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Dinner At Singapore’s Best Restaurant, Restaurant Andre

a plate of food with a circular pattern

***This is part 9 of my “Big Fat Indian Wedding” trip report detailing a recent trip to Singapore and India***

1. Introduction
2. United Global First Lounge at SFO
3. Singapore Airlines Krisflyer Lounge at SFO
4. Singapore Airlines First Class San Francisco to Seoul
5. Singapore Airlines First Class Seoul to Singapore
6. Conrad Singapore
7. Eating Singapore Part 1 – Flowers, Supertrees, and a River Safari
8. Eating Singapore Part 2 – Hawker Stands, Chili Crab, and Kouign Amanns
9. Dinner At Singapore’s Best Restaurant, Restaurant Andre
10. Premier Lounge at SIN, SilkAir Economy Class to Hyderabad
11. Part Hyatt Hyderabad
12. Exploring Hyderabad
13. Etihad Airways Business Class Hyderabad to Abu Dhabi
14. Etihad Premium Lounge at AUH
15. Etihad Airways (Jet Airways Config “Jetihad”) First Class Abu Dhabi to San Francisco
_______________________________

This was far and way the most inventive meal we’ve ever had.

As I’ve mentioned before, we’re fans of the annual World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, even though we’re fully aware that you need to take these types of lists with a grain of salt. We try to fit in a fine dining experience into each one of our trips, and often times it will come from that list. Most recently, we enjoyed a spectacular 23-course lunch at the current #1 restaurant, El Celler De Can Roca.

Restaurant Andre currently sits at #46 and I think it’s going to continually ascend in the coming years. Unlike many restaurants on the list, it was surprisingly easy to get reservations to, considering that it’s a relatively small 30-seat place. They do require a small deposit, so perhaps that keeps people from making reservations speculatively, only to cancel later on.

The restaurant is tucked away on a quiet side street and our taxi dropped us off right outside.

restaurant andre singapore sign

restaurant andre singapore exterior

From start to finish, the dining experience here was impeccable. It was like a perfectly choreographed Cirque du Soleil show, just without the acrobats flying around.

The dining room was actually similar to The Restaurant At Meadowood which I guess I’d describe as chic-woodsy? There were even little sheep side tables that could be used to hold bags.

restaurant andre singapore dining room

restaurant andre singapore dining room 2

Chef Andre Chiang has actually invented a few type of culinary principle which he’s named Octaphilosophy. Essentially, it’s in recognition of the fact that our interpretation of food is based on our library of personal experiences. His menu is based on 8 characteristics: pure, salt, artisan, south, texture, unique, memory, and terroir and the style of food was primarily French, with a focus on local Singaporean ingredients.

restaurant andre singapore menu 1

And that’s exactly how the menu was structured, with no indication of what the actual dishes or ingredients would be. It definitely created a sense of mystery and suspense that I’m sure was deliberate.

restaurant andre singapore menu 2

But before you jump into the main meal, there were a series of small bites, or snacks as they called them.

restaurant andre singapore amouse 1

restaurant andre singapore amouse 2

restaurant andre singapore amouse 4

restaurant andre singapore amouse 3

The final snack was a preview of the creativity and uniqueness to come. The “edible garden” was created with fried prawns head and potatoes serving as the plants, and chocolate and garlic dust as the soil. The soil was so good and addicting that we almost finished the entire dish, which I’m pretty sure nobody has ever done.

restaurant andre singapore edible garden

Another unique feature of this meal was the kombucha pairing option which my wife decided to try, and absolutely loved. After the meal we even got a tour of the restaurant’s attic where they brew all of their kombucha.

restaurant andre singapore kamboucha pairing

Time for the main event, starting with Pure. The thought behind this dish is to highlight the ingredients by not using any seasoning or heat to cook.

restaurant andre singapore pure

Salt was a tribute to the flavors of the sea, and in fact had no additional salt added.

restaurant andre singapore salt

As expected, Artisan was one of the most beautiful dishes I’ve ever seen. This dish was a tribute to the farmers and fisherman who take pride in producing the absolute best product possible. This dish featured smoked eel imported from Japan underneath the crisp, which was topped with caviar.

restaurant andre singapore artisan

South was inspired by Chef Andre’s time living in the south of France.

restaurant andre singapore south

Texture was the first of the dishes that are designed to trick you. What’s presented as a risotto was actually a gnocchi dish.

restaurant andre singapore texture

Unique was probably my least favorite which was horseradish-based, but that may just be due to my palate.

restaurant andre singapore amouse 5

This was Chef Andre’s signature dish, and the only one that rarely comes off the menu. Memory was a foie gras jelly that is based on his childhood memories as a kid in France. I’m pretty sure only French children eat foie gras, since I can only imagine the reaction that kids in the US would have when presented with a plate of goose liver.

restaurant andre singapore unique

And finally, Terroir, which was a presentation of pigeon cooked three different ways.

restaurant andre singapore terroir

At this point we were already blown away by the food, but the desserts really took things to a new level. Starting with a grapefruit jelly with sliced grapes on top that almost made this look like an octopus dish.

restaurant andre singapore sorbet

The first dessert was a green pea dessert.

restaurant andre singapore texture 1

And another small cake before the main dessert.

restaurant andre singapore cake

Here’s the one that we thought was so cool, the “bake our own cake”. While the staff explained in detail the ingredients contained in all of the other dishes, this was the only one where they simply wouldn’t tell us what the dish was made of. And no, the eggs weren’t real eggs, but rather sacs that were injected with a yellow cream and then placed in an eggshell.

restaurant andre singapore bake your own cake dessert

And a huge goodie basket to finish.

restaurant andre singapore petite fours 3

Including these interesting Dr. Pepper-flavored popsicles.

restaurant andre singapore popsicle

As I mentioned above, this was by far the most inventive and fun meal we’ve ever had. As soon as you step through those doors, the service was truly perfect and the food was so imaginative and tasty. It was a nice break from eating at the hawker centers, and I’d highly recommend making a stop here when in Singapore.

8 Comments

      1. I wonder if that was deliberate or a wild coincidence based on your camera angle. Based on how precise everything else looks it would not surprise me one bit if it was on purpose.

        For the cake, where there any suggestions on how to eat it? or is it just “do what you want”?

        1. This was very much “do what you want”, I think I tried mixing and matching different components, and eventually just threw everything together on the plate.

  1. I always enjoy reading your trip reports . Sadly they are so few . Maybe you should travel more ?
    Just curious about the price of Lunch ? It looked like a great meal .

    1. Thanks so much donn, I would love to travel more but unfortunately can’t escape from work more than a few times a year. I do have another trip coming up in November so will be writing another report shortly!

      The lunch price at the restaurant is $128 SGD per person, dinner is $298 SGD per person.

    1. Thanks, Joe! I’ve only been once I thought it was great. Everyone that has been to Gary Danko raves about it and have yet to find someone that walked away disappointed.

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