Le Saint Julien

Located at The Fullerton Boat House, Le Saint Julien is usually considered as a fine dining place although Chef Julien Bompard wants to give another image of his restaurant and of the French Cuisine in general. Indeed, fine dining is a short way to summarize French Cuisine.

From Chef Julien point of view, French Cuisine differentiates itself by the particular attention given to the origin of the products. Indeed, there are in France many labels certifying the origin and the quality of the products. Such labels are called AOC for Appellation d’Origine Controlee, which means “protected designation of origin”. It means, for instance, that a sparkling wine can be called Champagne only if it has been produced in the Champagne region in France and if the production complies with all the label’s requirements. Many French products are AOC certified and this aims to ensure the quality of these products that will be distributed all around the world. 

Therefore, Chef Julien makes a point to use quality products from France in his menu such as foie gras, Challans duck, Marennes Oysters, Arbois wine, Echire butter, and a selection of cheeses from his la fromagerie.  

We had a special set menu for a meeting in a private room: a gazpacho for appetizer, the Frisée salad with poached egg and bacon for starter, the Angus beef with Béarnaise sauce for main and the chocolate tart for dessert. This menu is refined, nicely presented, generous and simply delicious! 

From Chef Julien and other professional I talked with, it doesn’t really make sense to select “The Best Restaurant” or “The Best Chef”. Indeed, on which criteria can we base this ranking? There are many professionals working with quality products who manage to make beautiful things out of it. The recognized reference is the Michelin guide that distributes its stars based on technical criteria. Therefore, different Chefs are recognized for their talents in their field and not for following a trend or investing in marketing to fill up their restaurant. Chef Julien’s idea is therefore to gather professionals that are as passionate as him and work to give a complete image of what French cuisine is. 

To see more reviews on French Cuisine in Singapore, visit my blog! http://frenchcuisinesingapore.blogspot.com/

Full Review/Pictures Here

The view from the restaurant somewhat pales in comparison to the one you get at Forlino, as all you see is sadly an overview of the murky Singapore river. Nonetheless, the 60 seater restaurant plans its seating arrangement in a spacious manner, allowing guests to dine in comfort. 

Complimentary Bread

Two types of bread were served, namely the french baguette and sourdough. The baguette was a little hard for my liking, while the sourdough had an enjoyable savory flavor.

Cream of White Asparagus Veloute, Smoked Salmon Creme

The white asparagus soup had a smooth and velvety texture, that had a delicate flavor with a tinge of sweetness from the white asparagus. The dollop of smoked salmon enhanced the overall flavor of the soup with its natural saltiness and smokey robust flavor, making it overall a very enjoyable and hearty bowl of soup!

Grandma’s Chicken Liver Pate

The only thing that would probably trump foie gras in my personal opinion would be chicken liver pate! Bursting with insanely rich flavors of chicken liver, along with the melt in your mouth buttery texture definitely made every spoonful of it extremely delightful. The texture of the pate is slightly different from the one served at Le Bistrot Du Sommelier, where the Chicken Liver Pate here has somewhat of a more flaky and coarse texture.

LSJ’s Signature Lobster Bisque ($26++)

A signature dish of the restaurant, Chef Julien actually used the recipe of his lobster bisque to propose his wife Edith! I felt that the portion of the bisque on a whole could be more generous, considering the lobster bisque served here costs almost twice as much as the one served at the French Kitchen, while the portion was also pretty small for sharing. The flavor of cognac used somewhat overpowered the rich crustacean flavor in the bisque, making the overall lobster and unami flavor very very faint, rendering it to be rather disappointing, considering all the hype the lobster bisque served at Le Saint Julien had been getting.

“Papillote” of seafood medley with lobster consommé

“Papillote”  is basically a traditional french cooking technique where food is placed into a parcel then baked. The parcel which then retains the moisture to steam and cook the food it contains, where then french most commonly use the “Papillote” method to cook fish or seafood. The seafood medley consisted of prawns, squid, scallops and sea bream which were all very fresh and lightly seasoned, complemented by the pipping hot lobster consommé which had a pleasantly rich unami flavor. I felt that this was overall a very healthy but refreshing main, which showcased natural, clean and fresh flavors where the dish rendered similarities to a seafood Bouillabaisse  in terms of flavor and ingredients used.

