A touchstone establishment among Singapore’s culinary elite since its debut in 1994, Les Amis is an intimate restaurant where executive chef Sebastien Lepinoy’s epicurean playgrounds are prix fixe feasts of French haute cuisine with most ingredients sourced from France. Combined with mouth-watering sweets from pastry chef Cheryl Koh and one of the biggest and best wine lists in Asia, it’s easy to see why Les Amis remains one of the hottest tables in town nearly three decades after first opening its doors.
The interior design of Les Amis shows patterned carpeting here, polished granite floors there and walls partially fashioned from red velvet to highlight the modern, minimalist interior design style of the Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star European restaurant just off Singapore’s Orchard Road in the Shaw Centre shopping mall.
The interior design of Les Amis shows patterned carpeting here, polished granite floors there and walls partially fashioned from red velvet to highlight the modern, minimalist interior design style of the Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star European restaurant just off Singapore’s Orchard Road in the Shaw Centre shopping mall.
Our Inspector's Highlights
- The exquisite crystal chandeliers at Les Amis add an opulent touch to this hot spot's intimate dining room, while a wooden ceiling feature and piece of modern art at one end of the room provide a little fashionable eye candy.
- Still, for all its elegant ambience, the colorful, playful presentation of executive chef Sebastien Lepinoy’s delectable French fare might be the most striking thing you feast your eyes on during your visit to Les Amis.
- At Les Amis (French for "friends"), the attentive staff provides the type of high-level assistance you’d expect from a restaurant of this prestige, but without a hint of stuffiness or pretension.
- Each course is served with a brief, helpful description of the meal.
- Les Amis's wine cellar is one of the most impressive in all of Asia, with some 13 countries represented in more than 2,000 different labels.
Things to Know
- While the Shaw Centre shopping mall will be easy to find, Les Amis is not inside. The Five-Star restaurant is around the side of the building, not indoors.
- This fine-dining establishment has a smart casual dress code. Men should wear long trousers and covered shoes.
The Food
- The seasonal five-course dinner changes as ingredients go in and out of season.
- On our most recent visit to this upscale Singapore restaurant, we thought the wild Scottish salmon served two ways was the standout course.
- The cheese course is a decadent option for finishing off your meal. Handpicked cheeses that purposely vary by texture, firmness and flavor are often sourced directly from France.
- The six-course epicurean menu has in the past included everything from grilled dry-aged beef with herbs and mushrooms to the long-standing local favorite of pan-seared foie gras and grilled river eel paired with fruits.
- The degustation menu is the ultimate indulgence at this lavish eatery; a seven-course culinary extravaganza that could feature such toothsome delicacies as French duck breast with quince and daikon radishes, Erquy scallop served atop seaweed butter and candied whole Clementine with panna cotta and sorbet.
The Chefs
- It’s no surprise why Lepinoy was recruited to helm the kitchen in mid-2013. He honed his culinary chops under celebrity chef Joël Robuchon, later taking on executive chef duties at Hong Kong’s L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon and Cépage, an award-winning restaurant under the Les Amis Group umbrella that’s now closed.
- At Les Amis, Lepinoy's considerable talents are on display in the restaurant’s tantalizing tasting menus.
- Lepinoy considers himself a guardian of the French culinary arts in Asia and wants to preserve and pass on the mastery of French gastronomy to budding chefs. To that end, he serves as a mentor, and many of his protégés went on to work in internationally renowned restaurants.
Getting There
