Superb Experience at Restaurant Zén by Chef Tristin Farmer
Restaurant Zén is a restaurant in Singapore which has got their success this year. Chef Tristin Farmer and his delicately made dishes can take you to a memorable journey through this unique shophouse.
Even though Björn Frantzén was a former footballer, he is now the Einstein of culinary world. With his group called Frantzén Group, he creates many incredible restaurants and one that we mentioned here is Restaurant Zén. When newcomers hear the name, they might think this restaurant is purely about the Japanese cuisine. They are absolutely wrong. In fact, Zén has “é” which is not a normal Zen that means peaceful and calm. This Zén comes from Frantzén. In order to honor him, they name it Zén. Despite what Chef Tristin Farmer told us, the restaurant is a Nordic cuisine with French and Japanese influence on each dish.
CR: Thecaterer, Tristin Farmer.
Talk about the place, Zén is located in 41 Bukit Pasoh Road, Singapore. The place is a shophouse with 3 floors. They can take 24 guests per service at most. Chef’s intention is to not make the place too stuffy and let the diners enjoy the experience as much as they can. Each floor has a unique atmosphere on its own and has a significant role in the whole course. Instead of sitting in the same place for dining, they make the diners take a journey by guiding them with their cuisine from the bottom to the top.
CR: Restaurant Zén.
Let’s begin the journey to the top. The dining service started on the first floor. Snacks, canapes, and pre-dinner drinks will be served in front of the kitchen. We think for this floor’s highlight is ingredient boxes which are to show you what you will experience in the upper floor for 9 courses. Then, they serve a blini with veal tartare topping. They use barley koji and rye for the blini. An east-meet-west dish you won’t taste in regular meal.
CR: Restaurant Zén, hnworth.
Moving up to the main dining room on the second floor, we will pass the condiments wall that contains a lot of fermented ingredients which will be used for your course soon. The spotlight dish on this floor is Sakura masu. Masu, or trout in English, is absolute stunning. It’s topped with artic char roes and sauced with French traditional beurre blanc sauce which elevates the flavor of masu to another level of seafood dish.
CR: Restaurant Zén.
Another memorable dish which you can’t miss this is French toast. It’s the Frantzén dish that has been on Restaurant Zén menu since its opening. Crispy toasted bread normally they topped with creamy parmesan cream and truffle. But this very recent, we experience a new topping. The toasted bread is now topped with a big blue mussel, generous amount of caviar and a splendid combination wasabi. They still keep the original and change the topping followed by season.
Last but not least, at the top floor, there are digestif and desserts will be served. They name this room the “Living Room”. Atmosphere here is cozy and relaxed. After a long dine and memorable experience, here you can rest your spirit and soul while having conversations and good desserts. There are lots of dessert party sets served. One of them is Waffle Party with Macaron Matcha. The waffles are made delicately from cloudberry, tonka and almond along with brunost or brown cheese in English. The latter part, macaron is also east-meet-west dish but it’s dessert this time. Who knows the bitterness of matcha can be put together with the sweetness from macaron made with pistachio?
CR: Restaurant Zén.
Restaurant Zén were given 2 Michelin stars when they made it to the Michelin Guide in 2019. And they got 3 stars within 2 years. Congratulations to Chef Tristin Farmer and his restaurant, Zén. There are no luck or miracle works here, this is just Chef Tristin Farmer and his team performance and skills. This year, they are also included in the 51 – 100 list from 2022 World’s 50 Best Restaurant. Without a doubt, they will be on the “50 list” sooner or later.