Iggy's

One of the best?? I guess not! There was nothing about the whole dining experience in Igg's was impressive. The whole set up was rather strange for what it serves. We were sat at the counter table and the bench was so wide, the waiter was more or less climbing over from the other side each time he placed the cutlery or a dish. 
The service was less than welcoming. It was very plastic like, i.e. there wasn't much of a smile, the explanation of food was a quiet mumble without feelings or passion.
The whole degustation menu was less than impressive. Only 3 (salmon, yukon potato and Aji) out of 9 were tasty, i.e. tasty without any WOW factor. The rest was simply not worth mentioning. 
I really didn't enjoy the overall experience here. Food was below average, service was less than impressive and the decor...well... didn't feel there was much of an effort made to make this a memorable experience. $250 per head - I can think of many other places to spend it!

My friend took me to try their set lunch last week; I'd been waiting quite a while to try Iggy's given its reputation as SG's top restaurant and Asia's #2.

The first sign that service was not up to scratch was when I'd totally exhausted my olive oil and was dipping into my friend's ... I'm not sure the waiter even noticed, and he certainly didn't refill it. The bread was warm and nice, but not a big deal taste-wise.b

Starters - The tuna carpaccio was excellent - prob the best I've had so far. I almost didn't order it but given the waiter's rec, took the chance to quiz him as to whether it's bluefin and hence unsustainably farmed; I had planned not to order it. He told him that it's from a sustainable farm in NZ, and I''m so glad I ordered it after all.

The little clams sounded good, looked promising but tasted just ok.

Since Ignatius had trained with Juan Arzak, and the latter's 62-degree poached egg is utterly sublime, I'd really looked forward to this starter. Premium ingredients of bacon and mushroom, of course, and prob the egg too, and it did taste good. But it wasn't excellent and certainly not mindblowing. I liked the presentation in Staub; nice homey touch.

The waiter asked for my comments, and he looked stunned and then displeased at my frank feedback that the food was good to so-so. Reminds me of the look on Bobby Chin's face in Hanoi. Well, don't ask for feedback if you were really angling for praise!

Mains - the lamb was good but not distinct from other lamb dishes elsewhere, particularly in Iggy's league. THe sakura ebi cappelini was yummy; you've the option of having this as a starter too.

Desserts - the deconstructed blackforest was very good, and I liked its eyecatching, cool yet not overboard presentation too. And yes, of course they use real cherries; 1 even had the pit removed. Don't order the sesame pound cake; this could be so good but it just tasted uninspired.

Should have ordered the Torbreck Bothie to complement it, but since my friend wasn't drinking, I decided to skip wines for my lunch too. Iggy's has a house wine - a pinot noir which apparently would have gone well with our selection today. Overall, I'd say their wine selection is superb; they had 10-12 wines by the glass. As befits a restaurant founded by a sommelier!

Portion-wise, a nice to light lunch - better than Tippling Club where you could possibly come out still hungry.

Overall, a disappointment given the reputation and the price too, even though the damage was to my friend's wallet. But given that learned folks deem it so wonderful, it's worth another try before writing it off. I must say I'm beginning to have concerns as to whether the chefs up their game when the food critics come calling. In this case, Ignatius certainly wasn't even around.

They're also moving to the Hilton next month; I assume the ambience will be better there.

Maybe I have set too high expectation as people said they are best 50 restaurant in Asia.
Ingredients and quality are good. Taste should be as good as expected. However I do not find any amazingly good dish and impressed after I finished the 4 course meal. Oh yes, the best, to my surprise, is the coffee because it is really fitting my taste. :P
What makes the Sakura ebi cappellini the signature dish? Everything can score 70-80 but what make it different from other renowned cuisine of similar kind? If anyone can tell me please enlighten. 
What really did well are Wagyu Beef, Chicken and Red Snapper. Others like Egg, clam and Sardine I find them too salty for me.
Probably, is it dinner menu standard should be far better from lunch?

Finally after a couple of months, its a foodie's dream like me to be able to eat at iggy's. :)

As Iggy's does not open during weekends for lunch and it is during a weekday public holiday that I have the opportunity to tuck in to one of our own S.Pellegrino world's 50 best restuarants.

