Clos Pasoh

비타민C 치료가 효과적인 것 같아요! 2차 백신을 맞았을 때 부작용이 적었어요. 나는 아직도 가끔 현기증이 났는데 비타민C 치료 전보다 덜 심해요. 이제 운동을 할 수 있고 조금 더 정상적인 일상과 생활으로 돌아갈 수 있어요. 그래서 기분이 많이 좋아졌고 더 이상 우울하지 않아요. 안전을 위해 일주일만 더 비타민C 치료하겠어요. 화이팅!

 

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Notwithstanding my longstanding policy of not visiting new restaurants until they've passed their first birthday, I made an exception for Clos Pasoh. My birthday twin Syl and I had spent our birthdays in confinement last year and this year we really wanted to dress up, go out, and live it up, have a ball. But what with the constantly evolving lockdown rules, and with what they say about beggars being choosers, Clos Pasoh was a providential opening in a sea of restaurant full-houses across the board.

 

Being the first week of its official launch date, the restaurant was a bustling hub choc-a-bloc with beautiful people and the who's who of movers and shakers. I was surprised at how first-rate the service was. Most restaurants typically need time to iron out service kinks, but there was none to be found here. Service was seamless, efficient, and attentive. 

 

But, the biggest upside to visiting a restaurant this new, it's the bonus face-time with the hottest chef in town, Louis Pacquelin. His Delicious Hiney-ness came around several times to provide table-side service and to elaborate the inspiration behind his creations. Think Jamie Dornan in Fifty Shades of Grey, but slightly less bad-boy and a lot more down-to-earth. TBH, I would return to Clos Pasoh, sans The Husband of course, just to gawk at him. 

 

Food-wise, I thought the contemporary French approach inventive and unexpected. To my utter amazement, I found myself loving certain foods I'd never been brave enough to try, or foods I'd sworn hating for life.

 

The velvety-smooth Foie Gras Tartlet ($21 for 2 pcs) was given a peppy lift with passionfruit, and a modern Japanese twist with bonito flakes.

The Rillettes ($18) of duck, sided by crunchy pickles and a chargrilled sourdough bar, was sumptuous souped up with foie gras. 

The first of the surprises was the Escargots et Cresson ($23), a chilled salad of snails, bone marrow, and watercress chlorophyll. I generally prefer snails on my face, or buried under a mound of butter and garlic, but this was remarkable. Nuanced and grassy and juicy, this is my now-favourite way of eating snails.

The other revelation of the night was the Trippes et Caviar ($32) of tripe first braised then fried, slathered in a silky Noilly-Prat sauce and studded with caviar. I've previously been grossed out by the idea of tripe, but Clos Pasoh's rendering of this offal was glorious: it was clean and delicate, chewy yet soft. Unequivocally a must-try.

Another cannot-miss was the Asian-influenced Bisque Coco-Homard ($29) spiked with aromatic coconut milk and wanton-like dumplings fat with lobster meat, and bouncy morsels of sweet lobster. Like atas laksa but without the chilli., I loved it!!

The Champignons au vin Jaune ($23) was a comte-flavoured mushroom and white wine soup brimming with a bubbly walnut emulsion that underscored the nutty undertones of très aged comte.

The best part of the slab of Chargrilled Tuna Collar ($158 for large) was that it was carved table-side by the hottie patootie chef. It's not to say the fish wasn't good, because it was great, fatty, smoky, and flaky, flavourful, but I was just a wee distracted watching the good-looker at work.

But what really brought this to life was the caper-parsley elixir of a sauce (which is saying volumes because I hate parsley and barely care for capers), its bright salty tones turned this from ok-good to whoa-magic. 

The Pot-au-Feu ($138 for 2-3 pax) of a traditional French beef stew was served with more theatrics than I'd experienced in a year of drama school.

So...first, the broth is distilled into a glass syphon glutted with dehydrated stems and herbs to steep.

A tea cup-full of the broth infusion, you drink on its own, to savour the consomme in all its exquisite refinement. The rest of the broth, is decanted over the platter laden with beef cheek, oyster blade, short ribs, and root vegetables. While sumptuous, the stew managed a delectable lightness; The short rib is typically my preferred cut, but these hunks of red meat were so incredibly fork-tender, I honestly couldn't tell one cut from the other.

The pot-au-feu was paired with a beef mince dumpling soup supplemented with poached foie gras. I love soup, and this was elegant, subtle, and delightful.

 

The Gratin de Macaroni aux Truffes Noir ($19) was a perfect trifecta of gooey cheese, truffled mushroom cream, and oodles of carbs.

 

The desserts unfortunately didn't quite land the punch, the deconstructed Bergamote Mille-Feuille ($15) may have been pretty architecturally but it was impossible to get all the layers in one bite.

The gold-flaked Mont Blanc ($16) was a luxed-up interpretation of the famed French Alps, a tart blackcurrant sorbet lent contrast to the mellow of French chestnut and meringue.

The Mousse au Chocolat ($14) tempered the sweet and bitter with its protracted guanaja dark chocolate.

The complimentary Rum Baba was surprisingly my favourite of the lot, not least because I'm a freebie-loving cheapskate aunty, but because the confection was abundant intoxicatingly with rum...yum.

Some say the mark of a good French establishment is the quality of its breads, and the complimentary loaf at Clos Pasoh indeed heralded the excellence of dinner.

 

Clos Pasoh

48A Bukit Pasoh Road #02-01

Tel: 6980 0672

Open Tuesdays from 6pm to 10pm for dinner only;

Wednesdays to Saturdays from 12noon - 2pm for lunch; 6pm to 10pm for dinner;

Closed on Sundays and Mondays

Website: www.clospasoh.sg