Jaan

uni & king crab risotto

the wine and dine 3 star club is a title that's difficult to attain. it is supposed to represent the epitome of culinary skill. a 3-star hallmark is one that represents not only exquisite taste for the (apparently) discerning palate, but also that of the highest level of service in the best ambience possible. for fine dining is not about taste, but a complete experience to be thoroughly enjoyed by all your senses. here in Singapore, only 3 restaurants achieved 3 stars from wine and dine 2009. they are:

1) Crystal Jade Golden Palace

2) Gunther's Modern French Cuisine

3) Jaan

don't ask my what happened to iggy's because i honestly don't know. i'm pretty sure it was so assumed to be 3-stared that they didn't even bother putting it there.

given that 3 star food was so rare, i decided to go try jaan. well, it was more like g decided to bring me there than me choosing to try it. but what can say, am i supposed to consciously refuse free 3-star food by such a lovely, fine woman? i don't think so. my new sugar mama sure new how to thank me for my fine services rendered.

here's some background info: jaan is a french restaurant headed by chef andre chiang. apparently andre has worked in several michelin star restaurants and now is the executive chef at jaan, boasting culinary delights that stem from southern french cuisine. even the wines that are paired with the meal are all french.

we made reservations for jaan at about 7 and arrived there pretty much at that time. the restaurant is located at the swissotel, the stamford, and it's at the equinox complex, level 70. for it's a little restaurant right above the equinox restaurant, and it has maybe only 15 tables. the view faces the ecp and the flyer and it did look pretty nice (granted not as nice as forlino where it faces the marina). it's very exclusive due to it's size, and the waitstaff is superb, extremely attentive without being intrusive.

we were given the menu and faced with several options. there was the menu degustation (tasting menu, in this case 7 official courses), which costs $240 per pax and $390 if you add the wine pairing option which g had. don't look at me strange, i was driving so i couldn't drink too much. (i did steal loads of it from g though. especially when she started giggling uncontrollably at the slightest lame comments that i made). they serve you a different glass of wine with each course to match the flavors and texture of that particular course.

we also had the choice of another set menu, which looked pretty good. the price was just as "good" and it ran at $240 also.

the interesting thing here is that if you pick the degustation menu, the whole table has to pick it for some strange reason. they say it's because the degustation menu is meant to be enjoyed "as a group experience". but alternatively, you can order the set dinner (which is 6 courses) and your partner can order ala carte.

the prices at jaan are definitely up there. at $240, it makes it a good $45 bucks more than iggy's, which is the best restaurant in singapore. so i thought this better be good. g and i both opted for the degustation menu. a degustion menu is really the best way to savor all the chef's finest creations in one sitting, in addition to judging his culinary skill. you get to taste all sorts of his creations, from the appetizers to the desserts, and you can see what kind of chef he truly is.

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menu degustation

amuse bouche 1

pronounced ah-myuz-boosh, the term is literally translated to be "mouth amuser". it is a bite sized snack that is served at the start of the meal. it differs from an appetitzer as it is not ordered by the patron, but usually given complimentary by the chef. it's meant as a teaser to the tastebuds before the actual commencement of the meal. in this instance, we had the crispy flour, chicken skin, and the fried crispy nut cracker. very crispy. i enjoyed the chicken skin (middle 2) best.

amuse bouche 2

it came along with this "fish and chips in trufle soil" that andre had prepared. the fish was nicely fried, coming up slightly salty and crisp on the outside. the truffle soil possessed a sweet, soil like texture that was quite unique.

lemon "sous vide"

this is a 3 week old lemon that has been preserved in a gelatinous capsule with salt. it tastes exactly like how you'd expect it to. the gelatin texture along with a salty lemon insert. just to start.

mediterranean red prawn "escabeche"

over here with have sweet red prawns with an escabeche (a mediterranean vegetable medley). the prawns were fantastically sweet and raw or almost raw. they are extremely tender and delicious. i wansn't too fond of the vegetables though. it was slightly cold and undercooked, but i presume it was meant to be served that way. so i gave mine away go g who keeps telling me that vegetables are good for me (as though i didn't know).

grilled tuna belly "otoro" with smoked basil oil and aromatic charcoal powder

we had a side order of blue fin tuna as an appetizer. the tuna was very tender, just as otoro should be, but what made it good was the sauce that it went with. a very good mixture of the two flavors.

foie gras with apricot and gingerbread

this was good. it was really tiny and i had a hard time trying to combine the apricot, gingerbread (the standing thin strip) and foie gras together on my fork. but surprisingly it complimented each other very well. one of the better dishes i enjoyed. btw, the little thing at the bottom of the picture is strawberry jam.

caviar tarte tatin

this dish came out sweet. i was expecting something more savoury but it wasn't. this was ok. the thing about jaan is that i feel that there are too many sweet dishes. i personally like them to be more savoury (as they were in iggy's), and leave the sweets for the end of the meal. but for those of you who enjoy sweetness before your desserts, i think you'll enjoy jaan.

live squid - compliments from the chef

sea urchin and king crab risotto - compliments from the chef

the above two came together in a ceramic two-part bowl. the squid was stacked on top of the uni, then removed upon serving. the dry ice came gushing out of the risotto upon revelation. this is one of the best dishes of the night. g thoroughly enjoyed this. the squid was nice and fresh but what stole the thunder was the risotto. the uni and the chunks of king crab meat, along with the cheese on top and the perfectly cooked risotto was a pleasure to the tastebuds. one of the best risottos i've ever had. i would order this as a main if i could.