Grilled Angus Striploin, Bernaise Sauce, Mushrooms & Herbed Salad

The portion of steak was extremely generous for a lunch portion, considering it was easily 200grams? Anyway the steak was grilled to my requested done-ness of medium rare. While the meat was tender, it rendered on the chewy side. The seasoning of the steak was spot on with a delightful meaty flavor, complemented by the tangy Bearnaise sauce served table-side. The sauteed mushrooms were also delicious, with the essence of garlic butter and parsley sprinkled.

 Marmalade of rhubarb and strawberry with almond crumble

Only two choices were available for dessert with the other choice being a selection of cheeses. So much for fancy names when the dessert turned out to be a fruit tart, filled with rhubarb and strawberry which thankfully wasn’t excessively sweet, while the almond crumble has a buttery flaky texture with a hint of cinnamon made the overall flavors of the dessert well balanced.

Final thoughts? Most of the dishes were well executed but just somewhat or rather lacked the elusive wow factor to take it to a whole new level. The Lobster Bisque was awfully disappointing for a restaurant of Le Saint Julien’s reputation and calibre. Service was rather sloppy at the start, but gradually improved. I’m still on the fence on a return visit, especially when other french restaurants out there offer better food at better value. Then again the lunch menu of any restaurant very often doesn’t reflect their true potential. 

For more photos, please visit Rubbish Eat Rubbish Grow.

Getting to Le Saint Julien is quite a challenge lor, and I’m a lorry driver!! I’m suppose to be good at navigation and reading maps. If you’re taking a cab, tell the uncle or Miss (cannot call auntie ok!!) to go along Fullerton Road towards Suntec but do NOT go into Esplanade Drive. Enter the slip road BEFORE going on Esplanade Drive. Alight at the side of Fullerton Hotel beside the canal. Waterboat House is just across a small road from Fullerton Hotel. If you drive, park at One Fullerton, walk towards the Merlion, past the underpass, and climb up a flight of stairs.

The entrance is an unostentatious small door without any signboard – woah, very celebrity hush-hush kinda of place. The decor is mostly a lavish deep-red (my favorite color!) and black with brown leather armless chairs. I joked to The Endangered Sartorialist (TES from now), whom I was dining with, “I’ll title my review ‘A Meal Without a View.” Because the view is quite pathetic, facing a canal and a highway (Esplanade Dr.). At the most, you see the towering Marina Bay Sands. I’d suggest to seal up the restaurant like Privé Restaurant so that it maintains an exclusivity, like “hey, superstars dining here! don’t look in.” One other thing is that the space felt cramp because there were a number of tables and chairs; I suspect the restaurant accepted more patrons because Restaurant Week, so on a normal day, the place should be more spacious.

Like the Restaurant Week menu at Salt Grill, the menu here didn’t leave much choice. Entree and desserts were fixed; a choice of fish or duck confit for mains. What to do, paying only $40++ for 3 courses. Lorry Drivers can’t be choosers. We ordered an extrafoie gras ($32) because the server told us it’s their specialty and the usual price is $48.

Entree: Terrine of foie gras and chicken with mushroom and watercress. “Terrine is like a pate, right?” I asked TES. I must have eaten terrine many times before, but I think terrine is just meat on bread while a pate is more like meat jam on bread. He replied, “I think so?” OMG, two food reviewers didn’t know what a terrine is. So when it came, the server suggested that we should eat it on a brioche. So we’re right?Heng lah, at least I know what a brioche is.. it’s ya-kun bread.

TES said it was comparable to the entree at best restaurant in Italy. Wow, very high praise leh. Last time, I ah beng followed my Big Brother to Italy for Gangster International Conference, we only know how to eat pizza. Anyway, the food. At first, it didn’t give the WOW factor because the taste was very light and subtle. But as we ate more, it slowly dawned on us how excellent it was. The buttery foie gras provided a textual contrast with the roughness of the buttered broiche. The mushroom enhanced the dish with a good muskiness while the watercress gave it a crunch. The sauce–TES said it was balsamic vinaigrette but to me, it wasn’t as tart and was sweeter–was savory with the bread. But there were flaws too. I didn’t like the other counterpart, the layers of chicken with vegetables inside. Bland for me. The brioche was too thick and cold–my mama tells me eat cold food no good for tummy. I iz good ah beng.

