Novus Restaurant Poltrona Frau Dining Room

Novus Restaurant & Bar, which is set within the neo-Classical building of the National Museum of Singapore, has developed a reputation in the years since it first opened in 2006. Lauded by the New York Times as one of the places to eat at if you were a traveller with 36 hours in Singapore, and by Forbes Traveller as one of the best restaurant museums in the world, the restaurant was also awarded the title “Best restaurant in Singapore” in 2008 by Wine & Dine magazine.

The restaurant welcomes back its executive chef, Stephan Zoisl, after an eight-month sabbatical, which included a stint at The Fat Duck (a three Michelin-star restaurant in Berkshire, England, acclaimed for its experimental cooking and use of deconstructivist culinary techniques). Chef Stephan has described his culinary style as “innovative French-based cooking with influences of modern techniques using the best and freshest available products”, and has spoken of being inspired by the “potential collaborations between Asian flavours and global products and produce”. My wife and I have been looking for an excuse to return to the restaurant, and this opportunity presented itself, with the restaurant’s unveiling of a new summer truffle menu, in line with its practice of changing menus every three months or so.

During our recent visit, we were impressed by the size of the restaurant. The dining hall alone seats 48 persons, while the dining room, courtyard and café are capable of accommodating another 160 persons. Unfortunately, the high ceilings in the dining hall meant that the lighting was dimmer than we are normally used to. The fact that we appeared to be the only diners in the restaurant also dented the ambience for us somewhat, although we were reassured by the waiter that that was quite unusual – perhaps it had something to do with it being a Tuesday night? This also made us feel as though the attentive serving staff were keeping an eye on us.


Valrhona Chocolate Test


Novus Restaurant Courtyard


Organic Chicken


Shellfish Bisque


Snow Cod and Zucchini Flower
 

Our dinner started off with the Joselito Iberico Ham and the Heirloom Tomato And Prawn Tempura. The Joselito Iberico ham in particular deserves special mention – the offering from the restaurant was Jamón Iberico de Ballota, which is the finest jamón iberico (Chef Stefan described it as the “best meat product around the world”). The dish certainly did not disappoint; the paper thin slivers of ham literally melt in your mouth, and are nicely complemented with servings of olives, char-grilled capsicums and toasted bread. The portions were extremely generous, and this is something that you definitely need to bear in mind lest you give in to the temptation of over-ordering.

I opted for the signature Duck Tea for my next course. This was a duck consommé topped with quail eggs, trumpet & brown enoki mushrooms, smoked duck breast and black truffles. The fine bits of mushrooms were delightful and were perfectly complemented by the duck consommé. The presentation of the dish was also impressive, with the accompaniments being served on the plate, and the consommé poured over it in a teapot. Eileen went for the Bisque, which was a shellfish-tomato soup filled with octopus, scallops, prawns, snow cod and crabmeat raviolini. She found this to be light and flavourful, with very generous ingredients.

For the main course, we had the Organic Chicken and the Snow Cod & Zucchini Flower. The chicken was stuffed with black truffle salsa and thinly sliced pieces of black winter truffles, before being cooked en sous vide to keep it moist. Unfortunately, while the chicken was flawlessly tender, I also found this dish rather bland, with the only saving grace being the accompanying potato truffle gratin which stole the show. Eileen’s snow cod was also cooked en sous vide to ensure that its natural flavour was locked within, but she also found the dish to be rather tasteless. The cucumber slices on the cod (clearly meant to mimic fish scales) were also more miss than hit. In all, our mains were rather ho-hum, and left us thinking that we should have opted for the Black Angus Beef Meets Black Summer Truffle and the Summer Truffle Ravioli.

Although we were stuffed, we couldn’t resist dessert. We selected the Valrhona Chocolate Test and were very glad that we did – this was an assortment of chocolates in different forms: aerated mousse (38 per cent), soufflé (55 per cent), crème anglaise (66 per cent), truffle (72 per cent) and sorbet (85 Per cent). This was extremely gratifying and ensured that the night ended on a sweet note for us.

We were also impressed by how the restaurant really makes an effort to make your visit memorable. As we were leaving, we were each presented with a farewell gift – a muffin in a Chinese take-out box. Apparently, every dining guest receives a farewell gift, and the choice of gift varies. This was a nice touch to cap a lovely meal.

►   Ang Kai Hsiang
Wong & Leow LLC

Novus Restaurant
National Museum of Singapore
93 Stamford Road
#01-02, Singapore 178897
Tel: 6336 8770
Lunch: 11.30am to 2.30pm
Dinner: 6.30pm to 10.30pm
Closed on Sunday

This was an invited review.