Sommer Fine Dining

Inspiration

Sommer serves modern European cuisine. The menu changes based on the availability of seasonal ingredients. It has just received its first Michelin Star in the 2021 Michelin Guide Singapore.

There is only degustation menu available, with 3 options. 

‘Discovery’, which is only available for lunch on certain days, is a 6 course meal.

‘Inspiration’ is a more well rounded meal of 7 course. 

‘Experience’ is its epitome 9 course meal.

My dining party opted for the ‘Inspiration’ menu as it allows for the appreciation of all of its menu, except for Uni, which we do not eat.

Naturally Leavened Sourdough

Kombu Butter

The bread is decent and filling. 

The kombu butter could do with more umami taste.

Canapés

Smoked Eel Tart | Nori | Caviar

Botan Ebi | Ikura | Finger Lime

Glazed Foie Gras | Sauternes | Onion

In fine dining, there is thought put into the sequence and flavours of the dishes.

 And think small. 

There are items which did not cater to my palate, but with some other ingredient matching, it could be a good combination.

The 3 items are not my top food choices but I was still open to try them. 

The tart tastes mostly caviar and I would not have noticed if the eel was missing.

I am also not into botan ebi, so I was happy to accept sea bream replacement. 

I tasted more ikura, so the meat actually does not matter much.

The foie gras was big as a proportion to the tart, so it is better for those who fancy foie gras. 

An alternative is to replace it with onion which makes it taste like a different dish.

Shizuoka Amela Tomato

King Crab | Tomato Dashi | Shiso

This is the first pour over, magic dish.

Watch the colour changes as the oil stock gets poured over. 

The king crabmeat is stuffed within the tomato which is surrounded by dashi jelly.

A nice dish in terms of surprise and taste, with the complementary match of ingredients.

Kinmedai

Crispy Scales | Kohlrabi | Roasted Squid Bouillon

This is the second pour over dish, which is a cooked seafood dish.

This is good if you fancy how scales taste like deep fried. 

Crunchy but I could not fight off the image of eating fish scales on. 

So I prefer eating the fish on it own, together with the squid on the daikon. 

I like this dish too.

Brittany Pigeon

Beetroot | Girolles | Earl Grey

The last pour over dish.

We were presented with the whole roasted pigeon, before it was cut to serve 2 portions. Being heavy on taste, the portion is just nice and the beetroot, girolles and Earl Grey help in the taste balance.

There is a liver pâté tart to complete this item tasting.

The other dining parties took the braised beef cheek and grilled seabass as the main course. Between the 2, I prefer the seabass as braised beef is not one of my favourite dish.

White Peach

Roasted Kohishikari Rice

This is only available on the ‘Experience’ menu. 

But they kindly allowed for the swap.

This was good as I can taste the rice crispy made in the shape of honey comb. 

A tasty dessert which I can taste the rice crispy and peach distinctly, with flavours of saltiness, sourness and sweetness.

Chestnut

Apple | Parsnip

This is a typical sweet dessert. While it tastes decent, I prefer the white peach dessert as it acts as both a palate cleanser and dessert.

Mignardises

The ‘Sommer’ box made me fall in love before I tasted any of the mignardises.

Raspberry Financier

Brown Butter | Sudachi

This is my favourite type of petite fours. 

Small but usually packs a buttery punch.

Canele De Bordeaux

Rum | Tahitian Vanilla

Canele reminds me of toffee cake, sticky and heavy but in miniature form.

Green Tea Macaron

Tea dilutes sweetness, so this makes the macaron not too sweet.

Choux Crostillant

Ivoire Chocolate | Mango | Passionfruit

The sourness is contained at the top, between the ‘wings’ and cream, such that I would have to taste the sour portion before tasting the Choux pastry and chocolate within. 

I am into sour sweet desserts in the recent years, so this suits my palate.

72% Araguani Chocolate Tart

Sea Caramel | Extra Virgin Olive Oil

A sweet ending to this degustation meal.