wild baby barracuda char grilled, smoked artichoke and brittany wheat

we found out from andre later on, when he came out and talked to us, that the baby baracuda was in season. andre, like most other top chefs, like to use ingredients that are in season to make up their tasting menu. that is partly why the menu changes each season. i'm not a huge fan of fish, but i enjoyed this dish. the barracuda was tender but retained a good texture, and it went really well with the tiny bits of brittany wheat, which had a grainy, nutty texture.

grade 9 wagyu beef - ordered as an additional main

to be honest, i don't think many people truly appreciate what good beef is. it's like me with fish and desserts. i'm a total nimwit (aka dumbass) when it comes to judging how good a fish or a dessert is. all i know is whether i lke it or not, and it takes alot for me to like fish, or a particular dessert for that matter. but BEEF, my most splendid readers, is my forte. i love beef. and i especially love a good highly marbled (aka super fatty) steak. for those of you who aren't into beef, please don't have the misconception that fatty beef is beef with chucks of fat around the edges and stuff. good, highly marbled beef is high in intramuscular fat, which means that the fat is not chunky and around the edges of the meat, but it is inside the meat. layers and layers of great marbling as stips of fat within the meat, making the end taste utterly staggering.

by the way, kobe beef is a subcategory of wagyu beef. wagyu beef is a general categorization of the type of beef, whereas the specifics of the location depends upon where each cattle comes from. kobe, or matsuzaka for example.

in the picture above, we actually ordered an additional main of wagyu beef, because g thought the beef in the degustation menu wouldn't be enough. (how brilliantly right of her!) those 3 strips of beef cost 120 bucks, which i find extremely expensive. but, however, i must say that this is one of the best steaks i've had. i would rate this as on par or even better than morton's. especially considering the way it was cooked to perfection. cooked perfectly medium, just lightly seared on the outside. the beef is so tender that i encounted practically no resistance when biting through the meat. resistance was light and even throughout, and it was so tender and delicious. this dish blew me away. under a great set of hands, good beef turns to magic.

g found the beef to be too fatty. i guess the thought of all that intramuscular fat scared her. oh well, more for me then. by this time she was also giggling nonstop from the wine, which i must admit was paired very well with the food. the selection of the wines were exquisite.

japanese wagyu, gnocchi and roasted onion broth

this was the one that came with the menu degustation. as you can see, it comes with only one (very yummy) piece of meat. definitely not enough for me. but it was soo good. exactly similar to the main that we ordered. the little potato was done surprisingly well. cooked to the right timing with a tinge of salt, along with the tiny little gnocchi. such a simple dish but yet so profound on the senses.

Desserts

first and foremost, i must warn you that i'm not a huge dessert fan. i'm pretty picky when it comes to dessert and i'm definitely not an expert on defining whats a good dessert or not. the only desserts i truly love are; chocolate anything eg. chocolate souffle and good ice cream. even when i was at iggy's, i thoroughly enjoyed all the savoury entrees and starters but i found the desserts to be average. so take this section with a pinch of salt. or sugar.

pre-dessert: japanese black cherries with almond ice cream and spice crumble

i honestly loved this one. the black cherries were so fresh and sweet, and it complimented the freshly made almond ice cream perfectly. probably my favourite part of the dessert.


lemon tart with churrios and orange sorbet

this was the dessert of the season. personally, i wasn't that impressed by this. the churrios in itself were nice. although abit tiny compared to the gigantic ones you get at disneyland. but then again, everything on the degustation menu is tiny. this dish looks rather phallic if you ask me. one of my churrio towers actually starting tilting downwards like the tower of pisa when i was taking photos (insert own freudian joke here).

snickers version 2009 (side order)

this is andre's version of a snickers bar. basically what he did was to find out all the ingredients in a snickers bar and make his own uber high quality version of it. it tasted pretty... fresh. you can really taste the high quality ingredients inside, and it really did kinda taste like snickers. unfortunately, i dont know if i'd rather eat this or the real snickers. sometimes i think junk food is best left the way it is.

almond fiancier, creme brulee of macaroon, iced lollipop w/strawberries & earl grey, fizzy chocolate w/orange (compliments from the chef)

to me, these were all alright. nothing fantastic. i'm starting to realize that i have a horrible dessert reviewing abilities. but i'll try. the almosd cake was soft and moist, melted quite nicely in your mouth. the macaroon was sweeett.. really sweet, but it had good texture to it. the ice lollipop had a pink strawberry inside that was like an icy popsicle. and i thought the fizzy chocolate with orange tasted just plain strange.

overall, i think that jaan is a pretty good place. the food is pretty good, the service is impeccable, and the ambience is exclusive and classy. however, when you look at the price tag, at 240 per head, i'd pick iggy's any day. hands down. the food at iggy's is definitely way better. it's more creative, and there were many dishes in which i had "wow" moments. the only thing i find utterly fantastic here is the wagyu beef. but other than that, i wasn't very impressed by the other dishes.

bottom line: if you have plenty of cash to spare (which in that case you should wire some over to me) and you're bored of all the other good restaurants, then come here. otherwise, i think you can better spend your money elsewhere. the food here isn't bad or average by any means. it's just not great. your utility per dollar can be maximized at some other location. but do come for the wagyu. it is out of this world.

degustaion menu score - 7/10

wagyu beef ala carte - 10/10