Hello! It has been more than a year since I last updated my blog. People around me have been asking why did I stop writing. Well, many things happened over the past year; I've been to many different countries that I would love to talk about (i.e. India, USA - Arizona Road Trip, Europe, Japan, Melbourne Road Trip etc.) but I couldn't find the time/mood to write down my experience. Besides travelling, I have never stopped devouring delicious food in Singapore and around the world.
If you have been following my blog, you would have known that I
visited an exceptional 3-Michelin Star French restaurant last year at Resorts World Sentosa. Till now, it still remained as the only 3-Michelin Star restaurant in Singapore and I absolutely agree with it. Hence, this time round, I decided to give its sister restaurant L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon (2-Michelin Star) a try.
L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon
Address: 8 Sentosa Gateway, Hotel Michael Level 1, Resorts World Sentosa, 098269
Operating Hours: Thu – Mon 6.00 – 10.30pm, Closed Tue-Wed (Except Public Holiday)
Email: Robuchon@RWSentosa.com
Contact: +65 6577 7888
Website: http://www.rwsentosa.com/Homepage/Restaurants/CelebrityChefs/LAtelierdeJo%C3%ABlRobuchon
Reservation was made via a few email exchanges with their friendly Hostess Dolly Chao as I have some questions regarding their menu. It was a quick, informative and painless process, 1.5 month prior to the actual dining date. I don't think it is necessary to reserve that far out for a non-festive dinner.
L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon is a casual dining restaurant, with a casual dress code, located on the left entrance, with Joël Robuchon on the right. My dining spot was a bar counter table, at the most left end before a right turn, facing the kitchen. There were other high tables besides the bar counter. I did not see any normal-height tables, if I remember correctly. The restaurant is Black x Red themed, with Black as the base and Red as a complement, which was pretty pleasing to the eyes.
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| Initial Table Setting with Menu |
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| Menu (Available on their Website) |
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| View of the kitchen from my table |
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| Bar counter seats |
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| High Table Seating |
I have looked through the menu available on their website before coming, thus I already have the dishes I wanted to order in mind. I went for the $118++ set menu (from
Menu Appetit) with Amuse-Bouche, 1 appetizer, 1 main course, 1 dessert and coffee/tea. (I will try to recall as much detail as possible as I had this meal 2 weeks ago...)
Amuse-Bouche
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| Amuse-Bouche |
The amuse-bouche kicked off a fantastic start to the meal experience. It tasted like croissant in liquid form, savoury, piquant and sense-awakening.
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| Bread |
I was really looking forward to the bread basket as the breads I had
previously in Joël Robuchon next door was memorably outstanding. Sadly, there were less variety of breads in L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon. One of the 4 different types of breads in our basket was made with olive, which I'm not a fan of. The best bread was the croissant (most right), it was crispy and fragrant. One little complain though, we requested for another serving of the croissant when the waitress asked if we needed more, it never appear... :(
Appetizer (Entree)
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| LA SAINT-JACQUES - Pan-seared scallop with pumpkin purée and ginger foam (Add. $11) |
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| Close-up view of the scallop |
The pan-seared scallop was fresh and juicy. It was a good mix with the pumpkin purée which gave its sweetness a nice boost. Worth the additional $11++.
Main Course
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| LE BLACK COD - Black cod in velvet daikon veloute parfumed with yuzu |
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| Close-up view of the black cod |
Oh yes, another fresh meat from the sea! Absolutely love the black cods from JR restaurants! As compared to the black cod dish of Joël Robuchon I had
last year, this yuzu infused sauce was actually yummier than the other. The fish could be sliced effortlessly with one stroke of the knife. Don't skip this main dish if you are a die-hard black cod fan!
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| LE PIGEONNEAU - Free range french caramalised pigeon with foie gras and mashed potatoes |
I took a bite of the pigeon and didn't really like it. Well, at least the person who's having it as the main dish did. Based on his description, it was like a tinier, exquisite version of chicken which was satisfying.
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| JR Mash Potatoes! |
Every main dish will be accompanied by JR's signature mash potatoes!! It's so creamy and delightful. Good news is, you can ask for more serving! (FOC!)
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| Waiting for my dessert~~ |
Dessert and Cheese (Dessert et Fromage)
The waitress would asked for your opinion whether to serve cheese first then dessert or serve both together (if you order one of each). We opted for cheese to be served first.
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| LES FROMAGES - selection of Fine Cheeses |
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| Raisin bread accompanying the cheeses |
We were advised by the waiter to start from the bottom long piece of cheese and eat in a clock-wise direction as the "strength" of the cheese will get stronger. The first cheese tasted like normal cheese. The second cheese, Mimolette, which is orange in colour was very delicious! My favourite out of all the cheeses. The third cheese at the top left corner tasted like drains, so awful! It was quite an experience as I have only smelt drains but never tasted it. Now I am done with both. Life's complete? LOL. Anyway, the fourth cheese on the top right is blue cheese. I have always loved blue cheese for its strong flavour and good complement with meat. The last one was a tad too strong for my liking, but it tasted good with the bread.
This was my first time having a plate of cheese selection and I find it wholly enjoyable as it will keep the conversation going - discussing the taste of each cheese and coming into conclusion of how each type of cheese fare with rankings.
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| LE MOELLEUX - Chocolate « fondant » with dark chocolate sorbet and tonka bean sauce |
Omo omo, the dark chocolate was so rich and yummy! Nothing beats chocolate, especially dark chocolate. Even the small piece of chocolate with writings of the restaurant name tasted heavenly. The combination of hot chocolate fondant and cold chocolate sorbet was interesting. It would be good to share this dish given the richness of the dark chocolate.
Tea served with mignardise
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| Mint Tea |
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| Vanilla Ice Cream Macarons |
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| Yum yum |
Ice cream macaron!! Waaa again another
first in this restaurant. I have never tried ice cream macaron and this virgin tasting was great. Think - cold vanilla ice cream in between two soft discs. <3
We had a wonderful view of the kitchen watching different people in charge of different food. Some were responsible for plating, some for cooking and there's a station for making mashed potatoes which was attended by two staff in rotation. All he did was stirring the mashed potatoes continuously. The lead chef was going around the kitchen, giving instructions and opinions to the other chefs. In the picture below, I captured him showing the staff how to do proper plating. Before this picture was taken, he was actually reprimanding them for doing it wrongly. I felt that it was quite intense to work in such an environment.
In conclusion, the food quality is up to 2-Michelin star standard. It was different in terms of ambiance you would expect from a 2-Michelin Star restaurant as L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon is a casual restaurant in fine-dining style. The service was as expected though it's a little disappointing that the waitress could actually forget our extra order of the croissant. Also, the bar counter seats were not very supportive of the back and both of us started to feel some backache after we finished our mains. Since each table is expected to dine in the restaurant for at least 1 to 1.5 hour, I think the seats comfort level should be improved.
All in all, we both enjoyed our dinner at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon. The total damage for 2 pax was about SGD 320 with 7% GST and 10% service charge, way less than half the price of its sister restaurant. Hahaha. I really hope to revisit the 3-Michelin Star Joël Robuchon again! *someone bring me there pleaseee* =D
