Dec

Teary Birthday: Le Saint Julien

20th Dec 08

I was led to a window seat whose view allowed me to see Esplanade, Suntec, Meritus Mandarin, Conrad, Pan Pacific hotel, Mandarin Oriental and Singapore Flyer. Closer to view was the soothing slow waves of the waters with the occassional passing by of tourists boats. Laid on the table were sets of specific utensils which will be used for my birthday meal later. Sitting at the corner of our table was a candle lighted in a colourful candle-holder, surrounded by pearls necklaces and some christmas decorations.

I looked at the magnificient scenery in enjoyment while the waiter retrieved the menu for us.

Just 10 minutes ago, I was still sitting in his car..awaiting for the place to be revealed. But this time round, his lips were sealed, intent not to leak out any hints. The only thing I know was we are going to a Restaurant serving French.All I had was a smirking driver and a whole-lot of question marks; Taking pride that this time round, his plans were successful. Indeed, I do not have the slightest idea; my guesses of Zambuca and Fortino were all said to be wrong..

Before we left the house, I thought we were leaving for Orchard. After Shaun got off the car, I found ourselves still driving on the roads of the cityhall area. I had totally no idea where we were going. Almost like a Deja vu, his little KIA turned into the carparks of Fullerton. Cheekily, he said what he said 9 months ago – “oh, Im taking a shortcut”..

Upon exiting the lift, we turned away from Fullerton, leaving me blank all over again. And we even walked past One Fullerton. When we finally crossed to The Fullerton Hotel opposite, I still can’t believe that we are going to Fullerton because that would mean that we would taking a detour and i trust that vampy is not so evil to make me walkd detoured ways.. Indeed, it’s not really in Fullerton Hotel. Rather, the place Vampy is bringing me is in The Fullerton Waterboat House. Sweet lil place. I didnt know the exact place which we are going still. And in fact, I didnt really know of the existence of the waterboat house since I haven’t really crossed over to the Fullerton side on foot before.

The waiter returned with the menu flipped to the welcoming page.. – “Welcome to Le Saint Julien”, in its most elegant cursive font. And we have a Captain assigned to us will be attending us for the whole night!

I flipped back to the cover of t he menu, in wonders how the design of the menu’s cover is like and at the same time, photographing it down to my collection..

I took out the card I was given on our way out, and begun reading.. It hasnt been more than 5 lines that I started tearing. Yes, right! This is my first card from Cheeky. No doubt it was messy but it really made me teared…ruining my make-up before I even start to take any pictures.. The words of which..are private and confidential!

Cheeky had already decided that we must have Foie Gras – which I’ve always read bout it and never tried before..

The service was remarkable. The captain went through the menu with us section by section, recommending us their best dishes – the taste of some of the sauce in particular. One sentence which I remember particularly well course’ i found it alil funny. That is when he recommended the codfish, he went on to say how it is rich in Omega-3 which is good for the body and brain.. ;p

Complimentary bread basket.

The breads werent extraordinarily superb, cept that the Grains bread was really soft..! *nice to chew

Foie gras de canard poêlé et sauce aux raisins et champagne
(Pan seared duck liver with grape and champagne sauce)

Our appetiser was our favourite dish of the night. I think it will be one of my favourite foods from now on! The top of the Foie Gras was crispy and had the subtle taste of duck, not CHINESE duck! While the middle of it melts into your mouth when it enters. Oh my goodness~ Together with the tinge of crisp, melting center, Champagne sauce, and duck’s flavour..it was awesome. And each piece has to be savoured in small bits, so that i can get my imaginary maximal satisfaction out of it.. ;D

It’s garnished with pieces of caramelised/sweet apricots and vegetables which taste good with their dressing.. YUMMIE. FAVOURITE** i love to let it melt abit, and i’ll chew abit, melt abit, chew abit..

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Bisque de homard et Saint Jacques à l’aïoli et croûtons
(Lobster bisque soup with sea scallop, garlic aïoli and croutons)

This is what I had for my soup! ~ Lobster Bisque Soup! Again, my first time havin Lobster Bisque soup, being a soup lover, I love it not being overly creamly and salty but still tasty. There were also crumbs of lobster meat in the soup. Croutons were still semi-crispy in the soup..yummie. According to Cheeky who had tried many others before, it is indeed a good lobster bisque coz it doesnt have the fishy smell..neither is it too milky that makes you nausea after having too much.. OMG. *what if i crave for this soup again?! No, Its not expensive!*

Look how the soup is served. It’s poured fresh and hot from the teapot. When soup is warm, it’s the nicest!
I was sorta stunned when I saw an empty bowl but entirely enchanted when I saw the soup being poured from the pot! *happy*

Demie douzaine d’escargots cuits à l’ail et persil
(Oven baked half dozen of escargots with garlic and parsley)

And cheeky’s middle course is Escargots, a frequent visitor for my birthday. Remember the one at Top of the M last year? This, rather than oven baked with cheese, it was baked with garlic and parsley. Seriously, it wouldnt have looked nice coz it’s green and dull! This escargot had a tougher taste and garlic lovers like cheeky loved it! *but i still prefer Top of the M’s one. Cheese makes it yummie!

