Restaurant Absinthe

We went to Restaurant Absinthe located at Bukit Pasoh Road to celebrate a friend’s birthday. The ambience of the restaurant is peaceful and quiet. There is an average amount of crowd when we were there. I ordered the dory fish with white wine form served with garden vegetables and mushroom potatoes. It tasted great for the price of around $30.…Read More

Absinthe - a green alcoholic spirit which was more commonly known as the green fairy because of its purported hallucinogenic effects. It also happens to be the name of upmarket French restaurant jointly owned by the folks from OSO, restaurant manager Philippe Pau and chef Francois Mermilliod of Flutes at the Fort fame.Sitting pretty at the end of a row of shophouses along Bukit Pasoh Road and playing immediate neighbour to OSO, Absinthe's green signboard, which is a nod to the greenish colour of the alcohol, greets you from a distance. The swanky interior boasts low ceilings and parquet flooring coupled with ambient ceiling lighting for a relaxing dining experience.Complimentary Bread - When the first round of complimentary bread hit us, it was actually quite good. Crusty on the outside while retaining its softness and fluffiness on the inside. The second serving was akin to eating stones so I promptly gave up after a few mouthfuls.Chilled Ravioli of Lobster with Lime Sabayon, Pink Guava Julienne and Shiso - Very interesting to say the least. This wasn't your typical ravioli. The skin was reminiscent of har gao and there were crunchy strands of guava nestled below it on a bed of fresh Boston lobster. The presence of fish roe gave it a nice salty taste while the lime sabayon was savoury with a hint of tartness. Very nice.Pan-Fried Foie Gras with Warm Blinis and Wild Hibiscus Flower Compote - I thought that the foie gras was excellent. On par with what I had at Sage, if not better by a notch or two. Very well pan fried to a crisp on the outside yet melt in the mouth quivery on the inside with a hint of saltiness. The hibiscus flower compote provided a nice sourish dimension to the foie gras.Hokkaido Scallop With Sea Urchin Emulsion and Small Herb Salad - Scallops never fail to entice me and Absinthe's rendition came with sea urchin emulsion, which was a first for me. The scallops were done tataki style, well seared on the outside but soft and relatively rare on the inside, which is a refreshing change from the usual seared scallops. I could make out a hint of fishiness amongst the predominantly salty emulsion. Overall another excellent dish.Pork Belly - The pork belly was a special of the day and I requested this as my main instead of the lamb/fish option for my degustation and I am glad I did. The skin was very crispy, the fats were sinfully melt in your mouth and the meat fibrous with a generous dose of salt. And being pork belly, the ratio of fats to meat is a lot higher then other parts of the pig. Definitely not for the health conscious or faint hearted.Crème Brûlée, Absinthe Sorbet - Apparently some of the ice parfaits didn't make it past the QC test that evening so I had a choice of crème brûlée instead. I wasn't too impressed by it though. The caramel layer was a little too overtorched, resulting in a rather burnt layer. On the upside, it was milky smooth with raisins in it. What I thought was interesting was the absinthe sorbet, which I had mistaken as lime sorbet at first sight. The sorbet had a very weak absinthe dosage, coming across more like liqurious with its herbal overtones.Petits Fours - I thought I used to see these packs of valhorna chocolates being served with hot milk but guess its just eaten straight out of the packet at Absinthe.The degustation cost $98++ but because I requested to change my main to the pork belly, it cost me another $6++, bringing the total to $122.41 nett. Sure it isn't cheap, but the excellent quality of food and service more then makes up for it. I will definitely be back, but this time I'm aiming the private dining room for 4pax within the wine cellar.…Read More

This was recommended by my friendWe came here for dinnerThe starter was salad of Hokkaido scallop carpaccio with bottarga ,The scallop was very fresh & sweet, but it tended to be overpowered somewhat by the strongly flavoured bottarga. For soup we had a clear vegetable soup with cheese ravioli. The ravioli were quite small &dainty, but didn’t pack much of a cheesy punch.& the main course was beef, I think it's a bit overseasoned,a bit too salty Service was good,food more on salty sideOverall i rate 7/10…Read More

my dad brought the whole family to absinthe for some delicious dinner. I didn’t know what to have so I opted for their beef tenderloin. It was one of the best I have ever eaten! The beef was so soft and tender. It was cooked perectly, you can taste the juiciness of the meat. The gravy was really good too, brings out the flavour of the beef. The meat was very elegantly cut and it was really mouth watering.…Read More

i went for an outing to absinthe with a couple of university friends. i was not really very hungry so i settled for the Seafood bouillabaisse. it was totally delicious. the seafood they pick to add in the dish was simply fresh. you can taste the freshness of the seafood. despite having so many different kinds of seafood in there, all of them were cooked to perfection. none on my bowl was overcooked. i know mussels are very easy to overcook, and when it is overcooked it taste like rubber. good skill from the chefs!…Read More

This is one of my favourite french restaurants here because the food is great, the dining atmosphere fairly relaxed and it's certainly not one of those places which is overly stiff and formal. Also, they serve great drinks, and the service tends to be attentive though not always warm. Chef Francois Mermillod (forgive me if I misspelt this) serves up delicious food in decent portions (no the white space on the plate isnt huge here thankfully) so anyone with a large appetite shouldnt be disappointed. My favourite dish is a toss up between the kurobuta pork cheek and the foie gras. Both are rich in umami flavours, and both melt in your mouth, although the latter is gamier than the former. You can also get iberico ham here, and dinner comes served with a free flow of delicious warm bread that goes well with the salty french butter. Yum!…Read More

So many online reviews have praised Absinthe for its food and service that my expectations were raised correspondingly.I liked the salad of pan fried almond coated king prawns, mesclun and smoked ocean trout ($23++). Also had half a serving of fish and seafood bouillabaisse scented with absinthe, saffron aioli and croutons ($40++ for full portion). The house signature and rightly so! Very hearty and aromatic~ Roasted black cod with saffron potatoes and sauteed baby spinach in pernod sauce ($39++) was so-so.Of course, we had to try Absinthe’s namesake — the absinthe alcohol. It’s a distilled, highly alcoholic spirit that’s also known as “the green fairy”.It’s prepared by placing a sugar cube on top of a slotted spoon which is then placed on the glass filled with a shot of absinthe. Ice-cold water is dripped over the sugar cube until it’s melted completely.Sorry to say this but it tastes awful! Definitely not something I want to try again.…Read More