To say 2019 has been a banner year for Odette would be a huge understatement. The modern French restaurant at the National Gallery had quite a run starting in the beginning of the year, when they wrestled Asia’s No.1 title away from Gaggan Bangkok. They are the first restaurant in Singapore to be named Asia’s Number 1 and I’m sure that must be pretty exciting news for a dining scene which has been booming in the last couple of years. And just when I thought the year couldn’t get any better for ower-chef Julien Royer, he was awarded his third star later in the year. Any chef would be happy with this kind of year I would imagine.
I arrived at Odette a bit early trying to be the first customer to walk through those doors (so I could take a few photos of the restaurant with no other diners in it) but I got more than I bargained for. Way more!
Meet my newest friend, Chef Julien Royer! I caught the chef talking to his restaurant manager at the reception area where he welcomed me in with open arms. Of course I couldn't resist the temptation to ask for a photo with the hottest chef in Asia.
My good fortune continues with this incredibly exclusive front row seat to the semi open kitchen. Special thanks to the team here for the wonderful arrangement. It makes this unique dining experience even more memorable.
Odette is open from Monday to Saturday for lunch and dinner. At lunch, they serve a 4-course (SGD$168) and 6-course (SDG$228) set menu. There’s also a degustation menu called “epicure” making its debut this week that comes with more premium ingredients (SGD$358). In case you’re wondering, the restaurant doesn’t offer any a la carte options.
After placing my order (going with the new epicure menu), I spent some time reading the welcome message from the chef. Didn't realize the restaurant was named after Chef Royer's grandmother, Odette who has tremendous influence on his path as a chef. That's a really great story.
It was Chef Royer himself who came over with today's amuse bouche. There were three small nibbles served on three separate plates. Chocolate tartlet with parsnip and sherry vinegar came with some lovely acidity to start the meal. That was followed by a twisty gougére filled with aged Comte cheese and a Japanese botan ebi taco with toppings of avocado and fresh herbs. A nice refreshing start to the highly anticipated meal.
The second amuse was one that I was familiar with back from the days when the chef was with Jaan - his popular mushroom tea. It's been a staple in the chef’s tasting menu for years. As my server put it, the fans here would go nuts if this was to be taken out of his menu.
Sizzling hot wild mushroom broth was carefully poured over a bed of cep sabayon with toasted buckwheat generating a wave of intense and earthy flavors.
It looked (and tasted) a bit like a chawanmushi, or Japanese steamed egg custard with the soul-warming mushroom broth providing some deep mushroom flavors to the dish.
To match the mushroom theme, a fluffy cep brioche baked with buckwheat and walnuts was served on the side.
I was then presented with a small collection of bread including a truffle brioche, sourdough bread and chestnut pumpkin bun. It's not the most impressive collection I've seen from a French restaurant but definitely not a bad one.
The first course of the tasting menu was finally here. Japanese spot prawn tartare, fresh Hokkaido sea urchin and mussel cloud were served in a fresh uni shell, topped beautifully with luscious Royal Schrenckii caviar.
This was a brilliant starter to kick off the meal with the sweetness of spot prawn and sea urchin matched superbly by the robust flavors of the caviar and briny mussel cloud.
The dish was served with a small sea urchin squid-ink toast garnished with fresh chives and perilla flowers on top.
Next up was beautifully cooked XL size langoustine from the nutrient rich waters of Mozambique. It's not my first experience with these gigantic langoustines from Southern Africa. In fact, I enjoyed one while dining at Twenty-Six by Liberty a few years ago and was amazed with its exceptional size and extraordinary sweetness.
Interestingly, they chose to complement the sweetness of the langoustine with a bit of bitterness from the miso braised endive, which was a curious choice for me but I thoroughly enjoyed the creamy sake beurre blanc, a delightful pairing with refined flavors to provide the dish with a sublime finish.
Obviously, a few of the chef's signature dishes from Jaan have found their ways to Odette too. This was another one, his rosemary smoked organic egg.
I was told the chef has tinkered with the details of his patented 55' rosemary smoked egg to make it even more exciting (Forgot what it was).
The organic egg cooked sous vide at around 65° for precisely 55 minutes was dropped into the foamy potato syphon with buckwheat and crispy chorizo.
I patiently waited until the smoke cleared.
The key was not to over-stir the potato potage and smoked egg. As always, very nice combination of flavors with great texture.
My fish course was Wild Atlantic turbot served with variations of truffled celeriac (purée and poached).
A very filling dish especially with the champagne sabayon, which was a little heavy and overpowering.
Pithiviers "Grand Cuisine" was my last savory dish of the afternoon. I have been looking forward to this dish since the first course.
The domed puff pastry pie came stuffed with three layers of goodness, pigeon from Brittany, foie gras and chicken from Bresse. It was beautifully plated with slices of black truffle, variations of cabbage, broccoli, broccolini and finished off with a black truffle sauce (which I'm sure there're also pigeon jus and red wine reduction in there as well). This dish definitely takes a great deal of skills.
A warm and comforting dish featuring a variety of rich and gamey flavors.
For the palate cleanser, I was offered some chocolate mousse and praline cream with a scoop of honey ice-cream and a few drops of fresh honey. There were bits of nuts and honeycombs there to add some contrasting texture to the mix.
Dessert was supposed to be Mont Blanc but since it came with a bit of Corsican clementine in the middle, I was unable to have it due to my dietary restrictions. Instead the good guys here prepared poached William pear for me.
The William pear was scooped into small balls, poached and served on a brown sugar filo pastry, with Tahiti vanilla cream, white sesame and salted caramel ice-cream. I don't know what it is about pear and caramel but the latter always seems to bring out the best of a pear, which is the case once again. I like the extra heat from the ginger (I think it was) to balance the sweetness of the pear and caramel.
Chef Royer's back to present his petite fours and it's a good one. The lollipop made with lychee and rose sorbet was a nice inspiration from the picasso of pastry, Pierre Hermé. It was accompanied by a canelé with a hint of rum, a slice of Japanese musk melon and last but not least, tonka bean chocolate tart.
I was so broke after this meal but I have never been so happily broke. This was something that I've been waiting for a long time and I am glad the long wait was finally over. Of course, it was extra special meeting Chef Royer in person and having a photo with him. A real bonus to this visit. Special thanks to the team here for arranging my seat in front of the kitchen. It was great to see my food prepared behind the scene. And lastly, thanks to my better half for allowing this self-proclaimed foodie to go on his solo foodie journey. It was a very last-minute thing but I was extremely blessed to see everything worked out according to plans.
Food Rating: 8/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 1 St Andrew's Road, #01-04 National Gallery, Singapore
Closest Metro Station: City Hall
Tel: +65 6385-0498
Website: www.odetterestaurant.com
S. Pellegrino Asia's 50 Best Restaurants: 1st (2019)
S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants: 18th (2019)
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 1:30pm (Tue - Sat), 7:00pm - 9:00pm (Mon - Sat)
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