And halfway through the dinner, the Captain sneaked up on us, without saying anything…took the camera and told us to look here. He must have noticed me away and hence decided to help.. ;p

Sweet of the Captain. * and i realised…unconsiously, my thumb is showing a ‘thumbs-up’ sign!

There’s always a special one.

At this time, the captain came over and checked if we have programs after the dinner. After knowing that we do not have (do not want to have), he told us that he will let us take a break before having the mains. Dedicated service hehs!

And we started chatting about the fine-dining experiences we had thus far. And I still appeared stunned when any friendly waiter stopped by to check if everything is okae. And then, I continued reading the card again as I was too teary to continue reading just now. A really sweet card, ya’ know?

Oh, and i forgot to mention..when each dish is served, the waiter/captain would explain in detail about the dish and even reminding us, like when the escargots were served, they in fact reminded us that the Escargots were very hot.

Beef Tenderloin in Garlic pepper corn and Shallot Sauce

The captain explained patiently about the taste of the sauce when I asked him. Knowing that it’s lil spicy, I decided to go ahead and try. I love the crispy edges of the beef, and when dipped with sauce, it’s really quite nice. Just that I thought it’s a lil tough for my ulcer-ed mouth. Being done medium rare, the center was still pinkish and a lil bitter, probably marinated in wine or alcohol before..

Oh, I had to try multiple times before feeding cheeky with the right piece, the crispy piece.. *funny cheeky!*

Roasted Duck with Foie Gras in Red Wine Sauce..

With his belief that French duck is the best (indeed), cheeky order this duck dish which had a really small serving. But the Duck was really nice, tender and juicy..like the fact that the meat taste softer. And I always remark how the French cooked duck in ways that totally dont taste like the Chinese duck, and i mean..totally!.

Premium potato…we have as part of the garnishes:). Nice!

After the main courses, Cheeky asked if I wanna have desserts..and my response was I dont mind! But that’s only if we share.. And there we go, it seems like anywhere we go, the recommended dessert is the warm chocolate. The Captain said ”some of their patrons asked if they could bring the scraps home”….so we decided to try that since he made it sound that good!

We continued chatting, holding hands..relishing to the maximum in the perfect view and ambience. Unknowingly, somebody exclaimed from the back – “LOOK! THERE’s A FISH THERE”, the Captain pointed to the waters before me. I was utterly caught in surprise; I didnt even look back but rather at the reflection of the glass windows. I saw a dancing lighted candle; the crew begins singing and I started tearing again!

Despite my multiple times to Cheeky “Dont do that do me”… he actually did that, unintentionally according to him..It’s cause the Captain asked him if there’s any special occassion on his way to the gents..

the most expensive and unique cake I ever had..Thank you cheeky

Koon used to have the need to have a cake on her birthdays since young…But cakes doesnt play a significant role as last time since last year? Perhaps coz of better substitutes..but THIS…is one that makes me so touched.

Happy happy birthday Very very happy.

The small little piece of warm chocolate cake has its own uniqueness compared to many others. With a moderate sweetness or maybe not even really sweet and a crust cooked with skills, coupled with ice-cream crowns it the second best of all the warm chocolate cakes we had. ;D

And the wordings on the plate are just so nice that I really can’t bear to scrape it off…

On her 20th birthday, she was so touched. Firstly with the planned surprise in where we are going, the efforts putted in, the card he wrote, the sacrifices financially and the surprise birthday song and cake.

She has been the luckiest luckiest girl as far as she knows for he always tries to make her feel special on those special occassions. He said he hoped this had rekindled the magic of our love. Indeed. Not materialistically but perhaps such romance needs to be reminded when you got so close together.

Had a wonderful birthday. Each year probably surpassed each other, or vie just aptly. The most expensive dinner we had for the year..even more expensive than Jaan..Thank you my dear:) You made my days special, really. There is some form of magic in fine-dining where the 2 of you sit down in a soothing environment, enjoying the best of all aspects and recounts the past. When the world belongs to just you two.

*kisses*