Upon entering we were immediately fed THREE amuse-bouche! First, a foie gras pate with bread – those cocktail size, very tiny – but soooo delicious. The pate was so soft and molten, contrasting with the crispy of toast bread (like Ya Kun). This one packed a punch! Second, two squares of waffles with melted mozzarella on top – still warm. Third came as a surprise.

It was a spring onion, cucumber soup, very refreshing. The soup was light broth, tasted quite like the Chinese winter melon soup and the crunching cucumber and spring onions provided a different texture. But SURPRISE! beneath was a nail-sized samosa – by nail-sized, I mean baby’s nail. Put the whole thing in my mouth – and WOW it burst! I turned to my sister and said, “Shut up! I don’t want to talk right now. I want to savor the taste.” We were quiet for seconds as I rolled the samosa all over my mouth, unwilling to swallow it. SO AMAZING. The thing is, I cannot describe the taste, I have never eaten anything like it. It was not curry. But it was.. I dunno, like an atomic bomb, so tiny but it explodes so widely across a spectrum of sweetness, saltiness. I cried eating this. Seriously.

First dish: Mosaic of Poulard (a young hen), foie gras, artichoke, black truffle with black truffle vinaigrette. Look at how beautiful the plate is. Looks like a bee doesn’t it? It came with a toast (like ya kun bread). The waiter didn’t instruct how to eat it – so I treated the mosaic as a pate, a spread, which didn’t quite work. Nevertheless, it was astounding good. The musky truffle, the earthiness of artichoke, the saltiness of poulard, and the creamy foie gras and the slightly acrid vinaigrette – come on! HOW DELICIOUS does it sound already.

Next: Atlantic black cod with mussels (from one place) and oysters (from another). This is our least favorite because it was quite tasteless and we had to add salt to the fish. The mussels were tough but the oysters were like grapes. Put in your mouth, gently press your tongue against the roof of your mouth – and it explodes! The juice of oyster filling the entire mouth. Good quality.

Artichoke and black truffle soup (with 3 slices of mozerella, melted into the soup) and a piece of black truffle, eaten with toasted mushroom brioche with black truffle butter. You eat this like at home, dunk the bread into the soup and eat the bread. MIND-BLOWING. My sister’s bread was charred but mine was perfect, very crispy on the outside and it was so fragrant. The scent of freshly baked bread with butter – so wonderful. You dip the soup and eat the bread – there was a taste different from drinking the soup itself, which tasted like black fungus. This is the specialty of the restaurant – but although it cannot be compared to the samosa, I can drink a tub of this. You can get more of the brioche for free, I think.

By this time, after so much food, and so much complimentary free-flow bread (i had three!), we were stuffed – but here comes the main. Veal from Holland. I like veal to be medium-rare but the waiter said the chef recommended medium – so okay. But here it came..and it was medium rare. Guess our definitions of rare differ? A table of two gets a whole chunk of meat. No kidding. So much meat. Some parts were so tender and juicy and chewy but some parts were tough – I am guessing it depends on the parts of the veal. Again, free flow of mashed potato. Very creamy and viscous with a piece of black truffle. This won’t beat the samosa or the soup but it was pretty damn good, and satisfying.

Before dessert, there is an amuse bouche of dessert! I didn’t take the photo, but it was a shot glass – at the bottom is cream, second layer is strawberry bits, and the top is crushed strawberry ice. It perked us up! So refreshing and cooling, a little sourish, which renewed our appetite but it was also sweet.

Then dessert.

Three silvers of chocolate fondant. I love it. the bitterness of the creamy chocolate was balanced by the sweet biscuity hazelnut base. But after so much food, the dessert felt too rich for us.

And then!

And then! MORE. My sister asked the waiter, “What? You’re still feeding us?” The last dessert – the waiter gave us a sourish sorbet, he said, to “help in digestion.” Again, very refreshing at the end of a meal.

The service was immaculate. When my sister stood up to take photo with the cart, three waiters rushed to her to pull her chair out. The waiters were friendly without encroaching on our privacy; they have the perfect balance of friendliness and service. By the end of dinner, I who lived in a country that does tipping for some time, said to my sis, “Shall we tip them? I feel obliged to tip them! They are so professional.”

The decor isn’t much to shout at – but it was quiet at least.

If you drive, there is free complimentary parking coupon. Ask for it.

All in all, this is one of the best fine dining experience I have. I’d definitely go back again once I save enough – which means, in the next 5 years. $330 per person for the set menu (but we are teetotalers). Worth every penny.

Marina Bay Sands

Casino #02-01

Tel: 6688 8513

Dinner: 6pm-1015pm