Les Saisons

7 Magazine Road
Central Mall, #01-03
Tel: (65) 6557 0080

The overall ambeince of the place is chic casual, the collection of primary colored chairs at each table with the warm lighting makes the place inviting and laid back but the chandelier gave it a touch of class. We were the first to arrive in the restaurant so while we dined and talked, we did so with a caution, not wanting to be too loud or rude, so as the gradually filled with diners and their bottles of wine, we were more at ease.

I think first impressions are important. We were welcomed at the entrance and we were served warm and crusty sliced of bread. I feel that there is a certain importance of the bread that people serve, when warm and crusty, it shows a sense of attention to detail and consideration, and it seems to proclaim, “Welcome!” Hard rolls have the potential of hurting my teeth, and so needless to say I do not approve of those.

While I was flipping through the menu, I could not figure out the prices of the dish and it was later that I realized that Les Saisons cheekily or chauvinistically only serve the menus with the prices the males and the ladies dining at the table get the menus without the prices. I found that highly amusing, since that has never happened before, and the last time I was here, we were a party of two girls and so, we the independent women, had to pay for our own lunches.


oven roasted pigeon with a fondue of savoy cabbage and bacon with a Xerex vinegar jus

Nosh: We started with an amuse bouche of potato and leek soup and for starters, we ordered the open ravioli of escargot capsicum butter with confit tomato, parmentier of crepe, Tasmanian ocean trout with Sevruga caviar light lemon butter, and the pan fried foie gras, caramelised apple with aged balsamic vinegar. The escargots made me feel like a snail (in a good way), the resulting combination of the flavours on the plate was mellow and woody, making me feel like I was in the woods and close to nature, a little like a snail crawling on the ground. The foie gras was luxurious and beautifully paired with the sweet and tangy revered aged balsamic vinegar. When I saw the ocean trout, I thought salmon, but when I tasted it, it registered trout. The flavour was richer with minerals and the caviar added salty bubbles that burst in my mouth.

The first courses were good and eagerly awaited for our second course. The main courses took too long to arrive so much so that you lose the rhythm in eating. Nonetheless, they did arrive, and we were presented with the braised beef cheek in “Châteaux Notton” served with sauté asparagus and truffle potato, and the rack of lamb marinated and roasted with green asparagus and poivrade artichoke and sweet garlic, oven roasted pigeon with a fondue of savoy cabbage and bacon with a Xerex vinegar jus. Everything was perfectly cooked to their subliminal state of medium rare and the sides were rich enough to stand up to the meats that they were served with. My favourite was the fondue of savoy cabbage with bacon and Xerex vinegar jus. It was smooth from the cheese and the smokey flavour from the bacon permeated the cabbage, that I would have been content with a plate of the fondue of savoy cabbage, the pigeon was a bonus.

We debated over getting dessert since the kitchen seemed busy and judging from the time they took for our main courses, we were potentially looking at a long wait for our dessert, but we decided to dive in anyway since we were not in much of a hurry. The cheese platter got my eye, but I was in a chocolate mood and hence elected with the ubiquitous chocolate fondant cake. The fondant was produced lava chocolate as it should, and served with a scoop of passion fruit ice cream, but I think at the moment I’m feeling a little too jaded with chocolate fondant, such that other that it being chocolate, it was not too memorable. Along with that, we had a serving of the pistachio panna cotta with fresh raspberry and coulis. Despite the richness of panna cotta, it felt light and the raspberries provided some tartness that was balanced off by the sweetness from the coulis.

It has been two weeks since that dinner, and the first thing that pops to my mind when I think about that dinner is the cabbage. The food was good, but nothing too memorable that begs me to come back. They should work on the timing of dishes, because I almost lost interest in finishing dinner from the waiting time after my appetizer.

Pay: About $80 for 3 courses. Dégustation menu available for a choice of 5,6 or 7 courses, prices are $85+++, $95+++, $105+++ respectively.

Service: Mackie does a commendable job heading the team on the floor and provides attentive and friendly service.