L&#39;Atelier de Jo&#235;l Robuchon (Closed)

L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon

I totally love how a huge chunk of the dining area comprises bench-type seating in a horseshoe around the open kitchen. Being the foodies and amateur wannabe chefs that we are, there's something ... therapeutic, almost hypnotic about watching a world class kitchen at work. It's not too far from watching a live episode of Hell's Kitchen, actually. A far more civilised version without the swearing and manufactured TV drama.

Bread Basket

For all the accolades and awards, Robuchon's bread basket here is curiously ordinary - nothing really worth mentioning.

The restaurant serves three variants of Set Menu at $68, $98 or $138, representing an increasing number of appetizers and main courses which you can order off the seasonally-changing menu. The darling goes for the $98 menu (2 appetizers, 1 main course), while I go for the more manly $138 (2 appetizers, 2 main courses).

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Amuse Bouche

Which bring us on to the Amuse bouche - foie gras custard with a balsamic reduction topped off with Parmesan Foam. Cheese and Duck Liver, who would've guessed they went so well together?

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L'Endive

The first of our appetizers introduces us to a never-before-seen ingredient: a leafy vegetable called an endive. It's presented as a salad here with parmesan shavings, hazelnuts and foie gras pâté. Oh, and some edible flowers. The endive itself turns out to be a crunchy, tangy vegetable with a somewhat sweet aftertaste, matched perfectly by the savoury foei gras.

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Le Crabe

The layers of King Crab sandwiched between layers of turnip was a bit of a let down. We thought that the crab was lost and overpowered amidst the crunch of the turnip and the accompanying sweet and sour sauce. A double disappointment here considering the $15 supplement.

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La Grenouille

No such disappointment with the Frog Legs Ravioli - seasoning has been kept to a minimum here allowing the slight sweetness of the frog legs to maintain center stage. Gorgeous with the parsley sauce as well.

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Le Foie Gras de Canard

More foie gras follows! At a $17 supplement we would have hoped for 'proper' goose liver instead of duck; but to be honest it's prepared so well that we would have been hard pressed to tell the difference. If we had to nitpick perhaps a longer sear to get a more substantial crust would have been great. Oh, and a spoon to mop up that gravy with the Paimpol beans.

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Le Saumon

Onwards to the main courses! The salmon was cooked a perfect, juicy medium rare, and was delicious with the accompanying sweetness from maple syrup - tempered with that mustardy goodness from wasabi. The crispy skin was served on the side with another portion of endive salad.

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Le Vivanneau

The second fish course - Pan seared Snapper with baby leeks and lemongrass. Juicy, succulent flesh with an oh-so-crispy skin. One day I will teach myself how to cook fish this well.

Le Coquelet

The Spatchcock Chicken took top honours as our favorite dish of the night, though. "Spatchcock" is a method where the chicken is split along the backbone and skewered before cooking. In this dish the technique is used on a coquelet - a young or baby chicken - and is uber delicious on its' own. The addition of that superbly umami gravy and pairing of a bolognese-flavored ratatouille makes it all the more perfect.

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Robuchon's Mashed Potatoes

The main courses are also served with a helping of Robuchon's Mashed Potates - very rich (with liberal dosages of butter and milk), very smooth (achieved by running the mashed potatoes multiple times through a fine sieve).

La Creme Brulee

Today's Creme Brulee comes with tangy passion fruit and sweet berries. And a small edible flower. How do you know which flowers are edible and which aren't?

Le Multivitamine

And our other dessert - Red berries spiced coulis on Victoria pineapple sorbet. Topped off with popping candy as is all the rage in desserts these days.

Coffee, tea and madeleines

Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our dinner very, very much. The restaurant isn't perfect - we thought the maître d's sour demeanour and constant pacing up and down the dining area was somewhat intimidating; and our wait staff weren't as knowledgeable about the menu as we would have expected in an establishment of this level. Nevertheless barring the crabby appetizer, the food was amazing and pacing of service was perfect. Non stop entertainment provided courtesy of observing the kitchen at work, too! Total bill came up to $313 for two people which is pricey but in our opinion quite worth the money. If you're interested to splurge on the best the restaurant has to offer there's also a degustation at $240.

L'Atelier is open for dinner only on Thursday to Monday (closed Tues and Thurs). Reservations recommended at Robuchon@RWSentosa.com. Non-halal.

Do visit our blog for more reviews at http://look-see-eat.blogspot.sg/

(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)

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DETAILED RATING

Taste

Decor

Service

Hygiene

Value

Date of Visit

2014-09-29

Waiting Time

5 Minutes (Dine In)

Spending Per Head

$160 (Dinner)

Celebration

Anniversary

Recommended Dishes

vnuss147

Level4

412

We went to L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon a while ago to celebrate our wedding anniversary, and totally in love with it. The ambiance, the service, and of course the food, be it the presentation or the taste, everything is so excellently executed! The 4-course meal costs about $200 per person.After taken our order, the waitor bring us a basket of assorted bread, inclusive croissant, multi-grains bread, as well as the flowery-looking bun.L'Amuse Bouche of the meal is Foie gras custard with red Porto

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We went to L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon a while ago to celebrate our wedding anniversary, and totally in love with it. The ambiance, the service, and of course the food, be it the presentation or the taste, everything is so excellently executed! The 4-course meal costs about $200 per person.

After taken our order, the waitor bring us a basket of assorted bread, inclusive croissant, multi-grains bread, as well as the flowery-looking bun.

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L'Amuse Bouche of the meal is Foie gras custard with red Porto wine and parmesan foam. This is quite a signature dish of the restaurant. The very bottom layer is the foie gras custard, very rich yet not too overwhelmed with greasiness. The wine and cheesy foam adds on a beautiful twist to it. Love this multi-layered flavours.

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King crab on thin layers of turnip with sweet and sour sauce is gorgeous in terms of presentation. The bite size is just right! The generous amount of crab meat is cooked in the creamy sweet sour sauce with a hint of spiciness. Thumbs up!

Green asparagus with boiled egg and Iberico ham is so colourful. Mix the runny egg yolk with everything else in the plate. tThe saltiness of the ham is well-balanced by the egg yolk. This dish is simply delicious.

Our main course is Foie gras filled free-range quail with mashed potatoes. The staff served us two additional bowl of mashed potatoes, and sort of 'warning' us on how addictive we could get with their mashed potatoes. You know what? He is indeed so right!! The mashed potatoes is creamy and smooth, very rich and flavourful! I fell in love with it! However, let's not forgeting the quail. One bite into the quail flesh, the foie gras filling inside sort of bursting into your mouth, and all the flavour just rushed in. This signature dish is definitely an A+ grade!

It's finally dessert time! The sphere coated with ivory chocolate is served before the staff pouring the tangy raspberries sauce over it. The sphere cracked open on the spot, revealing the raspberries gelato inside! It's an art on the plate! Awesome taste!

The meal ends with Coffee escorted by a sweets. Love the macaroon, good texture and flavour!