JAAN by Kirk Westaway

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Finally had a chance to visit the widely mentioned JAAN restaurant, which is located on level 70 of the Swissotel Singapore. The restaurant is really small, and it looks like they can only hold 40 or maybe slightly more customers. Hence, it is always recommended you make a reservation before your visit.We ordered the $68 3 course lunch menu, which was specially crafted by JAAN’s Chef de Cuisine Julien Royer, as part of the artisanal menu in year 2015. First up, little snacks were served.Wooden blocks held the delicate cereal tuiles, which apparently come from France and are custom made specially for JAAN. I loved its combination with Chef Julien's rendition of Hummus, which proved to be a lovely spread for the thin, crisp wafers. After the little warm-up starter snacks, we were served with the Amuse-bouche. Another lovely platter served on a black rock display plate, as pre-meal little bites to warm up the palate. One of my favourite snacks is Chef Julian's version of our local Kueh Pie Tee, filled with Kurobuta pork remoulade and grain mustard. Gone in a mouthful, but super yummy!We were then made to choose our freshly baked bread, which was nicely served with a little pretty pyramid of hand churned Jean-yves bordier butter and some loose salt on the side.For the appetiser, I had the Marbré of Foie Gras & Bresse Chicken (additional $10). It was also served with a lovely black truffle brioche~ My friend had the beetroot collection - burrata 'artigiana', honeycomb and horseradish. A really lovely combination, you'll find yourself wanting a second helping!For the main course, she had the Confit Rainbow Trout, which looks exactly like Salmon. But the dish was still a smooth eat, no doubt....while I had the Roasted Venison Saddle (additional $15). The meat was tender, with no blood leaking out while I eat. ‘Mulled-wine’ pear, celeriac, sauce ‘poivrade’.Finally, on to desserts!I had the Chestnut 'Delice', a combination of speculoos (a type of shortbread), eglantine and tahiti vanilla.My friend had the Pear Gourmandise - served with nougatine, shards of gingerbread, tonka bean ice cream and caramel! Cold and delicious.For the petit fours, we wrapped it up with caneles bordelais, coconut marshmellows, mushroom macarons, and toffee & rosemary smoked lollipops! Can I just say that I love the lollipops? It was very very well done. It was my first time eating mushroom macarons (what? mushroom?! Yes, mushroom). It wasn't overbearing and it was a lovely light hint of mushroom peeking out, and the flavours went well.If you need visual feasting for your soul and a lovely experience overall, I recommend you to visit JAAN one day, it's best for special occasions and for days you want to pamper yourself, to eat and to be treated as royalty. There's just so many complex flavours in the set and it is a complete palate pleaser. continue reading

Jaan is an intimate, 40-seat restaurant dedicated to showcasing the finest in modern French cuisine in Singapore.55′ Rosemary Smoked Organic Egg - This was one of the most memorable dishes! The staff will pour the sous vide egg onto ratte potato espuma topped with chorizo iberico and crispy buckwheat. This was served in a little orb capped on top of some smoked rosemary. You could smell the waft of rosemary emanating through the gap... Wow, so much though must have been put in just for the presentation alone! The smoked organic egg was poached slowly for 55 minutes at 64 degrees celcius. The results were runny with silky texture... This was really too delicious!!!Choconuts Tart - The staff will add the chocolate espuma at the table, so that the foam doesn't go flat by the time it reaches us. Using tempered chocolate with different textures, served at different temperature here! Some chocolate was warm while some was cold, very innovative! Not forgetting the crumbly and buttery chocolate tart as well - A very unique chocolate dessert experience at Jaan!Mignardises (Petit Fours Platter) - This is the most impressive petit fours that I've seen! The platter consists of Rosemary scent of chocolate ice-cream lollipop, canelé and coconut marshmallow! A canelé is a small French pastry with a soft and tender custard center and a dark, thick caramelized crust. I personally love the chocolate lollipop and coconut marshmallow very much!!For full review and photos, please visit:http://summerlovestoeat.blogspot.sg/2014/12/degustation-lunch-at-jaan-level-70.html continue reading

