Food review: Joel Robuchon Restaurant and L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon

SINGAPORE — When it comes to traditional French fine dining, you can’t beat Joel Robuchon’s restaurants. The man’s restaurants, after all, hold the world’s highest number of Michelin stars. To that end, the revived weekend lunches at both Joel Robuchon Restaurant and L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon at Resorts World Sentosa is welcome news for bon vivants whose penchant for old-world haute cuisine transcends the allure of younger, hipper eateries.

At the more formal and heavily draped Joel Robuchon Restaurant, a three-course lunch starts at S$78 and goes up to S$118 for five courses. Throw in the two amuse bouche that the chefs typically work into the meal and it’s a bargain — not to mention a gentle-on-the-wallet way — to get a taste of Robuchon’s feted cuisine. (In comparison, dinner starts at S$159 for two courses.)

The lunch menu lists about three to four options for appetisers, soups, fish, meats and desserts. Guests get to tailor their meals based on these options and the number of courses they want. In our books, weekend lunch wouldn’t be complete without a runny egg, so we picked the crispy soft-boiled egg with Parmesan mousseline and Iberico ham from the appetiser menu. This simple dish alone was a testament to why Robuchon restaurants all over the world have retained their magnetism throughout the decades. The egg, nested under a tangle of crispy shredded feuille de brick pastry, was followed by a comfortingly earthy, mushroom soup, which was then followed by an insanely fatty Kagoshima beef with fresh morels and a dollop of Robuchon’s famously butter-laden mashed potatoes. There is no debate that this is good French food of the highest order — unapologetically rich, with starkly pronounced flavours and all-around pitch perfect. That it is all intricately arranged and presented only affirms the scrupulous skill and effort that each dish demands.

It was a decadent lunch by any standards, made all the more worthwhile by generous extras such as an amuse bouche of caviar on a bed of crabmeat and lobster jelly and the spectacular bread basket filled with at least 10 different types of irresistible rolls. Across the hall, the more casual L’Atelier Joel Robuchon provides a more casual weekend lunch at its sushi-style counters behind which its team of black-clad chefs quietly work. A three-course menu starts at S$48 (it’s S$108 for five courses). ANNETTE TAN

Joel Robuchon Restaurant and L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon

Hotel Michael, Level 1, Resorts World Sentosa. Telephone: 6577 6688. Weekend lunch hours: Joel Robuchon Restaurant, Saturday noon to 2.30pm; L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, Sunday noon to 2.30pm