But eating it felt like a common movie scene. It starts off with the actor walking, thinking, looking sad, then she gets happier and happier, and starts skipping, running, big grin on her face, signifying hope for the future. This was the feeling the dish gave me.

When TES asked me how the pan-seared foie gras with caramelized apple and caramelized onion in balsamic and honey sauce was, I replied, “Competent lor.” The two types of apple–green and red–cut in two different ways, cubes and slices, provided layering textures. The sweet-sourness of the apple, the sweet-tartness of the sauce, the sweet-smelliness of the onion and the sweet-buttery of the foie gras – you can see where Chef Julien is going. Using common taste (sweetness) but also complicating it with other flavors. But I thought it was competent lor. Didn’t disappoint but didn’t quite surprise either.

Main: The manager, Edith, whom we later found out is the wife of Chef Julien, told us that Crispy Rice Risotto with duck confit and truffle oil emulsion with smoked duck breast sauce is a new creation. Wow, very brave to push a new menu for Restaurant Week which is usually used to showcase and introduce the best dishes to the public.

My view of the dish changed after TES told me his theory of eating. Usually, I’ll just eat the dish part by part, using my mouth as a blender for the food. TES believed that a good chef will take all the flavors on the dish into consideration so each mouthful you eat must consist of the same proportion of ingredients on the plate. For instance, in this case, every bite I must take in the duck meat, the rice and the salad. Times like this, I wish I am Julia Roberts or Angelina Jolie… big mouths.

Eating piece by piece, the taste was so-so but using TES’s theory, the taste improved tremendously. But while the taste was good, I didn’t like the toughness of the duck, or the hardness of the rice. It was difficult to cut the duck. However, towards the last two bites–I remember very vividly, two bites–strangely, the feeling of the common movie scene came back to me.

For dessert, French tradition Strawberry custard cake with “Signature” caramelized chocolate mousse with a coconut waffle didn’t pass TES’s theory. The three ingredients, tiny strawberries imported from Australia, cake and mousse, had distinct, conflicting and competing favors that didn’t go well together. But eaten on their own, one after the other, they were excellent, especially the chocolate mousse. If you notice I seldom or never use “to-die-for” to describe food. Seriously lah, need to die for food meh? But woah! was the mousse a relentless intensity and bitterness. Like love. It made me think of 14K. Good job.

Service: A Pinoy waiter, who spoke American English, was attentive and sweet, providing me a bag holder for my camera bag. But for the rest of the servers, while the service was efficient, they needed to smile more and be more friendly. Edith the Manager told us that two of her regular servers were ill, and some of these were newly employed to handle the Restaurant Week crowd. So perhaps that makes the difference in attitude.

Overall, good food approaching greatness, but still lacking in that elusive WOW-ness I’m searching for; efficient but perfunctory service; and I suspect the ambience will be better at night.

$132 for two, including foie gras $32.

for photos and more reviews, head to http://theendangeredsartorialist.wordpress.com/food-listings/

so i managed to snag a reservation at le saint julien during restaurant week on a coveted saturday lunch timing thanks to my dear online friend and fellow food blogger, Mr Wise Guy. and boy.. i really do have to thank him because it was really a splendid meal, but not exactly one i would venture to pay over 100 dollars per pax in a normal situation. ok let’s talk locale – le saint julien is sited inside the fullerton water boat house, a singular structure that is oddly situated at the intersection between esplanade bridge and the road leading to the padang, kinda ‘loosely’ connected to fullerton hotel. ambience wise, there is similarly an understated elegance within the restaurant that is very appealing. Wise Guy commented that the view was kinda sucky, which I agreed, considering that the restaurant had a ground-level view of the esplanade bay which was sadly obstructed by the esplanade bridge itself. this means, 40% of your visual field is the underbelly of a bridge. not very appealing imo. but ahh well, lack of view aside, the restaurant did exude a certain classy elegance.