Unlike some people I know who can afford eating fine dining good food frequently, Im more of the average singaporean who only splurge on fine dining good food once in a long while. As I can be at the extremes of being contented eating instant noodles to eating fine dining food. So here I am this afternoon eating the 4 course set lunch at 65++.

Was very happy that a friend could accompany me for this food experience and we ordered tomato tart , blue fin tuna , egg and mushroom for starters.

Main course : Wagyu cheek and confit of duck leg

Desserts : Black sesame and german chocolate cake

We had a complimentary starter that was served in spoons. Have uploaded the pic but didnt catch the name of it. Its taste of wasabi , rice grains and something in between blends well inside my mouth. It was a nice way of starting our lunch.

After which comes our 2 starters each , we shared and personally all have interesting tastes. Because of the many ingredients blended in together. It works well..wasted we didnt have wine if not Im sure it would have tasted much better. :) We had ice water (free!!) :)

It was full house today and we saw Eunice Oslen and her friends as well dining there.

ok back from being side tracked my personal favourites were the tomato tart and mushroom for the starters. The foam n how they do the mushroom was interesting and there is a tofu like food beneath the foam. (sorry cldnt describe it better but the taste is nice. )

Some dishes thou i felt it was a bit salty (but it could be just our opinions as some people are more sensitive to salt than others) So take this comment with a pinch of salt *winks*

My wagyu cheek was very soft and easy to eat but the dark sauce was abit too overpowering for me (so maybe next time if you order maybe you can try less sauce first)

My friend's confit duck leg has crispy skin and tender meat with potatoes.

Our desserts didnt disappoint nor something to really rave about. But I loved their german chocolate cake as Im a dessert lover. Haha would have called a second german chocolate cake if it wasnt a set menu..

The ambience was cosy. We reserved our table in one of the rooms with the bookshelves area. The service was also superb , they change our forks/spoons/knives every dish and were attentive. Its like 3 waiters to 4 tables. Very personalised and we saw the owner sitting in to explain the food with a group of 7 dinners. The waiter/waitress could remember who ordered what and placed it correctly on our table. The other place that I had this service was whitebait and kale at camden medical centre long time back.

We visited Iggy's kitchen before going off and chatted with one of the chefs.

Overall it is a pleasant and nice experience. The food + creativity + simplicity + ambience + service + the blending of ingredients taste - yes they got the winning formula. So there you have it our world's top 50 restuarants - Iggy's.

I would definitely love to come back again if I have the $$ but for now I would be saving up for the next food fine dining experience :)~

Its been a blessing to enjoy such good food nevertheless.

Till the next post..

Cheers everyone

p/s : You have to try the food yourself..the pics dont do justice to the food. Its about taste!!

I came here in December 09 but took 4 months before I wrote this review because I didn't know what to write.
To draw an analogy, it's like getting a toy that you want for the longest time as a Christmas present but somehow or other, you don't enjoy playing with it unlike the other children...
Was it just me?

To be fair, nothing about Iggy's was bad, the food, the service and ambience were all okay.
But I am not looking for Iggy's to be okay, I am looking for it to be exceptional...afterall, it's voted one of S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants.
Nothing impressed me...not even the "ang moh" maître d’ who, by the way, was quite cute.
Food - good but not outstanding despite having premium ingredients.
Ambience - dim and cozy...sounds nice eh? But it made me feel a little feel claustrophobic, like dining in a huge oversized closet.
Service - my coffee cup's handle was laced with cookie (?) crumbs and although the waiter was apologetic about it and they changed the coffee for me, I didn't expect this to happen in a fine dining restaurant. If this had happened in a mid level restaurant, I probably won't bat an eyelid but this is Iggy's! It will be nice if they took the coffee off the check (which they didn't).

Overall, my visit to Iggy's left me feeling let down as I had looked so forward to it and this is it?!
For the price, I will rather go to Jaan par André...wonderful food, beautiful presentation, attentive but non-intrusive wait staff and the cute Andre Chiang who will come out and chat with diners (if he's not too busy).
Because when I dine at a fine dining establishment, I am paying for the whole experience/package.

