The 10-metre-high floor to ceiling windows offer stunning views of Marina Bay, while the Neo-Palladian architecture lends an understated opulence.
The food centres around 'cuisine du soleil' or ‘cuisine of the sun’ which is representative food of the South of France, a region said to be blessed with the sun for 330 days of the year. Think Mediterranean flavours and a lighter touch, with ingredients that evoke the ‘essence’ of the sun.
Let me start with a French classic:
Traditional French Onion Soup (S$19)
This has got to be one of the best French onion soups I've had in a long while. It uses a rich beef stock made by simmering beef bones and trimmings for four hours. Caramelised white onions are then added and the whole broth is simmered for another three hours. The day-old (drier and more absorbent) sourdough and gratinated Gruyère on top just make it divine.
Hot Smoked Balik Salmon (S$21)
If you like salmon just gently cooked, this should please you. New Zealand king salmon is cured with salt, then smoked in-house over Japanese binchotan charcoal, sous vide and torched. It's served with fennel pickled in sherry vinegar, and local free range quail eggs cooked Oeuf Mollet style (boil six minutes, placed in ice bath, panko-crumbed and deep-fried) resulting in a super creamy yolk.
Lobster and Scallop Carpaccio (S$33)
This has been a signature dish since the restaurant opened in 2010. It was createdby Cavaliere Giovanni Viterale, General Manager of The Fullerton Heritage, who was once a chef himself.
Live Boston lobster and hand-dived scallops are thinly sliced and dressed with black truffle oil and fresh lime juice. It's topped with shavings of Italian black truffles. What you see here are Italian truffles. It's a simple combination that makes sense - fresh seafood with aromatic oil and the right touch of acidity.
Aubergine Caviar Tartine (S$19)
This is a mezze (appetiser) blending both Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine styles. Black eggplant is baked whole in a Josper oven until completely charred. The skin is removed and the flesh is mixed with chopped fresh Roma tomatoes, garlic, parsley, basil and Italian extra virgin olive oil. Accompanying this is tomato confit, buffalo mozzarella and Poilâne bread.
Côte De Boeuf (S$99)
This is a whopping 500g of Australian A4 Wagyu ribeye on the bone; it will easily feed two but I can imagine one big steak lover wolfing this down. The meat is basted with thyme butter and charcoal-grilled in a Josper oven. It's then topped with garlic and cooked again until medium rare. Of course, it's Japanese binchotan charcoal, no less, for that optimal even and sustained heat.
Look at how perfectly pink it is in the middle and yet beautifully charred outside. Oh this beef is my favourite dish of the lot.
Equally bedazzling are the steak condiments. Besides the Béarnaise, Champignon and Bordelaise sauces served with all steaks, you'll also be presented with three salts (fine red, viking, truffle) and nine mustards (green
peppercorn, pommery, truffle, mild, English, hot English, honey, lemon zest, curry).
Fine red salt gets its colour from volcanic Hawaiian clay called alaea, and is estimated to contain the highest amount of trace minerals especially iron.
I was very happy to see they have Viking salt (it always smells like bacon to me)! This deep yellow smoked salt is made from a millennium-old Viking tradition of evaporating seawater over a juniper, cherry, elm, beech and oakwood fire, infusing the salt with smoky bonfire notes.
Supreme De Canard Confit (S$39)
with Beluga Lentils, Crisp Salad, Pomme Purée, Herb Oil
You can't go wrong with the duck confit here - ultra crispy skin hugging tender meat that's been cured four hours in salt, sugar, spices, and then confit for 2-3 hours.
Lobster A L'Americaine (S$68)
A whole live Boston lobster is cooked in two parts - the claws are blanched while the body is poached. Angel hair pasta is tossed in a sauce made from Roma tomatoes, fresh basil and butter. It's a generous portion.
La Complete Galette (S$23 or S$28 with cider)
Oh yes, savoury is how I like my crepes. These are gluten- and dairy-free crepes made from buckwheat batter. Inside the crispy folds are honey-baked ham, gruyère cheese, and free range eggs.
Profiteroles (S$13)
These are served with a warm sauce of 55% Valrhona Equatoriale Noire and a scoop of double Tahitian vanilla ice cream. Again the warm and cold contrast comes into play, but I have to say I enjoyed the ice cream on its own.
Tarte Tatin (S$32)
This is a large pie for 2-4 to share. It's Granny smith apples laced with caramel and toffee sauce atop chocolate cookie crumble. Cold scoops of double Tahitian vanilla ice cream complete the experience. Nice contrast of hot and cold.
End the evening with Petit Fours and some coffee or tea while chatting with your companions. Notice how luxuurious the leather-topped table is? It's beautiful to look at and even more lovely to touch.
LA BRASSERIE
The Fullerton Bay Hotel
80 Collyer Quay
Singapore 049326
Tel: +65 6597 5288
Opening Hours:
Weekday Set Lunch: 12pm to 2.30pm
Dinner: 6.30pm to 10.30pm
Saturday Brunch with Create-your-own Bloody Mary station 12pm to 3pm (last pour at 2.45pm)
Sunday Brunch with Champagne 12pm to 3pm (last pour at 2.45 pm)
Many thanks to Fullerton Bay Hotel for the invitation. First and second photos courtesy of Fullerton Bay Hotel. Rest of photos taken with the Canon EOS M6 kindly loaned by Canon Singapore
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