i love the fact they sat us at a table with sufficient light that was angled in such a way that lit up the food perfectly for photography, so you’re gonna see more shots, because I was merrily snapping to the point where the manager lightly approached us and asked pleasantly whether we were professional photographers, to which we commented we were food bloggers. haha, i suspect this inspired more conversation and a better description of the food we were served, which was all the better i suppose. =) ok let’s get to the food.

appetizer: duo foie gras et poulet, terrine of foie gras and chicken with medley and mushroom and cress

LOVED THIS. this reminded me of the appetizer served in my favorite restaurant of all time, Enoteca Pitti Gola e Cantina. the dish was paired with brioche that was lightly toasted, and the combination of the sweetness from the brioche/caramelized onions along with the savory taste of the foie gras and the light crisp freshness of the mushrooms and cress worked perfectly and created a wholesome experience with every bite. i gravitated particularly to the sweet-savory pairing of the foie gras and the caramelized onions. a perfect starter. and can i comment on just how beautiful the plating is done? how can you not want to take a picture of such a dish?

appetizer #2: foie gras – pan seared duck liver with caramelized apple, glazed sauce of balsamic and honey



once again, amazing plating there. i noted that the apples came in both the caramelized darker brown chunky version and the non-caramelized shredded version, which was interesting and provided additional nuance, texture and sweetness to the dish. yet again, quite the classic pairing of sweet (the caramelized apples) with the savory (the foie gras). my initial impression upon a first sampling was that the dish was good, well.. at least, technically proficient, but not outstanding. Wise Guy likewise described it as competent. lol… that being said, i think the taste started to grow on you and the final few morsels were gulped down by me greedily. the duck foie gras did not feel any bit jelak or fatty and was tempered down with the apples and vegetables. good stuff.

mains: croustillant de canard – crispy rice with duck confit and truffle oil emulsion, with smoked duck breast sauce

delicious stuff once again – and the inclusion of the crispy rice was a nice fusion take of the traditional duck confit with dauphine potatoes. i thought the sauces in the dish blended perfectly well with the duck, whilst the vegetables added a slightly minty flavor to the dish. when taken all together, each bite was really quite the gastronomic experience. this being said, the duck confit was perhaps slightly tough and somewhat didn’t have enough flavor in itself inherently, though this was mitigated by the amazing sauce.

     dessert: clafoutis – french traditional strawberry custard cake with “signature” caramelized chocolate mousse

hmm, not a fan of the custard cake, which was kind of overwhelmed by the chocolate mousse and the strawberries (gotten from australia instead of america, so the flavors are more concentrated within the small berries, as explained by the manager). this dessert was somehow not meant to be mixed together to be eaten, as each component (less the custard cake) tasted really good by itself, especially the chocolate mousse. think the way to eat this is to sample a little of the chocolate mousse, then eat a strawberry with the lingering chocolatey taste in your mouth and eat a little of the custard etc.. haha, overall, not particularly impressive beisdes the chocolate mousse. sigh.. kinda wished that with such a superb appetizer and decent mains, the dessert would be out-of-this-world. but i suppose, lol.. too high expectations there.

overall, an excellent place for good contemporary french food in posh settings. this is the kind of place to bring your date to impress them sufficiently and then sojourn to like overeasy or lantern for some drinks. come here at least once. =) 8.0/10

for pictures: http://hungryinsingapore.wordpress.com/2011/10/15/le-saint-julien-lunch/

I’ve heard about Le Saint Julien being a top notch French restaurant, so when it participated in Restaurant Week, I had to try it.

We were seated at an isolated corner of the restaurant and the view we got wasn’t that of a bay, but of a walkway. It was filled with different groups of tourists, as observed throughout the hour long meal.

The 3 course menu was going at $40.00++. The usual price of set lunch at Le Saitn Julien is $58.00++.

The bread wasn’t too impressive. It was just the typical.

