Christmas Eve Lunch @ Au Petit Salut

February 2, 2008 superfinefeline

A few girlfriends and I went to Au Petit Salut for lunch on Christmas Eve. I've been telling the girls that Chef Patrick Heuberger is very talented and he's one of my favourite chefs. We ordered the Executive Christmas Set Lunch.

Starter

Lobster Tail Salad with Basil Dressing & Lobster Bisque

The lobster tail was excellent. The flesh was firm, succulent and sweet. It was perfectly complemented with a crisp salad of Arugula and Baby Spinach tossed with a refreshing basil dressing. The lobster bisque was not very creamy but still very flavoursome. On its own, it would have been a great starter but because it was served with the lobster tail salad, it seemed to lack the "oomph" factor in comparison to the salad.

Main

Lobster Claw Risotto

We seemed to be on a "consume whole lobster mission", ordering both lobster dishes on the menu. We couldn't help ourselves as the usual steaks etc seemed boring and it was the Christmas season anyway. The Risotto was al dente and very tasty. However, because we had already drunk a bowl of lobster bisque for our starter, the topping of lobster bisque for the risotto seemed like a little too much bisque for one meal. We began to wish that we'd either picked a different starter or main. In spite of the lobster overload, the lobster risotto was excellent, and would be better appreciated without any other lobster dish ahead...unless you're a huge lobster fan and can have more than one serving of lobster in a sitting.

Desserts

Comté du Jura Reserve AOC, 18 mois

I ordered cheese for dessert. It was a serving of Comté cheese Reserve from the Jura Mountains that had been aged for 18 months. I had spent 2.5 weeks in Besançon, capital of the Franche-Comté region, as a student for a language immersion programme. During my stay, I had visited a Comté dairy and bought some cheese which I ate for breakfast. The cheese was a mild, nutty flavoured cheese that I enjoyed eating on its own.

Fondant chaud au chocolat

The other girls ordered the molten dark chocolate cake served with chocolate ice-cream. I tried some of the cake, it was delicious and I enjoyed the chocolate ice-cream too.

We ended the meal by savouring the champagne that one of the girls brought. She had been given a bottle of Ruinart Champagne. The champagne was a pleasant Blanc de Blancs (made entirely of Chardonnay grapes) but I felt that it was a little too bland tasting [perhaps my taste buds had been dulled by all the food that I've been eating]. Unfortunately we couldn't have started the meal with champagne instead of at the end, because we'd forgotten to chill the bottle and had to get the restaurant to chill it for us. Perhaps I should try it again another time before eating. The Ruinart Champagne bottle was very pretty and looked a little like Taittinger's Comtes de Champagne Rosé.

Au Petit Salut
40C Harding Road (Minden Cluster)
* located in the building where Highwood used to be
Tel: +65 6475-1976

Operating Hours
Mondays - Fridays: 11.30 am - 2.30 pm & 6.30 pm - 10.30 pm
Saturdays: 12.30 pm - 2.30 pm & 6.30 pm - 10.30 pm
Sundays: Closed