Au Jardin Les Amis, Singapore Botanic Gardens – a brunch bargain
This restaurant closed in April 2014.
One of Singapore’s long-established hospitality empires, the Les Amis Group, has been a Greedy Girl and gluttonous husband favourite since they enjoyed a stellar tasting lunch there more than five years ago. Several times we’ve been back although, on recent visits, there have been too many other options. So when Greedy Girl read a review saying the Botanic Gardens outpost did one of the city’s best Sunday brunches, she immediately secured a table.
Au Jardin Les Amis is in one of the gardens’ historic houses, not far from the visitor centre. The colonial black and white bungalow was built in 1910, to house the assistant director of the gardens who apparently was an expert on local fungi. Apparently he also had reasonable success in training the native monkey population to climb the tall trees to collect samples of flowers and fruits. Now, the house is listed by the local authorities as a ‘conversation’ building, according to the restaurant’s menu. Greedy Girl isn’t sure whether that description is slightly dyslexic and maybe should be ‘conservation’, but I digress.
The original occupant would be proud to see such a wide range of fungi on today’s menu at Au Jardin. The Sunday brunch (at S$72++ per adult) is an incredible array of food. Settling in with a lovely Bruno Paillard Premiere Cuvee champagne from Reims, we took in the light, airy room dominated by a huge crystal chandelier, overlooking some stunning trees.
Les Amis recently appointed a new executive chef to its flagship restaurant at the back of the Shaw Centre. Sebastien Lepinoy has transferred from the group’s Hong Kong eatery to Singapore, replacing Austrian Armin Leitgeb, who had presided there for many years. Lepinoy is another Joel Robuchon protege so he definitely has the pedigree. But, on to the food at hand.
By and large, the plates were presented extremely well here, like the beautiful apple tart (above) but Greedy Girl is getting ahead of herself. As we settled in, we were offered a selection of appetisers – and a power of food it was too. First up, the table was crowded with platters – a fish tempura and prawn beignet, foie gras, rock melon topped with Serrano ham, curls of smoked salmon, duck rillette, vine cherry tomatoes with mozzarella and a balsamic dressing and a mesclun salad with honey mustard dressing.
Fish tempura and prawn beignet
Melon, prosciutto, foie gras, salmon
Duck rillette
The duck rillette was perfectly edible although Greedy Girl could have had a little more seasoning. It went spectacularly well with the crusty baguette offered on the side.
Cherry tomato and mozzarella salad
Some welcome leaves
And finally, the salad gave additional moisture and crunch, dotted with thinly-sliced radish, and the dressing was superb.
Greedy Girl would have been happy to hang up her napkin. No chance. Next up was a cream of mushroom and truffle soup. The soup was studded with a number of small mushrooms and finished with truffle oil and a slice of black truffle. It was very pleasant and a nice change for Greedy Girl who has rarely had soup in Singapore.
Cream of mushroom and truffle soup
Scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, truffle
Seriously starting to struggle, we had a little break before our mains arrived. This was a choice of four options. Gluttonous husband went for the pan-roasted black Angus rib eye, served ‘blue’, of course. The advertised sweet corn puree was missing from this dish, replaced by a blue cheese-laced scalloped potato cake. It also had seasonal roast vegetables (mainly carrot and squash) and what was termed a ‘natural’ jus. Gluttonous husband was very pleased with the dish – the meat having texture and softness.
Black angus rib eye
Pork rack with truffle mashed potato
Chocolate ganache tart
Gluttonous husband had the intricately constructed apple tart (pictured at the top of this blog), served with a vanilla sauce and apple sorbet. The flavours were quite intense. A nice way to finish.
As we awaited coffee and petits fours, we savoured the last of the champagne and the lovely aspect of the room. It would be a spectacular spot for a little private party.
A beautiful dining room with a lovely aspect
Macarons!
This was a very pleasant Sunday. It’s a bit full-on to call it ‘brunch’ and, certainly for the amount of food (and the quality for the most part) it’s an absolute bargain. Of course, if you like your wines, you’ll find it’s not terribly inexpensive to have a bottle of anything here but there are some good selections offered by the glass.
A note when dining in the gardens – be very specific to your taxi driver. On a previous visit to Halia, we were dropped off kilometres away and it was a tricky walk in the dark (although the signposting system within the gardens is excellent). Research which is the best gate and what’s nearby. If you’re thinking of public transport, the Botanic Gardens MRT station is about 15 minutes’ walk from Au Jardin and the visitor centre. One final offering of advice – don’t go without an umbrella. The heavens open regularly here and, if there’s no rain on the horizon, you need to protect yourself from the ferocious sun.
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