Try sweet Brittany sea bream served with a citrusy butter sauce on top of lovely grapefruit enhanced mashed potato.
If you see a skinny French chef zipping around the Bar & Billiard Room this week, his name is Matthieu Garel, and he’s the chefowner of the Le Belisaire bistro in Paris’ 15th arrondisement.
Here in Singapore for the first time, he’s no doubt anxious that the refined bistro cooking that has won him a Michelin Bib Gourmand award – the bistro equivalent of one Michelin star – doesn’t get lost in the translation. Or perhaps, in the buffet.
Sadly, the Bar & Billiard’s all-you-can-eat buffet concept doesn’t do justice to chef Garel, especially when his own consistently full restaurant is the result of his inventive approach to bistro cuisine and his ala minute cooking prowess.
Still, the affable chef does his best given the constraints, and you are able to get a hint – if not the full picture – of the kind of food you can get if you eat in his restaurant. The week-long Parisian bistro promotion features a special station devoted purely to chef Garel’s food, in addition to the usual good quality spread that the Bar & Billiard is known for.
Some items work very well, like a decadent carrot veloute with Acacia honey that is full of flavour, sweet and super creamy yet without being cloying. In fact, you’ll have to stop yourself from getting another bowlful.
Braised dishes also do well, particularly the braised wagyu beef cheek a la Nicoise. Despite an attempt to make risotto at the station itself, the resulting dish lacked the al dente bite of a proper risotto, although by buffet standards it was pretty decent.
But make sure you try the lovely ravioli of fluffy leek mousse and lobster in a langoustine sauce and drizzled with lobster oil.
The light hand with the ravioli and the delicate flavours show that chef Garel operates on a playing field more advanced than your neighbourhood French onion soup bistro.
This is confirmed with his barely steamed sea bream fillets from Brittany – sweet and fresh – served with a citrusy butter sauce on top of lovely grapefruit enhanced mashed potato.
The roast cod with basil crust in saffron broth, salmon stuffed with foie gras on braised cabbage and duck confit parmentier with foie gras did not fare so well in their chafing dishes – texture wise they failed, although they managed to retain the intricate flavour combinations that chef Garel intended. If it can be described so, the dishes tasted potentially good.
The same with dessert – a light and lovely creme caramel, somewhat overcooked chocolate fondant cakes, messy looking clafouti fighting for attention amongst the dessert spread.
It would have been good if the restaurant could have offered the option of ala minute cooking in the way that other buffet places offer an appetiser and dessert buffet but with a choice of main courses that are cooked to order. It would have provided chef Garel a better platform to show off his worth.
Still, one thing’s for sure. You’ll get a good enough preview of what he can do to seriously consider a trip to his restaurant on your next trip to Paris.
The Parisian Bistro promotion ends on July 26.
Available for lunch ($62) and dinner ($79).
Bar & Billiard Room
Raffles Hotel
Tel: 6337-1886
Rating: 6.5/10
From now till Dec 31, 2008, Citibank cardmembers enjoy 15% off total food bill at Bar & Billiard Room.
This article was first published in The Business Times on July 21, 2008.