DUO FOIE GRAS ET POULET

Terrine of foie gras and chicken

Medley of mushrooms and celery cress

We were told that we could pair the foie gras and chicken terrine with the bread. Indeed, it tasted better than butter on bread. The fatty taste of foie gras was mild in this terrine and obviously will be better if the whole liver was pan seared instead of being made into terrine. However, the taste of it was good enough to make it the best among the 3 courses.

bisque de homard à l’aïoli, au gruyère et croûtons (small size) – $22.00++

lobster soup with garlic aioli, gruyere and toast (small size)

We had the lobster bisque ala carte. The lobster bisque was supposedly a signature dish of Le Saint Julien and there’s a newspaper article pasted at the restaurant’s entrance about how the chef used the lobster bisque’s recipe as a bait to propose to this wife. The lobster flavour of the bisque was there, but I felt the soup wasn’t flavourful enough in terms of thickness. Maybe a slab of butter would help it? Something along that line.

purée de pomme de terre au beurre d’Echiré – $12.00++

mashed potato with échiré butter

We ordered this ala carte too. The mashed potato, served in a cute little cocotte, was easily the best mashed potato we ever had. It was very smooth and creamy.

CROUSTILLANT DE CANARD

Crispy rice with duck confit and truffle oil emulsion

Smoked duck breast sauce

My dining partner had this. This looked promising but he claimed it wasn’t that good.

RAIE EN CROUTE

Garlic and parsley crusted skate fish

Méditerranéen Bouillabaisse sauce

This was my main course. Both the duck and the skate fish are on the normal set lunch menu too, by the way. The texture of the skate fish is similar to that of stingray, except that it has no bones. Generally there’s nothing wrong with this fish, but it’s just that this isn’t my preferred sort of fish. The parsley wasn’t gross (I usually hate parsley) as the taste was mild. The taste of garlic was strong though. The mash at the side contains bacon and the whole thing tastes like bacon. I preferred the mash potato in the cocotte.

CLAFOUTIS

French tradition Strawberry custard cake

“Signature” Caramelized chocolate mousse

Sadly, this dessert didn’t impress me at all. I’m usually most easily impressed by desserts but somehow, none of the desserts I’ve had during restaurant week stood out.

One MAJOR gripe that ruined my experience was the incompetent staff. It's located at a rather obscure location – Fullerton Waterboat House. Trust me, it's more obscure than it sounds.

I had difficulty locating Fullerton Waterboat House so I called up to check where it's near.

I asked the staff:

"is it near Fullerton Hotel?"

"err no"

"then is it near Fullerton BAY hotel?"

"err yes Fullerton Bay Hotel"

"so it's in Fullerton Bay Hotel?"

"yes"

So I went ahead to park near Fullerton Bay Hotel. And then the same person called up as I was late for my reservation. I told her I'm trying to find the place and I'm at Fullerton BAY Hotel. She told me it's just across the road. I asked:

"so it's opposite Fullerton Bay Hotel?"

"ok" [??? She replied OK to a yes or no question?]

I repeated my question and she said a "yes"

It turns out, it's totally NOT near Fullerton Bay Hotel but it's next to Fullerton Hotel! It's directly opposite One Fullerton. I had to walk some 700m to get there. And back.

Other than the incompetent reception staff, the servers weren't exactly providing good service either. We were seated at a rather isolated end of the restaurant and it was hard to get their attention. Some of them weren't warm or friendly.

The food failed to impress too, based on the hype of this restaurant. I guess a revisit is unlikely.

It has been quite sometime since I took my family there, but I still fondly remember the waitors' bright personality.

Le Saint Julian, an elegant and fine-dining French Restaurant at the Fullerton Boathouse. The view from the restaurant overlook the Esplanade and Sinagpore River. Do request seats by the window!

The Executive chef/ owner Julien Bompard went over to Julien Bompard at The Ascott and would head the kitchen during Dinner time. St Julien is now head by Stephane , the Chef de Cuisine.

Set lunch menu is priced @ $58++ and the menu changes monthly. Do take note that the portions are small and normally they do not showcase their best in their set lunch menu.

I had the set lunch but top up for the Signature Lobster Bisque.

French Baguette

Choice of Sourdough/ French baguette. I had the latter as I do not like the flaxseeds in the sourdough bread.

