Even though we have been to Julien Bompard for a few times, but we never been to their flagship restaurant at the Fullerton Waterboat House. And since Julien Bompard has closed down, we thought it is a good time now for us to revisit our old friends who are now working in Le Saint Julien.
Long before all the celebrity chefs came to Singapore, Le Saint Julien is one of the few places where you can expect good French food to be served in an old world-ish Paris environment. I still remembered the Waterboat House used to have a merlion souvenir shop before the Merlion moved over to the other side. Now, it's a French restaurant and a rooftop bar.
Although the restaurant is located next to the busy Esplanade bridge, but you will not hear the rumbling of the vehicles. Instead, diners are treated to a wonderful view of the entire Esplanade bay.
There was a special promotion going on for Perrier Jouet, and we ordered 2 glasses of Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque (S$34 per glass). It was served in a matching Perrier Jouet commissioned flute.
There was a limited edition Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque serving table at the centre of the restaurant, which was designed by Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance. And it is now exclusively on display at Le Saint Julien.
Complimentary small bites to go with the champagne.
Our proper dinner started with bread rolls. For our dinner, we ordered a St. Julien Set Dinner (S$168) for 1, plus additional ala carte orders.
First, we had a platter of oysters from France - Fines de Claire No. 3 (S$8 per piece), Ecaille d'argent (S$10 per piece) and Belon (S$14 per piece). My favourite was the Belon oyster which was fresh and creamy.
There were condiments to go with the oysters such as red wine sauce, and vinegar sauce. Plus the usual lemon wedges.
Tio Pepe (S$22 per glass), sherry - taste is not too sweet
Another complimentary Amuse Bouche from the chef for our dinner.
Next up was the flavourful Seafood Bisque (S$29). The soup is poured from a kettle while the fresh seafood sits in the shallow bowl.
From the set dinner, 3 appetizers were served. The first was the Medley of crab meat and seafood with orange dressing. Different toppings on the crab meat including caviar and truffle mousse.
The second sherry we had was this Harvey's Bristol Cream (S$22 per glass) - sweeter than the previous sherry.
A shot of the sherry in a glass.
The second appetizer from the set was the Roast Hokkaido Sea Scallop with sauteed mushrooms and Merlot wine sauce. This was a favourite between us because of the really sweet scallop used, and the tasty Merlot wine sauce with mushrooms.
The third appetizer from the set was the duo of seared duck liver with slow cooked quail egg and black truffle from "Perigord". Anyone who finds foie gras too oily will like their version. Here, the duck liver is seared so that the outside is crisp but not too dry. The inside is still creamy, but less oily than other version I have tried.
Our ala-carte main course was the Roast veal loin with morels, demi-glace jus with port wine (S$62). The meat was juicy and tender, and the sweet port wine glace went well with the meat.
Braised veal cheek with medley of spring vegetables and rosemary sauce was the main course from the set dinner. It's amazing how tender and juicy the veal cheek was. It literally melted in my mouth. And the spring vegetables were also wonderfully sweet.
To go with the beef, we had the White Asparagus (S$36) with horseradish sauce. The sweet asparagus was juicy and tender but not mushy.
In recent times, most of our meals ended with the Cheese trolley. And it is no exception here at Le Saint Julien. The service staffs were all very knowledgeable with the cheese served in their restaurant.
Le Saint Julien had this wine dispenser machine which allowed the wines to be served by glasses without compromising their taste. I believe this is the first time I have seen such a machine in Singapore.
From the dispenser, we had the Silval Port 97 (S$32 per glass)
Desserts from the set dinner: Assortment of cherry and kirsch with rolled crepe, home-made vanilla ice-cream. I didn't think the dessert was their forte. But it was not bad.
From the cheese trolley, we had a Cheese platter with 5 cheese selected by us. Some dried fruits were served to go with the cheese.
The final item from the set dinner was Tea which was served together with this cow milk jug which I remembered fondly from Julien Bompard...
and of course, the Petit Fours.
Le Saint Julien3 Fullerton Road,
#02-02
The Fullerton Waterboat House
