National Gallery Singapore collaborates with Odette, the acclaimed three-Michelin-starred French restaurant, to present an exclusively curated four-course lunch menu in celebration of its latest exhibition City of Others: Asian Artists in Paris, 1920s-1940s.
We tried the exclusive menu which showcases Odette Chef-Owner Julien Royer’s mastery over modern French cuisine. The dining experience includes a starter, seafood course, main and dessert, as well as a complimentary ticket to City of Others at the Level 3, Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery. We had the opportunity to dine at Odette and here’s our honest review of our first Three-star Michelin dining experience.
About Odette
Located in the heart of Singapore’s Civic District, Odette is a three-Michelin-starred restaurant that has established itself as one of the country’s finest dining establishments. Led by Chef Julien Royer, Odette offers a modern and artistic interpretation of French haute cuisine.
Since its opening in 2015, the restaurant has garnered widespread acclaim, securing a place at the top of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2020. The restaurant’s name honors Royer’s grandmother, who imparted to him the values of simplicity and respect for ingredients.
The menus feature a carefully curated selection of dishes that combine French cooking techniques with premium ingredients from around the world, including seafood from France, vegetables from local farms, and Asian spices that create unexpected, yet harmonious flavor profiles.
Restaurant’s interior and ambience
The restaurant’s interior exudes understated elegance, featuring a neutral color palette and contemporary furnishings. The space is designed to feel intimate and inviting, offering a sense of privacy even in the presence of other diners. As such, you will notice that the tables are placed relatively far apart.
The space is designed to feel intimate yet spacious, with ample natural light during the day and a cozy ambiance in the evening.
Their wine list is extensive, offering both rare vintages and selections by the glass. Their staff actually pulls out a tray of Apéritif wines and ask us if we would like a glass. And of course, additional costs would be involved. Throughout the whole dining experience, we were asked if we would like to add-on a glass of wine, cheese or additional drinks. It does felt like they are encouraging us to spend more at the restaurant.
City of Others x Odette Lunch set menu
This special set 4-course set lunch costs $298++ while their usual 5-course set lunch starts from $368++. To me, the 4-course set lunch is pretty filling and I don’t think I can stomache another dish. So this might be a good opportunity for you to dine at Odette if you have been planning to check out this three-star michelin restaurant as this special set lunch is lower in value.
Amuse-bouche
Even before the first course was served, they gave us some Amuse-bouche. And to me, it does felt like you are having an additional course. This is why I find that this 4-course meal is pretty worth it because to me, it definitely like you are being served 7 courses in total.
These bite-sized hors d’oeuvre are pretty good but I wasn’t mind-blown yet at this point.
Signature Mushroom Tea and Mushroom Brioche
Is this the first course? No. This mushroom tea and brioche is another bite-sized hors d’oeuvre served before the first course. To me, the mushroom tea tastes more like a mushroom soup with alot of depth and flavours. I gave my first ‘hmmm’ and nod of approval after tasting the mushroom tea.
To make the whole dining experience more interactive and educational, Michelin-starred restaurants often like to showcase the ingredients used. For this dish, they even brought out the mushroom tea bags and other ingredients used. They use ingredients like Cep sabayon, toasted buckwheat, walnuts and wild mushroom.
Bread Platter
My partner and I enjoy eating bread – especially freshly baked ones. We were pretty excited when they dish out this bread platter with 3 varieties of bread. They were all baked in-housed but I personally only enjoy the croissant-like bread roll. The other two bread variety weren’t as soft or fragrant. They serve it with some exceptional extra virgin olive oil and gourmet butter.
Seafood dish (Ceviche)
Finally, our first course came and they sprinkle some ‘snow flakes’ over the dish. The plating looks amazing. They shaped the raw fish slices into a rose.
Rosemary Smoked Organic egg
It seems like every diner who goes to Odette would order this because this is their signature dish. The eggs are served in a box of dry ice and as the smoke effect from the dry ice creates this cloud-like blanket of fog that drapes beautifully over the table top. It looks simply magical.
The dish begins with a perfectly cooked organic egg that sits on a layer of smoked potato syphon. The egg’s natural richness is the foundation of the dish, but what truly sets it apart is the smoking element. The egg is infused with the delicate, aromatic scent of rosemary, which is achieved through a subtle smoking process that imparts an earthy, herbal aroma. This smoky infusion adds a layer of depth and complexity to the egg, lifting it from a simple breakfast item to a sophisticated, nuanced dish.
To consume it, you have first burst the egg yolk and mix it well together with the Smoked potato syphon and chorizon Iberico bits. It is like having a luxurious breakfast in a cup. The presentation of this dish is meticulous. My partner could not stop raving about this dish and was surprised by how a simple egg dish could be elevated to this level.
Aveyron Lamb Saddle
For our main course, we had roasted lamb. It has a beautifully caramelized crust that provides a slight crispness, while the inside remains juicy and tender, with a rich, savory depth. It resembles very much liek a pork knuckle except that this is using lamb meat and it has that slight gamey taste of lamb.
The meat is naturally fatty and flavorful, having a similar texture to wagyu beef. They also offered more sauce at the side for us to enjoy with the lamb meat. This is another stellar dish.
Just before the desserts, they pushed out a cart of cheeses. Once again, it isn’t part of the set course so you do have to top-up for an additional plate of cheeses. After the main course, we were already pretty satisfied and full so we gave it a miss.
Grain de Cafe
This is Odette’s take on the classic Tiramisu. It comprises of Buckwheat gavotte, espresso-soaked biscuit, caramelised pecans and coffee cream. All in all, it is a delicate and well-balanced dessert which isn’t too overwhelming sweet for my tastebuds. It tastes more like a chocolate tart then a tiramisu in my opinion.
Douceurs
After desserts, they brought out the petit fours which comprises of a tart, fruits from Japan, canele and candy meringue. This really sweetens the deal. It’s like a part 2 for desserts.
After we left, they even handed us a bottle of their housemade pineapple jam for us to bring home. That little gesture definitely made our dining experience even more memorable.
Our Verdict
It was only 4-courses but I felt really satiated because they offer amuse-bouche before the first course and petite fours after desserts. And not forget to mention that most of the dishes served were a hit. The whole dining experience was rather interactive and somewhat theatrical. The impeccable service made the whole dining experience will memorable too. It’s a restaurant which I could love to dine again.
After a fantastic lunch, you can head to the City of Others exhibition with the free tickets that comes with the set meal. City of Others challenges conventional Western art history narratives by placing Asian artists at the centre of focus. A three-star Michelin lunch with an art exhibition date after sounds pretty ‘French’ to me.
Reservations are highly recommended and can be made up to 2 months in advance. The restaurant is located within National Gallery and it is accessible via City Hall MRT.
You can make your reservations here.
City of Others x Odette Lunch set menu
Address: 1 St Andrew’s Rd, #01-04 , National Gallery, Singapore 178957
Available from now until 17 July 2025, from Tuesdays to Thursdays lunch only.
Price: $ 298++ per person (4-course lunch at Odette, inclusive of tickets to City of Others exhibition)
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