Les Amis
1 Scotts Road
Singapore
$$$$$$

Les Amis

The bar where we waited before being seated

Les Amis is Singapore’s most famous French restaurant, where you can apparently “Mingle with Singaporean tycoons and celebrities at the island’s finest French restaurant.” We are neither, but that certainly didn’t stop us 😉 Helmed by Chef Gunther Hubrechsen, it has minimalist decor and famed for it’s French cuisine. It was my restaurant of choice for Mum’s birthday present and Dad’s quasi birthday present. And not to sound like a stingy bastard or anything, but it honestly had the most expensive menu I’ve ever seen. Such as $60 for an EGG!! Okay, granted it came with truffles, but still mind-boggling. But I figure since we don’t get together much for a nice meal, once or twice a year of all-out dining can’t go wrong 🙂 They’re also the only Singaporean restaurant to win a prestigious Wine award (which I’ve forgotten, haha).. but only Dad got a glass of wine (which was $27, good grief!), whilst Mum and I opted for a Cranberry juice and Carrot juice respectively.

Carrot juice and Cranberry juice


The service was, of course, super. Insanely attentive and prompt, and also really discrete. Beautiful, understated decor but a bit hoity-toity so it was hard having to speak quietly 😉 Anyway, we kicked off with the Amuse Bouche of Profiteroles. I didn’t catch what the filling was, but it was a savoury cream, which was a bit bizzare! The pastry was buttery and lovely, served at room temperature. Also had some Walnut bread – I am NOT a bread fan but went through half a slice, which really speaks to the fact that it was really good 😉

Walnut bread, served warm

Amuse Bouche of Profiteroles

For the Appetizer, I opted for Roasted Portobello Mushroom, egg sunny side-up with Italian pancetta. It was filling and almost ‘meaty’ in texture – the mushroom was moist and full of rich flavour, and the egg was so creamy! The waiter had previously gone on and on about their special eggs – with added calcium and imported from France (!) and such.. I was a bit amused, I mean, an egg is an egg, right? But I have to admit the creamy texture of this ‘special’ egg really was divine. Mum and Dad each had the Beaune style escargot which was basically snails in a creamy white wine sauce. They were really generous with the snails, and the rich gravy was so delicious. I stole a few snails off mum 🙂

Roasted Portobello Mushroom, egg sunny side-up with Italian pancetta

Beaune style escargot

Mains was Pan-Roasted Duck Breast, Braised Endives and Potato Mash. It came larger than I’d expected, so it turned out to be quite a meaty and filling main! I thought the duck could’ve been more tender, it had the texture of pork whereas I was expecting something more along the line of a melty shank-type meat. The Endives weren’t terribly interesting (because veggies never are) but I ate it nevertheless. The Pan-Fried Seabream, Bouillabaisse style that Mum had was lovely – the fish was super moist and smooth and the sauce not too overpowering. Dad’s was the Angel Hair Pasta with Lobster, Crab and Mushrooms. A super choice because the dish was blimmin’ awesome – there was no masses of cream/sauce to take away from the delicate flavour of the seafood. Instead, it was a very light olive/truffile(?) oil that was tossed through the pasta, heaped with fresh lobster and crab meat. Delicious! According to Dad, “They should give double the portion!”.

Pan-Roasted Duck Breast, Braised Endives and Potato Mash

Pan-Fried Seabream, Bouillabaisse style

Angel Hair Pasta with Lobster, Crab and Mushrooms

Solemnly tucking into my main

Dessert was Assorted French Farm Cheese, which caught my eye because I’m a fan of cheese – even the smelly kind 😉 Surprisingly, 2 out of the 3 cheese were REALLY smelly! Much to Mum and Dad’s distaste, I think 😛 They were really whiffy and strong, haha. And the 2 soft cheeses came with a hefty 45% fat content, yikes! I did like the hard cheese best – it was almost sweet compared to the other 2 and really mild on the palette. They were great paired with warm crusty bread. The Homemade Champagne Sorbet was delicious too – chilled and a great palette cleanser.. with a really distinct taste/smell of champagne. A great way to end the meal.

Assorted French Farm Cheese

Homemade Champagne Sorbet

When I made the reservation, I mentioned it was also for Dad’s birthday.. and they gave him a surprise Birthday mousse cake for dessert, on the house! So delightful 🙂 It was a fluffy sponge cake encasing a delicious chilled mousse and dusted with cocoa powder, and topped with a sheet of chocolate and berries. We each had a small slice and even though I normally don’t like mousse/cakes, I polished this one off pronto 😉

HAPPY BIRTHDAY dad!

Birthday mousse cake

Looking grumpy again

We were served Italian coffees and Madeleines to finish off the meal. The coffee was rich and had a fantastic aftertaste, it didn’t even need that much sugar. I wish they’d given more Madeleines though, as they were so moist and yum, one per person just wasn’t enough 😉

Italian coffees

Madeleines

Our family!

Was stuffed afterwards.. but it was a really special meal. It was awesome to be able to take Mum and Dad there! The only silly thing was that I didn’t realise (or rather, forgot) that Singapore has this 10% service charge that’s auto-added to your bill, so you’re essentially ‘forced’ to give a tip. Well, silly me put ANOTHER tip on the bill.. so I ended up giving like a $45 tip in the end. YIKES!! When Dad pointed it out I’d already written it down, so I couldn’t exactly go back and scribble it out 😉 No prizes for guessing why they were soooooooooooo nice to us on our way out 😛 Oh well, I figure it’s like I ended up paying for Dad’s birthday cake anyhow, so it’s not too bad. But we had a great time, and I’ve decided that I’m definitely bringing them to a super-nice meal more often. Next up will be Icebergs @ Bondi when they’re next in Australia!