Both are located side by side at Hotel Michael. Their entrance is next to the Lake of Dreams in Resorts World Sentosa. As it is always full every night (they don't serve lunch for the time being), it is highly recommended you book about 1 week in advance.
Diners here consists of 50% tourists from western countries, and another 50% from Asia including locals. This just show how powerful the branding of the name "Joël Robuchon" is. In fact, a German tourist couple who have just returned from L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Paris was here at the Singapore outpost again to enjoy the experience. Diners sit around the kitchen bar which is decorated in the red and black colours, and don't be surprised when the diner next to you start to talk with you about your experiences here, because diners are encouraged to chat with their newly made friends throughout the night.
There is both ala carte and the signature Discovery Menu - S$250. Would recommend first timers to order the Discovery Menu as you get to taste their signature dishes without having to eat the full portion.
The meal started promptly with the Amuse Bouche - Foie Gras Custard with red Porto wine and Parmesan Foam. It's creamy and smooth.
The bread basket was truly the largest bread basket I have ever been served. It's given to every single diner for both ala carte and set meals. I read that these breads were specially baked by their in-house baker chef Yoshihiko Tauchi, who combines the best of Japanese baking technique on these French breads. Do ask for butter as they do not usually serve them together with the bread.
King Crab on Thin Layers of Turnip with Sweet and Sour Sauce - The king crab was really sweet and the sweet sour sauce added a "tropical" taste to it.
The Green Asparagus Skewer with quail egg done sunny side up and morels was done quite creatively where the asparagus was skewered and topped with a sunny side quail egg with the egg yolk still runny. I like the mushrooms by the side too which had hints of truffles.
Foie Gras lover will enjoy the huge piece of seared duck Foie Gras with a citrus gratin. The tangy citrus gratin helped to balance out the rich foie gras.
We really like the Daikon veloute flavoured with citrus oil. According to our friendly and chatty service staff, no cream and butter and flour were added to make the soup creamy. Everything was thickened with the goodness of the Daikon. Again, the citrus oil complimented the thick and creamy soup.
Another skewered dish - Salmon's shot of belly with potato grenaille in "Gravlax" style. The salmon was fresh and sweet. Some spices were sprinkled to create an almost "caribbean" taste to it.
As we ordered 2 Discovery Sets, therefore we get to enjoy and share both the mains. First was the French-style hanger steak with fried shallots. The steak was really tender and juicy. Pity it came in a small portion. The hanger steak is actually the cut at the diaphragm of a steer, which is considered to be the most flavourful part of the cattle.
The other main course was this Foie Gras filled free-range quail with mashed potatoes. Now this was equally outstanding. Foie Gras was stuffed in the quail, so that the quail remains juicy and flavourful during cooking.
We were both given 2 servings of the superbly creamy L'atelier's famous mashed potato . You can really taste the generous amount of French butter being mashed together with the potatoes.
Ordered an extra Calvados (S$24 per glass) 15 years extra vieux "extra old" to go with the red meats.
It's dessert time. First up is their beautiful red berries spiced coulis with Victoria pineapple sorbet. It has nice crunchy bits added to this dessert and will "fizz" inside your mouth. Not too sour but not too sweet too.
Chocolate lovers wil dig this roasted hazelnut dacquoise, creamy Caribbean chocolate. The dacquoise had layers of almond and hazelnut meringue plus chocolate whipped cream.
And the set came with tea (ordered TWG's Vanilla Bourbon Tea) escorted with a sweet. Had a light calming fragrant taste to it.
Before we left, saw Ong Beng Seng there eating too.
We really enjoyed ourselves here at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon with the food, service and of course the interaction among diners.
And do look out for next week when we will review the Joël Robuchon Fine Dining located just next door.
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon
Hotel Michael
Level 1,
8 Sentosa Gateway,
Resorts World Sentosa