Just a little intro, Iggy’s is named after its founder, Ignatius Chan. The restaurant opened its door on 1 September 2004. The restaurant is voted as Asia Number 1 Restaurant by the inaguaral Miele Guide 2008/9 and ranked number 43rd in the World 100 best restaurant. I felt so privileged to be able to have lunch in Iggy’s. I was given a seat at the bar counter where I can see the ”chefs at work” from the glass window. Iggy’s offers both Table d’Hote & tasting menu for lunch . For dinner, they only offer a seasonal tasting menu priced at $195++. For Table D’Hote, the 4 courses are priced at $55++ and 5 courses at $75++. You can choose 2 starters, a mains and a dessert from the menu given. The amuse bouche was Japanese Momotaro tomato & the essence of tomato drink. The tomato was sweet and a little salty. The essence of tomato drink was something special, no alcohol but only tomato and I can taste the flavour of bacon in it. I saw a caucasian couple staring at the tomato, figuring what is so special of the tomato. While I just pop it into my mouth. Iggy’s salad I was captivated by the colourful plate of salad presented in front of me. The salad is just lovely, with some rose petals to give it a touch. The salad is simple- mushrooms, onions, fine herbs, mesclun, mangoes, tomatoes, truffles and hollandaise sauce. The ingredients were chopped nicely and mixed evenly. They added some black truffles to finish it off. It taste a little savoury to me. I like the hollandaise sauce which is of the correct consistency that I prefer, not too thick and smooth. Slow-cooked Egg, bacon, mushroom , Pinot Jus From what I observed, most people would go for the Foie gras and the Hamachi. However, I wanted to try something different. The slow-cooked egg that I had just blew me off… it taste soooo delicious! The egg is served on a small cast iron-pan, with some mushrooms, black fungus and bacon in Pinot Jus. I was ‘’supposed” to enjoy the egg yolk and blend it together with the red wine. However, I left the egg yolk to the last as I wanted to ”suck” the runny yolk. Oh, it was a blissful moment! Roulade of Chicken & Foie Gras The signature dish would be the Capellini with konbo & scampi oil or you can try the Duck confit. Since I cannot take beef, I decided to go for the Roulade of Chicken with Foie Gras. I requested them to omit the olive rice but Unfortunately/ Fortunately, the chef was very strict and doesn’t allow any changes to the menu. Thus, I had the olive rice separated. Anyway, the chicken was very tender and juicy. There is a small piece of foie gras rolled up in the center. The foie gras is heavenly, it just melts in my mouth. I wished there were more! The emulsion that is served with the chicken roulade is so palatable but I just could not figure what that was. The Olive rice was so fragrant and every rice grain is infused with the flavour of black olives. Fortunately, they served the rice by the side. The rice was unlike the olive rice served in Thai Restaurant. It is not oily and they added some herbs and lots of black olives in it. My dessert was the Mango pudding. It was served in a lovely ”bowl”, with greek yoghurt & grapefruit. I wanted something light as I had this instead of the German chocolate cake. The mango pudding is smooth and rich in mango flavour. I know it is a simple dessert that anyone could just make it at home but the creme fraiche and the greek yoghurt just makes it different. The yoghurt was crispy and not the normal sur yoghurt you can get at the supermarket. The grapefruit segments just made the mango pudding so pretty. The service was attentive, flawless and warm. The meal was satisfying and every dish is well-executed, packed with creativity and gastronomic experience. The dining experience was wonderful and pleasant. I would love to dine here as often as I can if my wallet permits. I would ”encourage’‘ you to dine at Iggy’s at least once.

Iggy's did Singapore proud. Singapore certainly needs more Ignatius Chans to push up our GDP. Every dining experience in Iggy's is memorable. The menu changes, so you will never get tired of this place. Despite the tight space, you can arrange a dinner for 10, or two, without feeling claustrophobic.

At $50/pax, the set lunch makes you feel like a royalty. Elegantly prepared, photo-worthy appetizers/ main/ and dessert make you want savour every moment, and then, lick every morsel off the plate.  

