Met up w Z and we head down to Les Amis for lunch. Being one of Asia’s top 50 restaurants, I think there’s a certain expectation of this popular fine-dining restaurant. And being Les Amis, I always wanted to try it. haha so with a new chef and a new menu, I armed myself with my trusty iphone 5s (hee) and a hungry stomach.

The bread basket w 5 different kind of bread

Z loves the butter bun here for its soft and buttery texture. But I prefer the baguette w ham & the baguette on the other hand. The olive bread was interesting but I ain’t a big fan of olive. And the sour dough, I didn’t get to try it cos the appetizer arrived.

We went for the $60 course and it left us feeling soooo full after that. I realised they did a fusion of Japanese and French for this set which works well in some way. Yet I would prefer they stick w French all the way. Sometimes, thinking too ‘out of the box’ might just backfire.

Maki of Smoked Salmon & Celeriac Julienne

Interesting the use of maki here was the incorporation of celery strands. Honestly, I thought each ingredient stood out on its own without really complementing each other. The plating of wasabi to make it look like a Japanese dish kinda fail since I don’t even taste the wasabi at all. (FYI, I don’t take wasabi. So if I mentioned there’s no taste, there’s REALLY no taste)

Foie Gras Anago

I love foie gras. So I was anticipating the surprise here. The combination of the foie gras and anago eel works well, strangely. And then again, even though the foie gras and anago eel works perfectly fine, I don’t quite get the white sauce that was on the side.

Seared Japanese Scallop w Teriyaki Sauce

Z doesn’t take foie gras so they had this changed to scallop. I don’t quite like it as it was tepanyaki seared. So it wasn’t the texture I was looking for. I’m not saying this is a bad dish, but just different preference.

Traditional Tartare of Flap Steak, w Potato Fries

My main. It was my first time having beef tartare and I had to say I enjoy this alot. Beautifully plated, it was not only well seasoned but you don’t get sick of it. If you like tartare, give this a try.

The idea of the dish was a deconstructed burger, which was pretty cute

Angelhair pasta w Lobster, Crispy Sakura Ebi & Touch of Parmesan

Z’s main. It was too salty. Like seriously spammed with salt.

Mango Ice cream topped with Coconut Crisp

Nothing too fancy. Love the crispy coconut biscuit though

Candied Whole Mikan w Different Textures

Had one of the mango icecream changed to Chef Cheryl’s Mikan (with additional charges). So the layers concluded of mikan (as the outer layer), panna cotta & orange sorbet (which was inside) along with earl grey jelly at the bottom

Here, doesn’t look glamourous, but you get the idea.

You have to sample everything at one go. So your spoon has to be filled with mikan, panna cotta & sorbet in order to fully appreciate the whole dessert. If not, it will just be different desserts on its own. But be warned, the sorbet is really really cold.

Apricot & Soursop Sorbet

This was the post dessert, which was abit strange in my opinion. Definitely preferred to have some pastry to go along with the tea (which was really good) instead of a sorbet. Nothing too special on the sorbet though.

In all, I don’t know if my expectations were too high or cos they are still fixing things around with a new chef. Food was not bad, but not exceptional. It’s the kind of restaurant you feel that you have to go once in your lifetime but after trying it, you will never return. Yet, I had to give them credits on their finesse and service. And also, looking at the list of Asia’s top 50 restaurants and comparing them to restaurants in Hong Kong, Les Amis’s pricing was much reasonable and competitive.

Looking forward to reviewing the next restaurant under Les Amis Group.

Les Amis

#02-16, Shaw Centre, 1 Scotts Road S(228208)