Chef Gunther was previously from Les Amis, and it was partly due to him who brought up Les Amis ranking in various international best restaurant to the top 100 restaurant in the world.
Diners are greeted with this bar counter when the arrive. Usually they will be ushered to the small lounge while their tables are being set up inside.
The deco of the restaurant is best described as chic and modern.
Diners can see one whole Spanish Ham on display next to the lounge.
Upon seated at the table, the manager will wheel out their special food produce of the day. Available on that day are French mushrooms, Japanese strawberries, Lobster, Alaska crab legs among others.
There is also a special set lunch (S$38++) which includes an appetizer, main course, dessert and coffee or tea. I ordered the set lunch which I felt was worth the money.
The mini Baguatte was fresh and warm. And the butter is creamy and of top quality. The service staff at Gunther's will keep coming round to refill your butter and bread throughout your entire meal.
One of their top signature appetizer - Cold Angel hair pasta with Oscietra caviar (S$60). Chilled springy pasta mixed with top grade caviar. The caviar is from the Osetra sturgeon and is a highly prized caviar for its nutty taste. The Osetra strurgeon is now facing extinction and the majority of this caviar is produced in Israel. The taste of both the pasta and caviar are in harmony with one another with hints of truffle oil. Portions are deliberately kept small so that diners can savour the different tastes better.
My portion of the Cold Angel hair pasta, tomato, Mozarella Cheese from the set was equally good. The cold Mozarella Cheese was really fresh and splashes of balsamic vinegar was also added to spice up the pasta.
The 2nd ala-carte dish we ordered was the clear tomato soup, fresh seafood Bouillabaisse style (S$28). The soup was good, but nothing exciting.
The Spanish ham, French mushrooms (Pied de Mouton) on crispy potato from the ala-carte menu was our last appetizer dish before the mains. The base was made from crispy potato (in case you are wondering, it tastes nothing like potato chips). I like the French mushrooms which was juicy and had quite a bite. The Spanish ham was good too.
Our ala-carte order of the Coquille of pasta, grilled Kurobuta pork shoulder, truffle juice, Parmesan Cheese (S$38) for main course. It was quite a huge serving and we were quite satisfied with Gunther's version of the Kurobuta pork.
I choose the Gunther's creation - Stewed lamb with ring of mashed potato for my main dish in the set lunch. It was a good choice as the mutton meat were very tender and flavourful after being braised for hours. The white ring is actually freshly made mashed potatoes.
The set came with the Mango sorbet as dessert. Not too sour and surprisingly very creamy.
Also had Fresh Japanese strawberries with cream from the ala-carte menu.
Sweet cream is always serve with strawberries because: 1) They reduce the acidity of the strawberry and 2) makes the dish sweeter.
Ended my set lunch with a complimentary serving of coffee. I was very interested by the special metal cups used.
Also ordered a glass of 2004 South African sweet wine.
We still have room for more desserts. And nobody should really leave Gunther's without having a slice of their signature fine apple tart "a la dragees" and Havana rum raisin ice-cream. (S$20)
The crust of the tart was filled with almonds candies while the centre had thinly sliced apples. Once you have eaten Gunther's version of the apple tart, you will feel that all apple tarts serve elsewhere are inferior to that of Gunther's.
The tart was also served with a scoop of rum and raisins ice-cream, which I find is just ok.
Petite Four to go with our drinks.
Canelé which looks like a mini "Huat Kuay" was the best. It was very crispy on the outside yet moist and soft in the inside.
Gunther's
36 Purvis Street
#01-03
Talib Centre