérico de Bellota Jamón. Ibérico jamón is a type of ham made from black Iberian pigs that are kept free range on pasture and oak groves where they feast on a diet of acorns, grass, herbs and roots. Joselito’s Ibérico jamón is world famous for being the best ham in world and wholesale prices start at around $600 for a small leg and can get well over $3000-4000 for an aged leg. They pride themselves on raising “happy pigs” and believe this is a major factor in their meat quality.

The waiter carved in front of us about a dozen slices straight off the bone. Dark purple in colour and with multiple thread-like veins of white fat coursing through the meat; the wafer thin slivers of ham nearly dissolved on contact with my tongue. Eating Joselito jamón is quite an unforgettable foodie’s experience and I highly recommend that you try it yourself if you ever have the chance.

The unusual pretzel shaped bread was unfortunately not gluten free and as there wasn’t any gluten free bread option I had to satisfy myself by just having a brief sniff of its fresh doughy aroma. I cannot deny it is always a little disappointing when I visit fine dining institutions such as this and a gluten free bread option is overlooked.  Not that I really needed bread given the enormous meal we were about to enjoy!

Our Amuse Bouche was a chilled Vichyssoise-styled soup made from leek, potatoes and cream.  The addition of fennel gave a slightly sweet and refreshing after-taste. Curiously hidden under the small mug of thick soup contained two little half spheres of fennel and leek “royale”, basically a smooth lime green custard topped with minuscule little micro herbs and pea sized blobs of herb purée.  With the subtle sweetness of the fennel in the soup still lingering, this little dollop served to extend and enhance the ambrosial experience with utmost precision.

Both the Boy and Woki ordered the “crab with multi-coloured beetroot variations” for their entrée.  The concept of this dish was to “marry land and sea”. The blood red and lemon yellow shavings of roasted beets were curled into cone like flowers.  Each little beet “flower” was filled with a foamy light beetroot blancmange followed by delicate portions of the cooked Australian Spanner crab meat.  Savoury shortbread crumble and flecks of beetroot crisps sprinkled over the dish to add more complexity.

Alongside the salad was served a warm golden beetroot tartlet containing hints of cardamom and orange.  The pastry collapsed in the mouth like fairy floss.  It lay on top of a wafer thin square of transparent paper that looked a bit like cellophane.  We were informed this was salt paper and was entirely edible. Despite the tart being the accompaniment, both the boy and our companion agreed it was the star of the two components.

This photo of my entrée is not my own and is courtesy of the restaurant.  My mosaic of poulard, foie gras and artichoke was by far and by large the highlight of the evening yet for some strange reason it completely bypassed me to take a photo.  Like a bizarre form of savoury layer cake, thick door stop-sized slices of young fattened poulard, wedges of soft foie gras and similar textured artichoke sat relatively unimpressively on my plate.  They were accompanied by two precisely equal sized blobs of black truffle vinaigrette.  The appearance of this dish does in no way make one’s mouth water; which is perhaps why my photography was overlooked.  However just one mouthful of these three simple ingredients with a conservative smear of the vinaigrette and you will change your mind forever. This dish was absolutely mind-blowing; the rich buttery elegance showed true respect for the ingredients with no need for embellishment.

As we waited for our mains to arrive out came a little prequel, some sort of intermission entertainment I guess; named the Chestnut Royale.  Now I am quite partial to chestnuts, yet I rarely see them feature on the menus in Australia. They always conjure up memories of walking down the streets of Paris where street vendors roast them everywhere in the winter. This innocent looking dish was quite a taste sensation.  A perfectly formed dome of smooth chestnut custard sat swimming in a light bed of chestnut milk.  Carefully placed on top a milk glazed chestnut glistened under the dim lighting garnished with tiny little pygmy sized celery leaves and chestnut chips.

Woki thoroughly enjoyed his “Shoulder of Australian Wagyu in two preparations”.  By using an oyster blade steak or “paleron” as it is called by the French, the meat contained wondrous marbling and flavour.  The first portion was braised in a red wine jus topped with baby carrots and a black pepper mignonette.  The second portion of beef was purely just seared and garnished with dollops of wasabi.  Both portions of beef sliced like butter at room temperature as good Wagyu should.

The accompanying side dish of potato Maxim’s and bitter greens was comparatively lacklustre and did not wow Woki at all.

I ordered the pan seared duck breast with eggplant “gianduja” sauce and “au poivre”.  I was informed by our waiter that in order to achieve the creamy pate-like texture of the meat the duck breast was seared, then cooked sous vide, and then finally seared again. On my plate balanced so carefully like a stack of cards were thin slivers of eggplant served with gianduja chocolate sauce. The sauce tasted a little reminiscent of Nutella due to its high hazelnut content. Tiny little purple delight flowers scattered amongst the eggplant giving a splash of colour and bitter flavour. The duck was richly flavoured and buttery tender and left me wanting more.

