Les Amis, Singapore

The gang's favourite joint for lunch these days. So we decided to bunk in there on a hot humid Saturday afternoon for the usual 4 hours lunch. The lunch menu here is quite interesting with a huge selection from entree to main and desserts, but the main list has got to be its wine list :))))

J&J Jelina is one proud momma for her daughter recently achieved the outstanding leadership awards. I wondered what did daddy open for this happy celebration :))) I've watched friends' kids grow from lil one to beautiful young lady. Oh gawd...that reminds me I'm getting really old here. Has it been ten years? yeah looking back, 10 years is quite a steep grow for children from 5 to 15....but I still think me look the same from 25 to 35 hehehehehehe. Agree?

Crusty bread baked straight from its kitchen and yummylicious butter.....we've been reminding ourselves not to over indulge not to nibble one more piece...but it's too good to resist....damn!! put it far far away from us~~~~

this was how someone hid his bread......away from his sights but yet there's still a stash of it there means u will still consume it later!!!

special order for the toddler, Homemade sausage capellini in sweet tomato sauce. JS was eyeing this bowl of pasta...

"Hey it's for the kiddo!!! u will have yours soon."
JS :-(((((

steamed seasonal white asparagus with a special hollandaise sauce. Squeeze some japanese lime and dress the dish with japanese herbaceous flowers. It somehow elevate the dish for our palate are so attuned to asian ingredients.

we are lucky chaps to be enjoying the white asparagus with a bottle from Guigal :))) That just brought back memories of our visit to the Rhone Valley last autumn. 

I think this was a kiddo salad too. 

Amuse bouche with such generous toppings of caviar and silver leaf?? We usually have gold leaves but silver is new....or was it lightings that caused the gold leaf to turned silver? hahahaha me.don't.know.

mixed selections of grilled earthy mushrooms, with its mouse and gratin at the bottom. Some shaved cheese and spices on the side. Lookin from the menu, I know we are almost turning to be vegan hahahaha. As u get older and pass the age of 35, u need to take care of that one and only engine of yours...which will have to function in proper order for the rest of your life. 

very interesting white from the cold mountain of Jura. The only time I've been to the Jura mountain was to visit the watch factory of my previous company. Then I had the most beautiful white and red wines...which never make it out of Switzerland because the production is so little. This bottle is from the region in France bordering Switzerland. 

Les Amis has got such beautiful tableware. It was also Les Amis that introduced us to Laguoile knives 9 years ago....now JS has got a collection enuff to open a shop.

Thing about men vs women.
Women buy stuffs to USE
Men buy stuffs to KEEP/display/admire

Special for the day, roast French chicken with new potatoes. The team at Les Amis insisted that we must try this, which wasn't in the menu.

It's quite a lean chicken u know, look at its sexay legs!!!! hmmmm reminded me of myself on the pole. BAHAHAHAHAHA

Nope, I did not get inspired from Les Amis's roast french chicken. There's really such pole trick and it's called the Handstand Butterfly. Very happy that I've achieved something small in my pole fitness for I couldn't execute the body invert, turn it around to crucifix before landing with a handstand like this. It took me 3 months, whereby my classmates learnt it in 3 minutes!!!! The fear for heights and being inverted is too difficult for me to conquer and last Sunday I fell down terribly again from the top.

both instructor and JS told me to use a crashing mat at the bottom but my philosophy was....if I knew there's always a crashing mat at the bottom I will never learn, for there's something to catch me at the end. So the best way to train this Monkey is not to have anything, once she has tasted the pain of crashing down all the time, she will do all it takes to hold on, even if it means bruises all over her chicken legs. Hahahaha yes chicken legs and thighs.

It's been roasted this way, standing inverted on a special cast iron roaster. The fats at the bottom were used to roast the new potatoes. Surprisingly the fragrant of the roast chicken was quite mild as opposed to Poulet de Bresse. It was on the dry side for us. Maybe the chicken was too lean...hehehehe.

For those who doesn't consume chicken....oh well in this case, the one and only Mr. JS....he ordered his favourite japanese shrimp pasta. He's one eppy boy when there's certain form of carbs esp pasta....he grew up eating bread and pasta so those are his comfort food. *apart from wines*

mix and toss it to enjoy!!! The texture of the capellini is seriously good here. :)))

Gimme gimme gimme my chicken!!!!
It was carved and presented really nice. Just that we didn't snap a pic of it bcoz the photographer was too bz and he was nowhere to be seen. 

our dearie photographer was bz visiting Les Amis's wine cellar...or should I call it the treasure trove?? all the amazing rare and outstanding wines.....in big formats!!!

We do have our own gems to drink as well :))) hehehehehe I know, I'm such a lucky and privileged monkey!!!

D is for desserts!!!!!

instead of sweets, I went for the cheeses. Les Amis source really awesome cheeses and if you would like to purchase all these artisanal fromage, it's really possible.

petit four for coffee...and it was at the moment I quickly surrender my credit card and to further dramatize it, I told the Maitre'D that it's my birthday and I AM BUYING lunch for my beloved friends!!!!! but lil did I know, Les Amis was even more drama.

I got a birthday cake
-_-"
moral of the story is, kids....never ever tell white lies ok?

Not only my card got rejected here bcoz apparently they only accept Singaporean credit cards. Oh yeah right....they gave me a cake....since we were so full, we packed it back for dinner and it was amazingly yummy!!! Thank you to chef de patisserie. 

and Mr. JS went missing again, snoopping around in the kitchen. Chef de patisserie Cheryl Koh was bz but kind enuff to pose for a pic.