The baguette is crusty and had a chewy texture. It would be better if serve warm.

Nyon Olive Oil

The sommelier highlighter the olive oil, Nyon, which is from the chef’s hometown.

Not too bad, it taste similar to the Olive oil from Italy.

Signature Lobster Bisque ($28++)

This is a ”MUST-TRY” ! Do not leave St.Julien without trying this Lobster Bisque. Initially I had the set lunch which does not include the Lobster Bisque but since this is highly recommended, I decided to top up to try it.

The Lobster bisque uses everything from The Lobster- Head, Tail, meat…etc. They woould actually serve the bowl with lobster meat, , aioli and gruyere to you and pour the bisque over. By doing this, you could actually smell the aroma of the bisque.

Another shot

The Lobster bisque is rich and full of flavour. It is slightly smooth and creamy, this is one of the best Bisque that I have ever tried. They used quality ingredients in making this bisque to ensure it brings out the richness of the flavour of Lobster. This serves as a excellent starter before proceeding to the mains.

Le Saint Julien Mesclun Salad

This isn’t the usual salad leaves that you can always find/get .

The salad leaves were imported (unsure of the country) and this simple salad is refreshing!

It consits of finely chopped onions, mini radish, cherry tomatoes and belgium endives tossed in Lemon dressing / Walnut oil.

I like the simplicity and the quality of the salad leaves is one that I am looking for!

Grilled Snapper with spinach & fennel sauce with thyme

This was my choice of mains. Other popular choices would be the capellini pasta and Beef Tenderloin.

Choice of snapper/ barranmundi

This was not a wise choice…

The fish fillet actually contains some fish bones and even fish scales! This is the first time I had ever encounter eating fish scales in a fine-dining restauarnt.

There were some plus points as well:

1) The fish meat is quite soft and tender

2) I like the simple fennel and thyme sauce

Other than that, this was just an average dish, not something that I would return for.

Petite 4( Almond Financier & Chocolate truffles)

Some sweets to end…

The almond financier is crispy and has rasyberry jam in bewteen.

I simply love the chocolate truffles, they used good quality chocolate thus it has a bitter sweet taste and melts in my mouth. Yums!

It taste even better when you ahd it with a cuppa of coffee!

After hearing a lot of fuss about Saint Julien, I decided to splash a bit of cash and go there for an anniversary....well sadly my enthusiasm was met with much dissapointment.

There are a few things I hate about some restaurants...snobbery, bad service and of course bad food.

Certainly on the last front, I will not slam Saint J, the food was certainly good. Between myself and my partner we had the cured salmon, the foie gras, and we bot ordered the rack of lamb.

I used to, perhaps unfortunately, work in a professional kitchen - what this means is that I am impressed far less easily...if I think I can make it better at home then I feel a bit cheated. As for the starters, I do cure and smoke my own salmon, and both my partner and I agreed that mine was sadly tastier. As for the foie gras, yes it was good, but i've definitely had better. The fact that thet actually initially brough out the wrong order was a little disconcerting.

As for the rack of lamb, it was very good. I cannot complain...but I honestly think I can make it just as well (and did a few nights later) and know others who also can.....

I guess the problem is, is that when you end up paying $150 or over per person, you really expect to be blown away....not feel a gentle breeze.

I was also rather pissed off at being served probably about a 75ml serving of ChateauNeufduPape, which at $38 really annoyed me. For heaven sake, you can buy a decent 2005 or 2007 bottle retail for $60-70, Sheez.

I would be lying if I said the view wasn't great, but frankly I couldn't enjoy it...the whole place was practically silence and it sort of gave you an eerie feeling that you were conspiring and had to talk in whispers...like everyone else at the restaurant. A word comes to mind when describing the decorum - FUDDY DUDDY. I would like to have passed wind just to break the intensity of the place.

Good wine list but ridiculous prices...seriously guys, what is your margin 500%+?!

Service - TOO attentive...A rare complaint..but I swear everytime I looked up, even just to admire the view someone was never more than a few feet away to ask if I needed anything...Frankly it pissed me off....and they were all so bloody serious....Damn it people, smile for a change, I'm not going to eat you!

