I’m glad to hear about the burgeoning food scene in Singapore especially when it comes to French restaurants. The chef and owner, Nicholas Joanny, used to cook at Les Saisons a few years back before he went to cook in Thailand. Now, he’s back with a bang, opening his own French restaurant.

I know that Nicholas Le isn’t that new. I just have not quite had the chance of dining there ever since I couldn’t get a table when I tried making a reservation a few months back.

My foodie dad has tried the degustation dinner menu a couple of times and he only has good things to say. That made me more determined to try it out for myself. The opportunity came when my company gave us a day off last Friday.

My dad, sis and I headed to Nicholas Le for lunch. It’s been awhile since we went out for a good meal together due largely to our clashing schedules.

The small restaurant is situated along the row of shophouses along Keong Siak Road. (Pretty near Majestic Hotel which is on the next lane) The restaurant was already packed with lunch-goers so I’m glad that I made a reservation.

They only had a set lunch menu at $38 ++ for a 3 course meal with coffee/tea. If you choose certain dishes (ie. the foie gras and rack of lamb), you would have to pay more. But I just could not resist the foie gras and the rack of lamb.

We were first served a small baguette with butter. It was nice and warm but the butter was a tad salty for my liking. I prefer the natural taste of the unsalted kind.

The amuse bouche for the day was a roasted bell peppers puree served with Iberian ham (gourmet Spanish ham that has just arrived on our shores). I love the combination of the naturally sweet tasting bell peppers with the intense and distinctive flavour of the Iberian ham. No surprises why it’s known as one of the best cured hams in the world.

Amuse Bouche

Both my sis and I ordered the pan roasted duck foie gras was served with marmalade of eggplant, vanilla and cinnamon and aged balsamic vinegar. One reason why this foie gras wins over all others- its size. I’m shocked by the generosity of the serving portion. The marmalade of eggplant worked really well in terms of balancing the fatty piece of duck liver with some sweetness. Other than that, it fared rather averagely, nothing remarkable. My main peeve lies with the fact that it wasn’t seared enough so it lacks the aroma and crispy outer-skin that a pan-seared foie gras should have.


Pan-roasted duck foie gras was served with marmalade of eggplant, vanilla and cinnamon and aged balsamic vinegar

My dad tried the crispy frogs legs which my sis thinks tasted like chicken. But that’s just my sis.


Crispy frog leg

As for the mains, all three of us, meat lovers went straight for the rack of lamb. I can’t even really recall what the other mains are on the menu. Since young, my dad has been telling us how the rack of lamb is the best part of the lamb. That subtle indoctrination has worked. I would never fail to order the rack of lamb if I do spy it on the menu. I believe that this is the same for my sis.


Rack of lamb

The sheer anticipation for our mains soon turned into a real letdown. I don’t think that they got our orders right as the meat that we were served were definitely rare and not medium like what we have requested. I also thought that they should be seared and let the top most layer brown even more. That being said, it wasn’t bad; it just wasn’t what I expected and it wasn’t the best I’ve had. I love the mash potatoes with the truffle butter though and I don’t even like potatoes.

I went out of my comfort zone when I ordered dessert. My dad and sis stayed loyal to their favourite- Chocolate. I actually ordered a orange panna cotta with mango espuma. I’m glad that I felt adventurous that day cause the panna cotta took me my surprise. It was unlike its counterparts by being rich and heavy. Rather, it was light, citrusy and I love the pairing with mango espuma. The rich, sweetness of the mango together with the citrusy orange. The chocolate tart was not too fantastic though. The sweet pastry shell was dry and overall, it was a miss.


Orange panna cotta


Chocolate tart

Though this isn’t close to being a great dining experience, I do think that I would give it a second try, probably for dinner as my dad suggest. I heard that they do have a great degustation menu with weekly changes. I can see a lot of potential in the food. The use of espumas.. the experiments of new ingredient pairings..combined with the traditional, tried-and-tested methods.. I believe that Nicholas Le has much more to offer.

***
Nicholas Le
35 Keong Saik Road
Tel: 6224 2404
Opening hours: 12 noon- 2pm (Mon-Sat)
Dinner: 630pm-10pm
(Closed on Sundays)