Odette – Best Restaurant In Singapore, French Fine Dining Restaurant By Chef Julien Royer

[Updated] Odette has been awarded 2 Michelin Stars in the Singapore Michelin Guide 2016 and ranked Number 5 in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2018 – making it the “Best Restaurant in Singapore”.

(Click PLAY for food highlights of Odette.)

“It has been a long wait for me too!” His reply after I told Chef Julien Royer that many have been waiting in anticipation for the opening of Odette at National Gallery Singapore.

French Chef Julien Royer must be one of the brightest culinary young stars around (even on an international platform), having brought JAAN to greater heights.

Odette is most recently ranked No 5 in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2018. The previous year, it debuted at No 86 in World’s 100 Best Restaurants 2017.

No easy feat for a chef only in his early thirties.

Having moved on, Odette is a fine dining restaurant with its menu and concept inspired by Chef Royer’s grandmother. No prizes for guessing what her name is. This is also a collaboration with The Lo & Behold Group.

Chef will expand on his produce-driven cuisine to showcase the best seasonal ingredients from around the world in their purest form and flavour.

Born into a family of farmers, he was taught to appreciate and value the beauty of seasonal produce, and that style is apparent in the taste and presentation.

I have always considered JAAN to be one of the best restaurants in Singapore.

So the question most people would invariably ask is: “Is Odette better?”

And the answer is quite a resounding “Yes”. (My other friend who is typically critical over food, gave Odette an 8.5 over 10.)

A 4-course menu for lunch is at $88++, 6-course $128++, while the 8-course tasting menu is priced $188++. Vegetarian option is available. (6 and 8 course lunch available on Saturdays at $148++ and $208++.)

For dinner, a 6-course is at $208++, 8-course $268++. Note that the 6 course dinner is only available from Mondays to Thursdays.)

Some of Chef Julien’s signature favourites from JAAN have resurfaced at Odette, such as the Mushroom tea, cep mushroom and sabayon; and 55’ Rose Smoked Organic Egg, though not without modifications.

There was a slightly different way of smoking the eggs – pine needles were used instead, with the addition of home-made pine oil to infuse the eggs.

The eggs were still poached at a precise 63.7 degrees for 55 minutes, presented in a similar egg tray with dry ice for dramatic effects.

Simple and brilliant at the same time.

Considering that I am not that huge a fan of beef tartare, Odette’s North Highlight Beef Tartare was wonderfully excellent.

The beef used was Scottish grass-fed beef, selected for its pure, clean flavours, then simply seasoned with smoked bone marrow.

The entire dish comprised of many ingredients that all came well together, as though they were meant for one another – paper-thin petals of pickled kohlrabi (a German turnip) for gentle crunch, grain mustard ice cream which gave a contrasting cold sensation, and a small side of burnt bread topped with mustard seeds.

Similarly, the Miso Abour Trout was ‘life-changing’.

The trout was from a Southern France river, resting above three pieces of miso-glazed kurobuta pork. We wondered for a while how the two meats should collide, and figured it might be better to taste them separately.

One was oh-so sweetly-fresh and buttery-textured, the bottom half lovingly-melt-in-the-mouth.

My main feedback was, though my friend and I ordered the same dish, but the degree of ‘doneness’ looked apparently different.

I returned for a dinner meal in 2017, and was still impressed with almost all the dishes.

In particular I thought that the Heirloom Beetroot Variation, where you get beetroot in various forms such as salted baked and sorbet, was more polished. The various components were more in harmony – both aesthetically and taste-wise.

Chef Julien Royer’s style has become more distinctive in Odette, with an interplay of textures, balanced subtlety, with use top quality ingredients to create pieces of culinary art. Service was top-notch, nothing was overly gimmicky – thank goodness.

Still one of my favourite French restaurants in Singapore till date. I won’t be surprised if Odette secures all 3 Michelin stars one fine day.

Odette
1 St. Andrew’s Road #01-04 National Gallery Museum Singapore, Singapore 178957 (City Hall MRT)
Tel: +65 6385 0498
Reservation Hours: 12:00pm – 1:45pm Lunch (Tues – Sat), 6:00pm – 9:45pm Dinner (Mon – Sat)
Mon Dinner Only, Closed Sun

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