Frankly, I left the restaurant pretty hungry, dissapointed, and drowned my sorrows in more wine at home, which was much more pleasurable.

Not been back, no intention of doing so...unless someone else pays maybe....

Ambience is great. Service is good.

The only problem is the price, at least for ordinary people who earn avarage pay. I can go there only for a special occasion once a year or two.

The apperitif might be recommended at arrival. We were recommended Champagne and it turned out SGD36 per glass.

And a bottle of mineral water is another one to be noted. Waiters kept asking us if we like one. We gave in in the end and found that it was SGD12 per bottle.

And side dishs, which might be recommended in between the appetisers and main dishes, are also some extra push for the up-sale. It would be better to decide after the main dish as it could be too much in terms of both volume and cost.

In Singapore, for a person who knows the actual import prices of the wines, it is very difficult to pick one without hesitation. It is not an exceptional case at St. Jullian either.

You can spend as much as you like for wine - the selection of wine is great.

I beg to differ with some of the guys here that Saint Julien has inefficent service..that's totally untrue.. I'm very happy and in fact amazed by their service, except that sometimes good services can really get intrusive..The service was remarkable. The captain went through the menu with us section by section, recommending us their best dishes - the taste of some of the sauce in particular. One sentence which I remember particularly well course’ i found it alil funny. That is when he recommended the codfish, he went on to say how it is rich in Omega-3 which is good for the body and brain.. ;p

I was led to a window seat whose view allowed me to see Esplanade, Suntec, Meritus Mandarin, Conrad, Pan Pacific hotel, Mandarin Oriental and Singapore Flyer. Closer to view was the soothing slow waves of the waters with the occassional passing by of tourists boats. Laid on the table were sets of specific utensils which will be used for my birthday meal later. Sitting at the corner of our table was a candle lighted in a colourful candle-holder, surrounded by pearls necklaces and some christmas decorations.

a Captain was assigned to us will be attending us for the whole night!

Our appetiser was our favourite dish of the night. I think it will be one of my favourite foods from now on! The top of the Foie Gras was crispy and had the subtle taste of duck, not CHINESE duck! While the middle of it melts into your mouth when it enters. Oh my goodness~ Together with the tinge of crisp, melting center, Champagne sauce, and duck’s flavour..it was awesome. And each piece has to be savoured in small bits, so that i can get my imaginary maximal satisfaction out of it.. ;D

It’s garnished with pieces of caramelised/sweet apricots and vegetables which taste good with their dressing.. YUMMIE. FAVOURITE** i love to let it melt abit, and i’ll chew abit, melt abit, chew abit..

Bisque de homard et Saint Jacques à l’aïoli et croûtons

(Lobster bisque soup with sea scallop, garlic aïoli and croutons)

This is what I had for my soup! ~ Lobster Bisque Soup! Again, my first time havin Lobster Bisque soup, being a soup lover, I love it not being overly creamly and salty but still tasty. There were also crumbs of lobster meat in the soup. Croutons were still semi-crispy in the soup..yummie. According to Cheeky who had tried many others before, it is indeed a good lobster bisque coz it doesnt have the fishy smell..neither is it too milky that makes you nausea after having too much.. OMG. *what if i crave for this soup again?! No, Its not expensive!*

Look how the soup is served. It’s poured fresh and hot from the teapot. When soup is warm, it’s the nicest!

I was sorta stunned when I saw an empty bowl but entirely enchanted when I saw the soup being poured from the pot! *happy*

And cheeky’s middle course is Escargots, a frequent visitor for my birthday. Remember the one at Top of the M last year? This, rather than oven baked with cheese, it was baked with garlic and parsley. Seriously, it wouldnt have looked nice coz it’s green and dull! This escargot had a tougher taste and garlic lovers like cheeky loved it! *but i still prefer Top of the M’s one. Cheese makes it yummie........

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FOR FULL REVIEW ON OTHER FOOD.......AND PICTURES!.....

PLEASE REFER TO http://ddoodles.wordpress.com/2008/12/22/teary-birthday-le-saint-julien/