Saturday, May 01, 2010

Saint Pierre, Central Mall

Saint Pierre
This degustation dinner at St Pierre (3 Magazine Road, #01-01 Central Mall, tel : +65 6438 0887) had been a voyage of so many flavours that I'm at a loss on how to start describing. From the Parma ham and Parmesan crusted bread sticks, sun dried tomato crisps to the breaded sticks of fried sardines to be dipped in aioli, to the peach coloured droplets of full bodied salmon mousse or the salted French butter, every item was prepared with considerable care for flavours. And those were just amuse bouche.

To be fair, not everything was bogglingly good. There were things that probably would have made one go "it wasn't too bad" or "I'm not sure I'm too impressed with this". Still, the after dinner satisfaction spoke some about my impression with the food quality and the service.

Saint Pierre, bread
Saint Pierre, lobster cannellonibasil scented cannelloni of lobster & scallop mousse with tarragon cream and confit of new carrot

Saint Pierre, briochebrioche

Saint Pierre, foie grasclassic pan-fried foie gras with caramelised green apples and old port sauce

I've heard quite a bit about St. Pierre and their foie gras. This might not have been their best representation as it wasn't as quivery as I would have liked for an ideal doneness. The flavours were intense and aromatic and I thought it was a pity that they were slightly overcooked.

Saint Pierre, foie gras terrinearmagnac marinated foie gras terrine with homemade brioche, shallot marmalade and Japanese cress salad

The foie gras terrine here was probably the best that I've had so far. There was a depth of creaminess in the texture that I've never encountered for any other similar terrines and the Armagnac marination of the liver enhanced gave the liver a pleasant depth. 

Saint Pierre, eggssoft poached egg with zita pasta, green asparagus, iberico ham and matsutake mushroom duxelle

This one definitely one of my favourites for the night because of the simplicity of the individual flavour of the component and also in spite of the fact that the poached egg had a totally solid yolk. The asparagus was poached with a nice crunch and paired off very well with the aromatic and salty Iberico ham; basically the two stars of the plate for me.

Saint Pierre, risottorisotto of momotaro tomato confit, chorizo & sea urchin with baby squid tempura and parmesan emulsion

Did not expect the taste of the risotto reminded me of glutinous rice dumplings. Didn't expect also for the chorizos to taste like lup cheong. Based on the ingredients that were listed for the risotto, I had no idea how things turned up that way. There wasn't any baby squid tempura in there.

Saint Pierre, fishbutter roasted john dory with late season truffle puree, baby leeks, ratte potatoes and champagne emulsion

This was good stuff. But I was quite sure that the truffle puree had more than a little bit to do with that.

Saint Pierre, breadmore bread with olive tapenade

Saint Pierre, lambroasted lamb rack with smoked eggplant, asian spiced courgette, macadamia nut and stuffed baby zucchini

Properly done roast lambs where it retained enough the natural flavour of the meat. I believe in the natural flavour from lamb or otherwise, there wouldn't be a point to eating them at all. This rendition from St. Pierre was pink and superb. For all I've said, the best praise I suppose would be that I would order them again.

Saint Pierre, beef short rib72-hour braised beef short rib with garlic puree, roasted onions, spring vegetable and lime scented sugar

Probably the best beef rib I've come across. Not that I've eaten a lot of them. The inside of the braised ribs was the vibrant shade of pink of medium rare. The texture of the meat was tender. Everything else about it sort of became secondary.

Saint Pierre, pre dessertpre dessert

Saint Pierre, dessertlemon parfait with lemon cream, rosemary crumble, yoghurt sorbet and lemon cress

Saint Pierre, petit fourspetit fours

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