had another wonderful degustation par excellence at jaan on 16.6.2014. regretfully jaan is fully booked or the rest of the year for feed-at-raffles (FAR) discounts. looks like only mikuni & occasionally equinox & prego to go to.the new amuse bouche of beetroot macaron, an eel mousse, (can’t remember the last) plus the rye cracker was good, pleasant & quite fine, though no better than previous.the second amuse bouche, a ceps mushroom tea, was the best soup ever, so intense & flavourful & lingering. #1 the ocean seafood composition was simply delicious! every item was excellent & there were so many – langoustine, oyster (yummy!), scallop, ikura (salmon roe), eel, caviar, another prawn. i could have this again! not quite sure what the toast do? anyway a good toast.#2 the zucchini trumbetta was nice, pleasant, refreshing, not quite a standout among so many excellent dishes.#3 the 64degC 55mins sous vide egg with iberico chorizo was quite a complete dining experience with the dry ice foam flowing down. the silky egg yolk added texture combination to the crispy iberico chorizo.#4 the foie gras preparation/presentation had changed several times but texture wise quite the change. the inside is soft tender tasty. the outside though was different from the more caramelised preparation which we preferred.#5 monk fish was pretty good – firm, bouncy. meat was slightly sweet. somehow all the monkfish i tried in singapore (& this was a better one) could not match the excellent sweet tasting monkfish ala plancha i had in barcelona’s bouqueria market & tapas restaurants. white asparagus was very good, very tasty & tender. #6 the hay roasted pigeon was as usual, nothing less than superb. the medium rare sous vide breast was the best. i couldn’t quite decide if amsterdam beulings’ quail was better or this. #7 choconuts was supposed to offer different temperature, texture & taste. i supposed it did & its a good dessert, but i thought some of the previous choconuts editions were distinctly better.petit fourspetit foursthe petit four were good or competent for this level of restaurant, not a standout.well, looks like i have to try the waiting list & see my luck play out. continue reading

JAAN was ranked 17th best in Asia and 5th best in SG in this year's edition of Asia's 50th best restaurants.The view from the 70th floor is awesome in the day time and probably even better at night. Service is friendly and courteous without being intrusive, and the wait staff are knowledgeable about the dishes, ingredients, etc.We went for the 5-course degustation lunch (normal menu + herbivore/vegetarian menu). Food is overall very, very good, and we were particularly impressed by the vegetarian option and his extremely clever usage of non-meat products to still tease the palatte.Not all is perfect, though. I thought some dishes were a bit 'busy,' as in too many individual bites on the same plate competing for attention rather than a single coherent dish. Pricey as well, but not more so than any other restaurant in this price range.Please visit http://look-see-eat.blogspot.sg/2014/03/singapores-best-restaurants-jaan-5-at.html for full review and photos! continue reading

