Brasserie Les Saveurs

Our 2nd Restaurant Week escapade brought us into St Regis Hotel and its resident French restaurant Brasserie Les Saveurs. The moment we walked into the restaurant, we were blown away by the opulent and majestic decor. Our table was just by the floor-to-ceiling-windows, giving us a great view of the pool and water fountain display situated behind the restaurant. P sat on a large, red lounge chair, in absolute delight and comfort. Before the meal began, we were already pretty happy with our choice of restaurant.

Restaurant week menu wise, we were more than delighted at our choices. The simplest reason being that for this 3-course lunch, there were 2 choices each for the entree, main course and dessert. Plus the fact that there weren’t any beef, lamb or veal dishes, the 2 of us could effectively try all 6 offerings! Kudos to Brasseris Les Saveurs!

First up which the Canapés De Bienvenue (not part of the 3 course meal). Bienvenue means welcome in French; Canapés De Bienvenue are bite-sized finger food served at the beginning of the meal. There were 3 offerings – rock melon topped with radish, deep fried potato and onion ball, truffle bread. The rock melon was frozen cold; you could still feel bits of ice within the rock melon. But it was very refreshing; when we bit into it, the tinge of frostiness went through our teeth, gums and tongue, awaking our taste buds to prepare us for the sumptuous meal ahead! The deep potato balls exuded a taste and aroma similar to onion rings, only that it had small bits of potatoes inside the shell. The deep fried shell was also decorated with black and white sesame. It was pretty good savoury food, only with typical deep fried oily taste and texture. The truffle bread was slightly salty, with bits of cheese inside. Nothing too fantastic or unique about that.

Shortly before the entrees were served, the waiter brought over a basket of complimentary bread for us to pick and choose from. There were 3 different types of bread and we picked one from each kind. There was the square (lighter brown in shade) bread – it tasted a bit oily and had a slightly glossy surface, which led us to conclude that it had been deep fried. It tasted like crackers. The outer layer was harder with a tinge of crispiness while the insides were soft and fluffy. The long bread was a typical french baguette. P’s favourite was the round (dark brown) sourdough bread. The outer crust was pretty tough and chewy, but overall the bread had the tinge of sourness which she enjoyed.

Truite de Mer - Petunia ocean trout Carpaccio, Nashi pear, lemon jelly served with horseradish. This dish exudes a spectrum of flavours, ranging from - the saltiness of the trout akin to that of smoked salmon, the sourness of the thick lemon jelly, the crunchiness and refreshness of the juicy Nashi pear, the juicy and salty fish roe. We rolled up a slice of the trout, packed it with the accompanying condiments and sent it into our mouths. We were pleasantly surprised by the sudden colourful burst in flavours. Though there were many different flavours and textures in 1 mouth of the Truite de Mer, every condiment complimented the main trout perfectly – a wonderful balance in terms of taste and texture. It was an excellent and innovative creation, something which we had not experienced before. Combining the trout carpaccio with the complimentary baguette makes a delightful open-face sandwich ideal for high-tea!

Creme de Champignons Sauvages (Cream of Wild Mushrooms) - Wild mushroom veloute accompanied with porcini sabayon and Perigord truffle butter. When the dish was first served, it was not as what the above picture shows. Rather, it was a thick yellowish cream sitting in the bowl. What took us by surprise was that the waiter then proceeded to pour a jug of greyish fluid into the bowl. After which we came to the realization that the thick yellowish cream was the truffle butter, together with bits of mushrooms and onions. The greyish fluid was the mushroom soup. We suspect that the chef pan-fried the mushrooms and the onions with butter first. It was a very interesting way of presenting a dish. Taste wise, the mushroom soup was definitely not as thick as those we have tried before. One would not be able to taste the mushroom residuals in the soup. Still, the presentation and appeal were enough to win us over.

Tortellini a la Courge, Bouillon de Chataignes - Homemade pumpkin tortillini and chestnut broth topped with aged parmesan. Tortillini are ring-shaped pasta, stuffed with fillings, in this case being pumpkin. Once again, the presentation of this dish was a big plus point. The serving staff brought along with him a small jug, and proceeded to pour a brown liquid over the tortellini. The serving plate was warm to the touch and looks wise, the dish looked appetizing and attractive.

The brutal blind taste test: In order not to allow the looks and plating of the dish affect our judgement, we subjected the tortellini to a blind taste test. To us, the tortellini skin tasted like that of wanton dumplings. The fillings were also pathetically little and bland. In short, the pumpkin taste was not detectable at all, in both the skin and fillings, much to our disappointment. On its own, without the broth, the tortellini was tasteless. The broth itself was slightly peppery, hence adding a bit of flavour to the tortellini. However, we could not detect any chestnut flavour. The tortellini were served on a bed of assorted vegetables, which included onions, carrots etc. The vegetables were rather moist, and tasted pretty similar to the fried bean sprouts which our mothers could whip up. It seemed pretty odd for a French restaurant to be serving such a mediocre fare of vegetables.