Thank you my dear Singapore Minum Gang for lunch and dinner and everything else. Always awesome to spend the weekend with u guys.

Les Amis is now open on Sunday. Do check out their website for more info.

Les Amis
1 Scotts Road,
#01-16 Shaw Centre,
Singapore 228208.
Tel: +65 6733 2225
www.lesamis.com.sg

Bon Vivant at Soleil

When 2 amazing chefs collide what do you get? Oh, allow me to define, it's not a challenge of any sort but a smashing collaboration of modern European and Australian. :))) Get it?

Chef Onderbeke of Soleil meets Chef Tay from Osia of Resorts World Sentosa :))))) It's really an honour to have a guest chef to showcase his talent here just for a short 3 days. You definitely won't wanna miss the specially crafted degustation menu.

Sadly, notti Monkey won't be available from 21st January till 23rd January for this. So whomever the lucky ones that have secured their reservation, I envy you. Lucky Lucky you. According to insider source, there are still a few seats available so do give them a call for more enquiry.

Soleil
Ground Floor, 22A, Jalan 17/54,
Seksyen 17, 46400 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor.
Tel: 603 7932 5989
http://www.soleil.my

Brian C's Birthday @ The Red Herring

Peakie D, Brian C and Notti Monkey 

the 3 globe trotters who just got back home to KL. We lurve to travel...sometimes it's work, sometimes it's leisure but most of the time it's work *I think*. Travelling for work ain't fun seriously, but in life u gotta turn lemons into yummy lemonade don't ya? Since we knew that watever it is....we still gotta go and travel bcoz of that particular assignments, why not just go with a happy heart, pick up new languages, meet interesting ppl, taste new food but most of all LEARN. Life is all about learning isn't it? I learn everyday...even in my dreams.

so these 3 friends who love to travel finally got a date to congregate to celebrate Brian C's birthday. Setting dates or a date is mad crazy trust me. It's either has to be extremely in advance or last minute on that week itself. But I am glad we made it :)))

Brian C's new MCM clutch.......*ahem*

yes I lurve to touch and mess and toy around with ppl's properties. But this isn't so me. The size is good as a document or iPad folder. If you have nothing much to store, you could just fold the top down to make this clutch smaller and fits in your hands perfectly.


It's either I was messing around with ppl's properties or ppl's staffs busy at work in the kitchen. Filling meat into the casing with this awesome gadget - I dunno what it's called.


and ta-da!!!!! such cute perfection and it's all homemade with love :)))))


WHAT??? U mean u didn't prepare this dish for us????
Mean Xer got so stressed up with this "client" bcoz I ordered nothing fr the menu and everything off her menu.


Champagne and wines were already chilled and prepared in advance


Started off with a beautiful pork terrine. Everyone was so hungry including the kids, and all gone in seconds. Hahahaha.....We were like piranhas!!!!



Remember those sausages earlier? Now they are ready to be nom nom nom, full of hickory smoke flavours. The bite was crunchy and snap bcoz of the casing, followed by meat!!! REAL MEAT innit!!. Oh Chef Mean Xer, when are u gonna serve breakfast here? This is sooo gonna be wicked with eggs and bacons and coffee!!!!

Now you can order these beautiful pork sausages from The Red Herring. I don't know what's the price but definitely sold by weight. Definitely good to have some stashed away in the freezer and if u are feeling up to it, take them out and grill em baby!!!



we requested this simple grilled sweet pepper pasta again....not in her menu. With some extras added on top....toasted Ikan Terubok eggs on top....this is like the Malaysia version of European Bottarga *mullet egg roe*


Beautiful vegetable terrine with reduced balsamic. So pure, yummy and good texture. Natural goodness from all the vege balanced off with the acid from the dressing. If vege gonna be presented like this on the table, I am sure everyone will have some fiber every single day!!!


Last minute request of Giant Garoupa with homemade tomatoes. Simple yummy wholesomeness, but trust me, when things looked simple, actually it takes the most work, techniques and skills to prepare.


We ordered our pork chop to be charred....beautifully charred. Chef Mean Xer has got a lava rock char-grill stove so any food can be grill to this perfection. Crispy edges and beautiful moist juicy meat on the inside. Yeah usually if u charred it to this way it would have been dry but this wasn't. Need to learn her secrets.


the kids were so happy bcoz it's their kinda food!!!


Cheeses that landed less than 48 hours from London. It looks like there's a lot but everything gone as well.


Thank you to Dr. Epicurean for the cheeses. Nope he's not sleeping in this pic....working on the phone. I don't really know which timezone he's on. He's perpetually working 24/7 inclusive of weekends.


Peakie D and Lynd brought a really limited bottle of Nikka Brandy. We didn't see this when we visited Nikka factory in Japan.


Such a beautiful cake :))))
I wanna learn to bake and decorate like this!!!!

Happy Birthday my dear Brian C :)))) 

May u alwiz be blessed with many many many beautiful adventures and experiences, travels, great eats, wonderful ppl in your life and thank you for your friendship


Group picca.

JS it's not ur birthday, please stand aside!!! kekekekeke. Peakie D said he looked like Iron Chef. But then again the Iron Chef Mean Xer was trying to hide herself.

Thank you so much for accommodating to all my insane request!!! Promise next time I will be a good gal and order from you menu ok?

The Red Herring has officially opened for business. The menu is very focused, which is great so u won't have to worry of wat to order. Muahahahaha. I am now looking forward for her to open for breakfast on weekends.

The Red Herring
M-1-16 Plaza Damas,
Jalan Sri Hartamas,
50480 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 603 6211 1417
Closed on Monday