Jaan par André @ Swissotel Stamford

Back in 2008, André Chiang was recruited by Equinox to head Jaan as the restaurant's Chef de Cuisine. Chef André Chiang is a well known chef here in Singapore, and I believe maybe even in Asia too.

According to this Facebook website, he and his restaurant were recently awarded the following:

"Best restaurant in Asia #4" Miele Guide 2009
"Best restaurant in Singapore" Wine & Dine
"Best restaurant in Singapore" La Tribune, France
"Top 10 most influence power list 2009" Straits times"Top 10 People to look out" CNN.com
"Best restaurant of the year" Straits Times
"44 reasons to love Singapore" Sunday Times
"The Future of Dining" Business Times
"87 grands chefs etoilés" La martiniere
"Rising chef of the year 2009" World gourmet summit



Jaan has one of the best view in Singapore. Located on the 70th floor of Swissotel in downtown Singapore, you can see the entire Singapore downtown and Marina Bay area from the restaurant.



The Murano glass used to be the highlight of the restaurant. But age has taken a toll on the glass and during the daytime, it does not look as beautiful as it should in night time.



While flipping the menu, the serving staff brought us some crispy "sticks". The black colour is made with squid ink. Nothing special here, just something to nibble on.



The bread used to be very good here. However during lunch time on a Saturday, the bread that was served to us wasn't quite the standard we were expecting. The Onion roll is still good, but the other breads did not impress us.

We had the 3 courses set lunch at S$58++ inclusive of a bottle of mineral water and coffee or tea. and also the 5 courses seasonal menu at S$88++ inclusive of a bottle of mineral water and coffee or tea.



The first appetizer for the Seasonal Menu was the Shitsuoka tomato "sweet & sour", Madagascar vanilla. The tomato was sweet and juicy. Yet there were a little hints of sourness.



I like the appetizer for the Set Lunch, which is Baby marche salad, grilled quail breast with chorizo ice-cream, ratte potato confit and truffle braised mustard seeds. The grilled quail breast was juicy and flavourful. The mustard seeds braised in truffle was unique. I believe this is the 1st time I tried this in a restaurant. Was not used to the spicy and savoury chorizo ice-cream.



Grilled tuna belly "Otoro", smoked basil oil and aromatic charcoal powder. The tuna belly was very fresh. The the charcoal powder adds the "grilled" flavour to the tuna. The small cube of jellies is actually jellied teriyaki sauce. And also small Sakura flowers.






The name of this dish was not written on the menu, but I believe there was a little of Japanese Chawanmushi, Truffles reduction and Foie Gras jelly. The 3 flavours were in harmony and none steal the show from one another.



Although the seasonal menu only had 1 choice of mains, but diners can also choose another mains from the set lunch course instead. The 1st main was the Line-caught Atlantic wild sea-bass, smoked potato barigoule of poivrade artichoke scented with pastis. The sea-bass was both fresh and sweet.



I had the 36 hours roast short-ribs coated with aromatic charcoal, braised truffled polenta and Cevenne onion. Not sure if the ribs were really roasted for 36 hours, but the fats around the short ribs melted together with the tender meat. Polenta originated from Italy and is made from cornmeal.



We had the same dessert - Vintage chocolate spice ganache, milk marmalade ice-cream. I think next time I should order the Snickers 2009 version instead. This chocolate dessert didn't really excite my tastebuds this time round.



They serve coffee and tea after lunch. Had the TWG Rose tea. I am proud that TWG is a local brand with such high quality and standards.



Decaf-coffee with DIY coffee art.


Jaan par André
Swissotel Stamford
Level 70

Fiesta @ Festive Hotel, Resorts World Sentosa

With the opening of Singapore's 1st casino, truck loads of local and foreign gamblers have made themselves to Resorts World @ Sentosa. According to the Minister Mentor, Genting made nearly S$4 million on the first day of operation of the casino.



I did not play in the casino, so ended up spending much time having buffet at one of the hotel here in the resort.



The buffet here is best described as small variety, but quite good on quality. Some hits and misses, but overall the food is ok.



Parwns with Marie Rose sauce. I did not know what Marie Rose sauce was, so went to google for it. And guess what it was?

Marie Rose sauce is basically = Tomato ketchup + mayonnaise. A sauce which even a 7 year old could make. But I didn't care about the sauce. The prawns were crunchy and chilled to the correct cold temperature.



President butter. After coming back from France, I regard President butter as one of the best butter available here in Singapore. Glad to see lot's of it here.



The roasted lamb ribs were excellent. However, there was a strong gamey taste to it. I could still take the taste but I guess not everyone likes the smell. On the other hand, the roasted beef was not as good. Too dry and tough for me.



Sorry for the unclear photo, but this is Beef Bourguignon. A french dish where beef is braised in lot's of red wine, tomato paste and vegetables. I like the version here as the beef is very tender and the little white onions were sweet and juicy.



Cream pasta. OK for me. Nothing special.



Chicken Tomatican. I didn't take any of the sauce, only the chicken drumstick. Tasted pretty tender and flavourful. Strong hints of tomatoes here.



My cold appetizer creation.



My hot mains creation. Oh, there were also roast potatoes which I find it very good. But I was too full and only could take in 1 piece of the potato.



A portion of the baked snapper with Chablis sauce. Chablis sauce is actually a white wine reduction sauce and is usually cooked with seafood or white meat.



The very friendly ang mor manager keep pushing me to try a bowl of their black bean soup. Black bean soup? Isn't this usually served in prison only? Well, I took her advise and tried a bowl. Wow, this is good stuff. The soup must have been cooked for at least 4 to 5 hours. No weird black bean taste here. Very hearty and delicious. Good job for the soup department.



Fiesta
Festive Hotel,
Level 3
Resorts World Sentosa
Sentosa Island,
Singapore