For pictures and full review, pls visit:http://madamechewy.com/2014/02/13/jaan-degustation-lunch/Located on the 70th floor of Swissotel’s Equinox Complex, Jaan boasts spectacular views of Singapore’s skyline. Book EARLY to avoid disappointment, as this intimate artisanal French restaurant only has 40 seats. That doesn’t mean you have to cramp, no worries. There is lots of space between tables, giving adequate privacy. Excellent place for romantic meals!Décor is minimalist and neat, with muted colors and crisp white table linens. Suspended from the ceiling, a free-form chandelier made from Murano crystal and silver spans the entire length of the restaurant.Jaan’s kitchen is helmed by young (early 30s) and talented Julien Royer, who previously was chef de cuisine of Brassier les Saveurs at St Regis Singapore. He was born into a family of farmers and now displays his passion for seasonal ingredients in their pure and organic state on Jaan’s platesService staff are knowledgeable and courteous, yet keeping a distance to let Hubby and myself have personal space. I took some time to take pictures of the food and the manager kept encouraging me to eat some dishes quickly because they won’t taste as good when cold. Explanation of the food was rather quick; you have to listen very attentively.The food was nothing short of amazing, indeed the epitome of French fine dining. Hubby and I were extremely pleased and look forward to our upcoming dinner in May. This blog post covers both the 3 course (amuse bouche, starter, mains, dessert, hot beverage and chocolates) and 5 course (amuse bouche, 2 starters, 2 mains, pre-dessert, dessert, Mignardises, hot beverage) set lunch, priced at $68++ and $118++ respectively. On both visits, we were lucky enough to get seats by the window.I highly recommend going for the 5 course set lunch, as the former is not filling. Now, prepare yourself for a theatrical journey of mouth-watering food!Amuse bouche at Jaan is very, very generous. I was very amused indeed. Most places serve only 1 item, but at Jaan, 5 items are dished out.There’s Smoked Eel topped with Teriyaki Jelly, to-die-for Crispy Baked Chicken Skin baked to cracker-like crispiness, Fried Potato Cantal Cheese Ball (I forgot to take a close up of this)….….Paper-thin Buckwheat chips with home-made Chef Julien’s Hummus…..…and finally Wild Mushroom Tea poured from a presser, into a glass cup with walnuts and grilled Portobello mushrooms. Fragrant and full of earthy flavor, this warm cup of mushroom soup warms up the digestive system for more to come.Scottish Salmon Tartar with Horseradish, Pickled kohlrabi (turnip cabbage), Aquitaine Caviar. Tartar is an acquired taste, Hubby loved it but it’s not my cup of tea, so I requested for something else.The Aquitaine caviar is quite the star. It’s imported from France and originated from a Siberian sturgeon species; the salty aftertaste lasted for quite some time.Because I dislike Tartar, the waiter offered to swap it for Foie gras, which I don’t like either. Finally I settled for Jaan’s Garden, which was beautifully plated with an artistic flair. Flavor-wise, it was mild and natural.While the waiter was approaching our table with the bread basket, in my heart I was going “ah…decisions, decisions”. He told us we can have as many as we like. Wee! The truffle brioche was bursting with flavor while I can’t help myself from having multiple mini baguettes, simply because it went so well with the Bordier butter and salt. Bordier butter has a nutty aroma, fresh milky taste and is amazingly smooth.I love dramatic entrances. Jaan’s signature 55’ Rosemary Smoked Organic Egg arrived with much finesse, and a strong scent of rosemary. Organic eggs are cooked for 55 minutes at 64 degrees; the result is runny, silky texture with creamy translucence. A single egg is gently tipped into a glass bowl with smoked rattes, autumn mushrooms, chorizo iberico and buckwheat. Awesome!The mains were nice, but didn’t impress us as much compared to the amuse bouche and starters. Portions are rather small which is why I don’t recommend the 3 course set lunch, where you can only choose 1 main. For the 5 course set lunch, you get 2 main courses.Line caught John Dory, Romaneso textures, Coquillages (lobster and mussels), crayfish bisque. John Dory is considered a delicacy, with delicate white flesh and a firm, flaky texture. However it was not the fish that caught my attention, but a peculiar vegetable- the Romanesco. It’s bright green, tastes somewhat like cauliflower, but more nutty and with fractured texture. Interesting!Beautifully tender and aromatic Venison Saddle drizzled with Grand Veneur, blood orange, celeriac.Pre-dessert sorbet cleanser (5 course set lunch only)Choconuts 4th consists of Tonka bean ice cream, sticky chewy carambar, Tanariva chocolate shards and gianduja. Conservative (you can’t go wrong with chocolate and nuts) and not all that exciting, save for the crackly pops in the chocolate bits.Hot beverages and chocolates which are included in the 3 course set lunch.Spectacular Mignardises rounds off the 5 course degustation lunch. This is the most impressive Petit fours I’ve encountered! Marshmallow, chocolate-coated nuts, lime mint sorbet sticks and rosemary infused ice cream lollipop- good sweets are instant gratification!Although pricy, Jaan is certainly worthy of a special occasion dining! continue reading