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2018-06-25
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I thought it was going to take me hours to take care of a few personal matters this morning but surprisingly, I finished well ahead of schedule. Since I was already in Central, I decided to pick up my phone to see which of my favorite French restaurants still have vacancy for one. I started calling Épure, L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon and Caprice (in no particular order) hoping to land a table but only to find that they were all fully booked for lunch. But being the persistent person that I am, I k
Thanks to the good guys at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon for taking me in at such late hours (it was 2:10PM).
Looked like they have been tinkering the set menu a little bit but not as much as I would like. The black cod dish among others has been there for ages and I thought it's about time it has a replacement.
Tomato gazpacho jelly, avocado coulis - I can't ask for a better amuse bouche than this, can I? The tomato gazpacho jelly was just perfect for the dog days of summer (at 36 degrees). Wonderful, refreshing acidity met with a layer of silky avocado coulis. Also some paprika and crispy croutons on top. Got me all geared up for the upcoming dishes.
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La Langoustine - I had a different version of this with mom last time. As I recalled, that one had a super intense langoustine bouillon served with a delicious piece of roasted scampi. By the look of it, this was a downgraded version featuring a fine spiced chicken bouillon. Floating on top of the bouillon were some scallops, lobster and shiitake mushroom. There were also a couple of scampi "tsukune", homemade scampi meat balls made with scampi and flying fish roes.
The bouillon was a little on the spicy side thanks to the strong ginger flavors. I think I want the old version back.
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La Cerise - I had a feeling it's not going to be an ordinary cheesecake and I was right.
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The petite four was nice as always. It took me 30 seconds to wash them down with my English breakfast tea coz I didn't want to be the last customer leaving the dining room. Second last was okay.
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The langoustine dish aside, I thought I had a pretty delicious meal today. The only thing I was slightly unhappy about was perhaps service. Unlike my previous experience at a Robuchon establishment, I found today's service a little "robotic" (but not rude) and not very Michelin-like. Quick example: when a customer came in at 2:10PM, it's quite understandable that you want to take his orders as quickly as possible (before last order!). But I waited and waited, and even signaled to a number of servers with a closed menu but no one came to my rescue. At the end, I had to wave my arms around to get someone's attention. When a female server finally came up, she told me they were all thinking that I was waiting for someone. That's just very poor communication right there coz when I arrived, the hostess already knew I was a solo diner.
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