Restaurant Andre

[Bu Pun Su]

Describing the food served at restaurant Andre, which some critics claim to be Singapore’s best restaurant, was not an easy task for me. A couple of years ago, I was invited for lunch here and quite pleased with the food. Many dishes tend to have several ingredients in one plate, but the outcome generally did not disappoint. Still, I was not convinced to splurge for dinner – mixed feelings: the “hungry go where” review about Andre was quite negative and 2 of my friends said it’s overrated. On the contrary, more and more food bloggers have shared their memorable experience here recently. Furthermore, the accolades from San Pellegrino, travel magazine or Miele guide simply never stopped flowing. Then, I decided that perhaps it’s now (late Sep ‘14) the time to savor Andre Chiang’s creations to the fullest.

 

Restaurant Andre is very well-known for its cooking philosophy called Octaphilosophy that I believe many people are already familiar with and it’s explained in details in its own website. You will be served 8 dishes guided by 8 different concepts based on Andre’s cooking experiences for more than 2 decades. Honestly, I could not really recall any dish that particularly stood out; many are more ‘complicated’ than dishes I had during lunch. Presentations were beautiful, preparations were rigorous, execution was good and taste was solid. Rather than my palate was spoiled with burst of delicious flavor dishes after dishes, for me, it’s more of an experience and an appreciation towards Andre Chiang’s highly technical skills and the kitchen’s efforts to translate their chief’s ideas. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike the food – it’s quite enjoyable as long as you come with an open mind. The overall experience was somewhat like my meal in Daniel Patterson’s Coi. The whole experience is greater than the sum of its parts. That being said, it’s not among my top 3 favorite places to dine in Singapore  

 

In addition to 8 dishes from the Octaphilosophy, the kitchen threw in many items before and after that. At the beginning, there were 5-6 small dishes/snacks for guests to nibble. Towards the end, there were 3 desserts and petit fours. I thought Andre’s ideas for snacking and several desserts were similar of Gagnaire’s dining experience. Contrary to what many believe, I neither felt full nor overwhelmed at the end of my meal – just satiated. I skipped the bio-dynamic wine offered, and opted for the ‘juice-pairing’ (about 5-6 glasses) instead. It was not cheap, but quite interesting. The potato skin juice managed to bring down the foie gras’ intensity while the black malt juice enhanced the flavor of pork belly dish. It’s fun, but I think wine would still be a better option to go with the meal.

 

Bukit Pasoh has become an elite area for good restaurants in Singapore. Besides Andre, there are Oso, the clan, Hashi, oca grassa etc. Restaurant Andre is actually an old renovated 3-storey shophouse, located next to Majestic hotel. This place can only serve up to 30 people at the same time, so as expected you will have an intimate experience but slightly less of privacy. The decor is contemporary and stylish with some touch of classic feeling. Diner would probably think as though they eat at the Chef’s house. It’s probably ‘correct’ especially when Andre Chiang himself showed up at the end of the meal, visited every table and acted as gracious host.  For someone as famous as Andre, I was a bit surprised that Chef Chiang was a very nice person and down to earth. He was listening to diners’ comment attentively and answering any questions they had for him. The friendly hospitality was also reflected by the restaurant’s staffs; they’re professional and efficient – very proud of their job and their Chef patron. There’s hardly any restaurant like this in Singapore. Some will like it, some will not; nevertheless it’s something one perhaps should experience it once, in particular if he/she is around the area. I’m not really sure if it will be worth a (long distance) plane ride. In my case, it’s still reasonable since it took me fewer than 3 hours to visit Singapore

 

More in-depth reviews: http://zhangyuqisfoodjourneys.blogspot.com/2014/11/restaurant-andre-singapore.html

Here are the pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/118237905546308956881/RestaurantAndreSingapore

 

[huiray]

Well, Andre still needs to DO SOMETHING about that utterly atrocious and pretentious website of theirs.  It is completely useless in my opinion and in fact urges me to NOT patronize them.  One needs to click here and there to get anywhere and then the info that is conveyed in all their pages seems to convey how "in the clouds" they are and information that normal humans require from a restaurant website are beneath them to provide.  Yes yes, their menu changes but to not even provide a representative sample of what one might expect to eat is not acceptable. They used to provide a "Gallery of Photos" and "drawings" of said Andre's concepts which at least gave an idea of what sort of dishes they served - but even those have been removed.  There is so much more I could say about the defects of the website but perhaps I should stop here.

 

"Octaphilosophy"?  A Registered Trademark? I had always blinked at this over the years. 

 

On another forum I had mentioned how "Kiasu" they were, years ago, something that someone else (i.e. not me) had said about them and their website.