Simply to say, the desciption on the menu was far from what we ate.

Sole Limande – Pan-roasted lemon sole, clams, mussels and razor clams served with organic spinach and smoked garlic sauce. Similar to how the tortellini was served, the waiter too brought along another jar of garlic sauce to be poured over the lemon sole. The blind taste test – the pan-roasted lemon sole was rather bland on its own, without the sauce. It was on the tougher side too. And somehow, it reminded us of the canteen western food fare, nothing too spectacular. The clams, razor clams and mussels were fresh, fulfilling the minimum criteria of seafood, but standard wise, they were just average.

Compared to the entrees, the main courses were lacklustre and not impressive. We were rather disappointed; the unique and appetizing entrees brought our mood to an all-time high, only for us to be disappointed by the mediocre main courses.

The disappointment with the main courses was salvaged by the arrival of the desserts! Martini Exotique – Coconut dacquoise, coconut mousse, lime crémeux with passionfruit sorbet. Coconut was used extensively in this dessert. There was a thick layer of cream on the top, filled with bits of dried coconut flesh. Beneath it was a layer of sponge, followed by some lime cream. The passionfruit sorbet was pretty sour and one good thing about it was that whenever we got sick of the coconut, a small mouth of the sorbet would refresh our taste buds immediately. Contrary to the name “Martini Exotique”, no Martini was present in the dessert, rather it just meant that the dessert was served in a Martini glass.

The better dessert has got to be the Entremet Chocolat – Manjari chocolate mousse served with gianduja palet and sablé breton (shortbread). 1 bite of the cake and we could taste the premium quality of the chocolate used. There were around 6 different chocolate layers – the sticky chocolate topping, followed by a thick layer of mousse and denser layers of fudge. The layers of chocolates were progressively more bitter as you moved down the cake. Accompanying the cake was a thick dark chocolate sauce decoration, 2 sweeter and softer milk chocolate cubes and a slightly charred sugary biscuit. Overall, the cake wasn’t too sweet, it was very smooth, rich and dense, but not too overwhelming.

There was 1 major shortcoming of our dining experience – the dismal conditions of the utensils and cutlery.

Both the tea pot, dining forks & spoons and the tea spoons were stained and badly scratched. For a resident French restaurant in a luxury five-star hotel, Brasserie Les Saveurs ought to replace their old and wearing cutlery sets. The dismal conditions of their cutlery do not reflect well on their luxurious status.

This 3 course meal was full of surprises, the main courses were slightly disappointing, but the entrees and desserts made up for it. The plating and presentation of every dish was done exquisitely and tastefully garnished. Ambience wise, it was fantastic. The setting was elegant and majestic, the service staff were welcoming and helpful. It was a very delightful experience.

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Was in the mood for a leisurely and luxurious Sunday brunch to whittle my time away and what better place to have it then at the opulent St Regis? Having a sizable discount definitely helped steer my decision though.

Ambience

Les Saveurs spots high ceilings with huge glass windows running to the ground, which gives a soaring and almost carefree feeling. Victorian style chandeliers add a sophisticated touch of class and so do the matching chairs and carpet. In short, a great place to relax and enjoy your food. There is a 3 man band just outside the restaurant that will belt out different tunes throughout the brunch to add to the experience.

Variety

The brunch comprises 3 components - The eye catching dessert table and the appetisers table, your choice of a main course from the menu and last but not least, daily chef's specials that are "hawked" from table to table. The daily specials make up quite a substantial portion of the brunch and can range from fried rice to cod fish to foie gras or even shooters. The appetisers table has quite a decent amount of food like foie gras, salmon & tuna sashimi, oysters, air dried wagyu beef and the likes. There is even a small counter where rows of beautifully baked buns, muffins, croissants etc tempt even the most staunch carbo abstainers. And may I add that the dessert counter was so aesthetically and exquisitely presented that I had the urge to start on desserts first before anything else.

Quality

For the most part, food quality was consistently good and no expense was spared in ensuring that. Everything is made bite sized so that you are able to try a wider variety. I particularly liked the macarons, which were almost on par with Pierre Herme's signature macarons that I had the privilege of trying sometime back. Overall, I thought that the food quality far surpassed my expectations and can put quite a few buffets in some reputable hotels to shame.

Service

Professional and seemingly eager but tended to be overwhelmed at times, especially with the restaurant running at full capacity.

Value for money

At $128 for the non champagne aka fruit juice/tea option, it is probably one of the priciest brunches in the market right now but food quality is evident. If you opt for the moet and chandon option, it will cost you $158 while premium champagne like Krug will set you back by a princely $338 /pax. Final words, if you have the cash to blow and 3 hours to spare, Les Saveurs might just be the place for you.

See all my pictures here.