My side dish was potato tagliatelle; thin ribbon like curls of deep fried potato.  This was the only dish I ate that I felt was a little lacking.  Perhaps some seasoning would have improved this element however even if that were the case it felt a little mismatched to the fabulous duck dish.

The Boy ordered the “Saddle, rack and shoulder of lamb; Land and Sea”.  Unfortunately for him, after being left relatively unimpressed with his entrée choice his main didn’t manage to suitably wow him either.  The main part of his dish contained a roasted rack of lamb placed on an almond and hazelnut praline.  The saddle of lamb was stuffed with bamboo clams and pan roasted. Next to the lamb I recognised some emerald-green samphire on his plate; something we were introduced to during our beautiful lunch at Millbrook Winery last year where the chef forages it from the banks of the Swan River.

The second part to his dish was his favourite. The shoulder of the lamb was braised and wrapped in thinly sliced potatoes and topped with sprinklings of purple potato crisps.  I recall the waiter mentioned that this component contained melted onions so I didn’t get to taste it! This dish was apparently seasoned in the bamboo clam jus.

By this point in time in the night I was starting to receive a number of subtly concerned looks from the Boy and knew he was worried as to how much this meal was going to cost us.  He is never been one to be a killjoy by any means and during our near fifteen years together we have shared some highly priced memorable meals together.  But he is also a sensible man, and he knew all too well that just coming over to Singapore alone was breaking the budget so close to our wedding, so enjoying a four figure fine dining experience was definitely going to break the bank. A smart move from me at this would have been to proclaim total fullness and call it a night.

And then out came the cheese trolley.  And all my sensibility went out the window. My thoughts of finances, savings and budgets temporarily felt incredibly less important.  Our dinner companion Woki was no help either. Being a father to two little ones means he rarely gets to experience such incredible culinary excellence and wanted to make the most of our evening. After a long consideration we settled for three cheeses: the curious looking Mimolette, Fourme d’Ambert and most dear to my heart Saint Marcellin; a cheese produced by my late uncle Jeannot’s factory in the Alps of France.

The Fourme d’Ambert is a very mild blue cheese that is considered to be one of France’s oldest cheeses dating back to Roman times.  It is a semi-hard cheese made with cow’s milk and has a luscious creamy texture and leaves a slightly sweet earthy mushroom after-taste.

The Mimolette had such a curious appearance that it was our wild card choice for the evening.  The cheese looked like a cross between a rock melon and a dusty cannonball.  It was a hard round ball with a pocked dimpled surface. I later learnt that the dimpled appearance is actually due to the activity of surface mites that burrow their way through the surface rind which in turn allows the cheese to breathe and mature. From the heart of this bizarre rock, our waiter scooped out some bright orange brittle cheese.  It tasted quite unexpectedly sweet and caramelised, and felt like you were eating a hybrid of fudge and cheese, but in a good way.

Our portion of the Saint Marcellin cheese regrettably wasn’t  warmed to room temperature and thus failed to relax into that sexy goo I have enjoyed many times before. I was very disappointed because for a number of years I have been talking up about this cheese to Woki. It is not easy to come by in Australia and this was his first time trying it.

For some reason the next two following pre-dessert dishes managed once again to escape my camera.  I think I was a little distracted by my growing concern as the impending bill.  Our first pre-dessert was so delectable that Woki jokingly exclaimed to the waiter that it was “no good” and that we all requested another one.  His sarcasm was lost on our waitress and with a worried look she scuttled away to get us another serve.

We were too full to order a dessert but were tempted by the trolley of “petit fours”-styled mini-serves of ice cream, sorbet and biscuits and each tried a little portion for ourselves.

Just when we thought the near theatrical dining experience was over, as I sipped on my peppermint tea an Earl Grey Sorbet was delivered to our table for a final palate cleanse.  Served on top of a black pepper crème anglaise the subtle flavours of the bergamot from the tea left a very refreshing end to our wondrous meal.  Suffice to say, the Boy was right; we are still paying back our share of the meal to Woki!

Guy Savoy

The Shoppes, Atrium 2 L2-01, Marina Bay Sands, 10 Bayfront Avenue, Singapore 018956 | +65 6688 8513 | www.guysavoy.com

 

Price:                     $$$$$   

Food:                    4.7/5 (my choices were nearly faultless but there were some hits & misses at my table)

Service:                5/5 (very knowledgeable and attentive with a noticeable lack of any pretension)

Ambience:          3.5/5 (a little formal and stuffy but some fabulous views)

Drinks:                  4/5 (very extensive wine list but a considerable mark up on bottle prices)

 

Total:                     17.2/20