Les Amis – a top restaurant for birthday celebration in Singapore

Which is the best restaurant for birthday celebration in Singapore? After attending a recent birthday celebration at Les Amis, we have concluded that it is one of the best restaurants to celebrate a special occasion in Singapore. Our lunch was held in a private room on the upper level  at Les Amis and it was an afternoon of food and fun.

The Room

It is certainly more lonely at the top. There are only three private rooms at the upper level. They are separated by partitions that can open to create larger rooms. It was a quiet and peaceful place. There are two small tables at the foyer that enjoy more privacy than the tables on the ground floor. However, booking them is not a good idea for a celebration or romantic dinner as they are near the washrooms. The private rooms at Les Amis are what you should specify when you book the restaurant for a birthday celebration in Singapore. Within the confines of the room, you can have as quiet or as noisy a party as you like (within reason of course).

Service at Les Amis was top-notch.  One problem when in dining in a private room is the difficulty to getting the attention of the servers. There was no such problem as the multi-course format of the menu and the attentive staff meant that there were frequent opportunities to communicate with the staff.

Another good reason to pick Les Amis as a restaurant for birthday celebration in Singapore is the format of their lunch menu. They have three lunch menus that cost $85, $108 and $205. They are quite reasonably priced considering the awards this restaurant have received (including a Michelin 2 star award), the quality of the accommodation and service.  The menu that we had was the mid-range one – the $108 le menu formule à la carte. It is a four course lunch which is just about right for a lunchtime celebratory meal. We could choose what we like, rather than some pre-destined options decided by the host. Some items attract the payment of extra money.

The Menu

The Wines

The wines served at lunch was 2011 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett and 1996 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild. The latter tasted amazing fresh for something which has spent 21 years in a dark bottle.  So many things have taken place since 1996 while this wine was slumbering.  Les Amis has a “1 for 1” corkage policy – purchase a bottle from them and you can bring one from home.  Which seems like a good compromise for the restaurant to make some wine revenue and diners to bring a favourite bottle to town.

The Food

Good food, wine, ambience, and a fair price are the essentials for a good restaurant for birthday celebration in Singapore. The food choices available from the lunch menu made it more fun than a fixed menu.

These were the amuse bouche served after the orders were taken. A canapé, some mini croissants with truffle flavour and a small cup of soup. Each was delightful and delicious.

The cold starters

From this point on, I am less certain of which dishes are which as the guests made different selections from the lunch menu.  Here are pictures of the cold starters. From what I can remember the one with best compliments was the crabmeat item – it looks like a small spring roll – a crisp skin encasing some fresh crabmeat inside. The most ordinary item was the traditional French pate with foie gras. It was presented like a slice of bread and the taste was not fantastic.

The warm starters

The second course of warm starters were generally well liked. The lobster mouse in baby spinach and the pan seared foie gras seemed to have gotten the most compliments. At this stage, we noticed that foie gras was used in quite a few items. The Germain riesling, with its mildly sweet flavour, went particularly well with the foie gras dishes.

The main courses

The main course options were diverse – ranging from fish, pheasant and ox tongue.  All the items tasted good and were nicely presented, except for one item. The pheasant served in “toute” was like a massive meat ball.  The taste was deep, meaty but not too gamey. An extra blob of foie gras gave it an even richer and complex taste. It looked strange but made a wonderful companion to eat with the Mouton.

Desserts

There were four types of dessert and a cheese platter to end the meal. Here are pictures of all of them. The Williams pear poached in infusion of star anise and the sugar sphere with glaced marrons (candied chestnuts) in different textures were the favourites. These were the best desserts we have tried in a while.

After the official menu items had been served, we received our petite fours which were lovely. The restaurant provided a complimentary mini birthday cake. It was small but no one complained as the four course meal plus bread and other extras all added to a very heavy meal. The meal lasted three plus hours but time seemed to zoom by when you are having fun or being well fed at this fine restaurant for birthday celebration in Singapore.

For pictures of the general dining area at Les Amis, please read our earlier post.

Ratings:

Food: 4
Service: 5
Value: 4
Atmosphere: 5
Overall Rating: 5 TOPs 

1 Scotts Road,
#01-16 Shaw Centre,
Singapore 228208
(Opposite HSBC Bank, Tanglin Branch)

Tel: +65 67332225

The Ordinary Patrons | Real Dining Experience of Ordinary People
an independent Singapore food blog