(Excellent service-  the waiter brought me a  pashmina when he saw me shivering. )

 

Iggy’s is the anti-big restaurant (as are most of the restaurants topping the world’s best list). Located in the Regent hotel in Singapore, Iggy’s is quietly tucked away in a corner… if you didn’t know where to look for it chances are you might not even know it was there.

The menu is placed in front of you. You can check it online before coming, it seems to go monthly based on seasonal ingredients. It’s a clean, unfussy white piece of paper with 9 courses laid out in front of you. They’ll ask if you have any allergies or preferences and will make minor changes to accommodate, but otherwise you’re in the loving hands of the chefs… a great place to be.

The meal awakened more than just our sense of smell and taste, but something deeper inside of us. I’ve read about this phenomenon at El Bulli… diners bursting into laughter in the middle of a meal. And I’ve seen it in Japanese movies about ramen (in Tampopo, ramen having the power to make someone laugh or cry)… I never really believed that was possible till this meal. I felt a refreshing glow over my entire body after it was over. It wasn’t just the buzz of wine, but was something else… I had been surprised, tricked, and delighted over the course of 2 1/2 hours!

Plus the overall performance of the staff was outstanding. Every detail was covered. The service staff was very attentive yet not on top of you all the time. The noise of the restaurant was never anything more than it should be (though maybe I could have done without the jazz version of Christmas classics if I had to be really picky ).

As we left, the servers showed us the rest of the restaurant, the chef’s table in back (new goal of mine, eat at that chef’s table), and the kitchen where people were still dutifully completing their tasks. I felt as if I was a regular guest… not someone there for the first time. As if everyone cared about me and I wasn’t treated differently than any VIP . If I had to single out anything about out our experience as most surprising it was this – This whole experience that truly was world class… it was so down to earth.

for more info on the courses and detailed descriptions, visit...

http://www.accidentalepicurean.com

 

Ranked 43rd in the world and 1st in Asia, people tell me Iggy's has three michelin stars although I also heard contradicting rumors such as Singapore restaurants will never get michelin stars because we import our food frozen, not freshly slaughtered. I don't care if a restaurant has accolades; I care for the service, food and ambience. 

Reserve a table a week in advance but we did it 3 days in advance and had to sit at the counter. Walk in long corridor: Very exclusive, sits maybe 30 people. Nice ambience: dim lighting but also very quiet so every word you say softly may be heard by others. Not the best place for spies, traitors, business secrets and family disputes but good for breakups if you don't want your partner to make a fuss. 
For hor d'oeuvres, we ordered Iggy's Salad, Ocean Trout, Hamachi and Foie Gras. For the main, both of us had Wagyu Cheek. For desserts, I had chocolate cake and my sister had sesame. 

I like it that the bread was warm and it tasted sweet with olive oil. The amuse bouche, which is what the chef amuses his or her guests with, was quite amusing. It was a 1/8 slice of a tomato, which was surprisingly salty at first then immensely sweet. Very appetizing. An Essence of Tomato accompanied it but...
To read more and see more photos, please come to my blog.

Finally, an opportunity arose after all these years to try one of Asia's top restaurants, and it had to do with a successful operation from a close friend that gave us reason to celebrate life.

Popular during lunch, it is the restaurant's custom to confirm with you on the morning of your reservation so that seats are not wasted. Once seated, we proceeded to order from the menu.

The amuse bouche was a clear tomato liquid with a slice of sweet tomato. It was excellent.

For the hors d'oeurves I started with the hamachi carpaccio, which was also executed well. Some of the hamachi had a bit of a fishy after-taste but most of it was good.

My second hors d'oeurves order was the foie gras, which was a generous piece pan fried goose liver in the middle of pear sauce. So far so good.

Unfortunately, the main course was a little of a let down. My wagyu beef cheek was served with a fork and a spoon, which meant that the meat was so tender that a spoon would suffice in cutting the beef. This was true. I however, did not like the pairing with the crackling rice cereal.

The capellini was alright, but it was nothing to shout about and tasted like a local rendition with the excessive use of dried shrimp.

For dessert, I had the chocolate cake which was an interesting combination of bitter chocolate mouse and sweet sugar base. Nice blend.

As I really enjoyed the setting, I stayed on for a latte. Not once did I feel pressured to leave despite overstaying my welcome. Service standards were high.