Chef Andre was there when we went there for a dinner one Sunday night. And he gamely posed for our blog before he went in to whip up his masterpieces.
The restaurant is pretty small. Not a good place for candlelight dinner. Instead, this restaurant is hoping to create a "home" feeling to it and you feel like you are dining in Andre's house among his other friends.
Our first Amuse Bouche - Chicken skin Masala, which was crispy. The skin was "clipped" into place by 2 black containers. Interesting presentation and we loved this a lot.
The second Amuse Bouche was a trio platter with Onion truffle tart, Pop corn vanilla spread and Amberjack tartar. The truffle tart was aromatic, crisp and light, while the pop corn with vanilla spread had a creamy texture.
The choice of wine for our dinner was Lapierre Morgon 2009 (S$113 per bottle)
With our wine, the actual 8 courses dinner starts. Each of the course is given a special name and the ingredients reflect the name.
Pure - Scallop ravioli with Japanese chives, dill flower and purple cauliflower consume. What is interesting is that the chef uses no seasoning for this dish.
Salt - This dish wants to allow diners to have a taste of the ocean's flavour. And what we had was a French oyster with seaweed which has been mixed into a jelly with the original seawater from inside the oyster, seagrape and Granny Smith Apple. No salt was used to create this dish. It's refreshing, and people who do not like the "fishy' taste of oysters will be glad to know that the oysters here are very fresh and sweet.
Before I forget, we were also served wheat bread freshly baked in the kitchen.
Artisan - Charcoal grilled Baby corn from Taipei, Milk and yogurt creme anglaise. This is a dish which reminded the chef of his hometown in Taiwan and for this, he specially used baby corn grown in Taiwan. Those who like to eat grilled corn will know how aromatic the aroma is when it is served right off the grill.
The next dish, South, came as a special 2 tier dish. The bottom tier was this beautiful presentation of Tomatoes with Japanese seaweed and fish slices.
The top tier was another winner - Risotto with Spanish prawn head and fish
Texture - Here, Chef Andre served up a Squid ink risotto and cauliflower puree
You would have thought that the squid ink was black and the risotto was white. But actually, the squid is the white colour item, while the rissoto was cooked with squid ink and baked into a thin crisp crust to "cover" the squid with cauliflower puree.
Unique - This is comfort food at its best: Black truffle with Iberico ham. The service staff first brought out a bowl with the ingredients to explain that the egg was no ordinary egg, but from a black chicken. And they are baked at 56 degrees amongst rock salt.
And what you get is the above with very generous slices of black truffle.
Memory - This dish was Chef Andre's original creation back in 1998 and even though he has moved from Jaan to his current restaurant, this dish has followed him here. Black truffle coulees and foei gras jelly are the main items in this dish.
The last was Terroir, where ingredients from different regions were brought together to create this dish. Here we have Milk fed lamb from wales, green peas, olives, garlic and crosnes (pronounced as crones, rare rooted vegetable).
After the meal, we were served cheese from Bernard Antony. Bernard Antony only provides cheese to the top restaurants in the world, such as Alain Ducasse. And here in Singapore, his cheese is only supplied to 1 restaurant - Andre. Accompanying the cheese are preserved fruits like prunes and apricot.
Dessert is a chocoholic's dream come true - Tonka bean, chocolate sphere, spicy chocolate powder with vanilla bean ice-cream.
We truly had a magical time at Andre, and at S$288 per person, the food here is worth every single cent.
Andre
41 Bukit Pasoh Road