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LIFESTYLE |
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Le Saint Julien is a familiar name in the local food and beverage scene. Opened in 2003, the restaurant is synonymous with fine French cuisine. A second restaurant, Julien Bompard (now renamed J’Bistro), was opened some years later; it is now in the process of relocating. Apart from the restaurants, the Saint Julien group has also opened La Fromagerie, a cheese and gourmet concept shop at Jalan Merah Saga, Holland Village area.
Julien Bompard, the chef helming Le Saint Julien, is no stranger to the fine dining scene, having trained and worked in Paris as well as Tokyo, Bangkok, Hong Kong and New York. He has recently returned to the kitchen of Le Saint Julien from Julien Bompard and with his return comes new signature dishes which we were more than happy to try.
And so, on 14 August 2010, we made our way to the restaurant. Le Saint Julien is housed in a unique location: the Fullerton Waterboat House, which was built in the 1900s and which had been used by the port authority.
The restaurant overlooks the Marina Bay Waterfront and the Singapore River and it would ordinarily have had nice views of the Bay and the River. However, on the night of our dinner, hoardings were placed along the sides of Nicoll Highway, presumably in view of the opening ceremony of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games and this blocked the view of the Marina Bay Waterfront. Notwithstanding the hoardings, we were still treated to the spectacular fireworks set off at the opening ceremony.
The interior of Le St Julien was warm and cozy with a discreet distance between the tables. We were met at the door by the bubbly and lively Edith, Chef Julien’s wife, who introduced each dish on our menu for the night with great enthusiasm and detail.
The first order of the night was a cold dish of crab meat topped with Avruga caviar. This came with a veloute of oyster and a couple of slices of salmon foccacia. The combination of the caviar with the crab meat on the foccaciawas refreshing and sweet. This was lovely on its own and did not need the oyster veloute or any other accompaniment to add to its taste. The veloute was essentially an oyster blended into a smooth white emulsion and was an interesting concept, but I would rather have eaten the oyster in its solid fleshy state.
The second dish which was showcased was a seared Palamos prawn served with crab meat and angel hair pasta with coral sauce derived from oil and essence extracted from the prawn shell and head. This dish was really rather excellent. The prawn in itself was a burst of flavours, both sweet and salty, and this was wonderfully paired with the pasta which was tossed in a light cream based sauce with a scattering of crab meat.
Next came the slow-cooked egg with black truffles, forest mushroom and bacon emulsion. Not being a huge fan of eggs, I was pleased that the egg was not particularly eggy in taste, the ordinarily dense taste of the yolk having been tempered by the black truffles and bacon. Normally associated with breakfast, the taste of this egg was just right for dinner.
After this, we were served a dish of French yellow chicken (so called because it was corn-fed; and not because it was particularly yellow) with Arbois wine and mushrooms. The slices of chicken breast meat were succulent and well complemented by the mushrooms, which were tossed in a lovely rich and creamy sauce. Although cream-based sauces tend to be heavy going on the taste buds, this sauce went nicely with the chicken and was not overpowering.
The second main course for the evening was the simmered Atlantic sea bass with late harvest Muscat sauce. Fresh and simple, the sea bass was a good round up of the main courses for the night.
We were now ready for the grand finale. I was rather disappointed that this was not a chocolate-based dessert and was instead, a caramelised and chilled apple tart with almond ice cream and Nyons olive oil. Not at all partial to apple tarts, I viewed the dish with misgivings.
With some reluctance, I dug into the doughnut-ring of cooked sliced apples. This turned out to be a nice surprise. The ring was formed from almond ice cream and this was covered in thin slices of apples. The dessert was well balanced as it was neither saccharinely sweet nor acidic and it was a delightful end to a good dinner.
We sat back, stuffed to the gills and surveyed the Bay area and the fireworks with satisfaction. It had been a thoroughly pleasant and enjoyable dinner.
Le Saint Julien, Restaurant is at 3 Fullerton Road The Fullerton Waterboat House #02-01, Singapore 049215. Reservations: +65 6534 5947 E-mail: [email protected]Website: http://www.julienbompard.com/
Audrey Chiang
Rodyk & Davidson LLP
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| Alsaka king crab with Avruga cavia | Chilled apple tart with Nyons olive oil |
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| Slow-cooked egg with black truffles,forest mushroom and bacon emulsion |
Palamos prawns with angel hair pasta and coral sauce |