16th Wedding Anniversary

In a recent family trip to Osaka, Japan, the husband and I decided to celebrate our 16th Wedding anniversary while travelling.

Part of the celebrations involved dining at two very upscale dining establishments: LIAISON, and PRESQUILE, both in Osaka.

Wildseed Cafe

Entrance to LIAISON

LIAISON is categorized as a French restaurant (by Japanese standards), but in reality, it feels more like a French-Japanese place: with a cooking style from France and the ingredients from Japan.

At any rate, this is after all, a One Michelin Star restaurant, so we had high hopes for this place.

Right outside the door

American Express: Global Dining Credits

LIAISON participates in the American Express Global Dining credit benefit. With the American Express Platinum Charge Card, card holders can enjoy S$400 worth of statement credits – out of which S$200 is for local and S$200 is for overseas spend.

Obviously, for Japan, it is considered a part of the overseas spend portion.

In Japan, the booking has to be done via Pocket Concierge.

Booking via Pocket Concierge

While Pocket Concierge is not difficult to use, the process can be a little confusing – in several cases, Pocket Concierge may request a deposit BEFORE dining in – that is totally valid. This is more to protect the restaurants in the event that a customer doesn’t show up. In my experience, Pocket Concierge transactions totally qualify for the S$200 Amex Global dining credits.

In fact, at the time of payment, I usually request that the payment is settled via Pocket Concierge, and never had a problem with receiving the dining credits after.

Inspired by this post and want to apply for an American Express credit card? Apply through one of my referral links and receive either bonus Membership Rewards points or statement credit:

Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed on this page are that of Happy High Life and may not necessarily reflect the position of American Express. Happy High Life is not responsible for any decisions made by readers. The terms and conditions for each credit card's application and usage may be subject to change by American Express. Therefore, readers are recommended to check any matters with American Express or its partners; the list of all benefits of the Platinum Charge Card can be found here.

LIAISON review: settling in

Once inside, we were greeted warmly by the staff. He spoke no English, but he had our reservation and gladly showed us to our seat.

In the restaurant, there are only a few seatings available. The restaurant is small but cozy.

Seating Area

LIAISON also has an open kitchen concept – everything done by the chefs could be seen in full view.

An open concept kitchen

On the side, I also really loved the bathroom. So cozy, so romantically lit, and the little towels were arranged so neatly that I almost felt guilty using them.

Lovely bathroom vibes

For my readers who’ve asked, here was the bag of the day.

I probably spent too much time in that bathroom.

When I got out, the husband excitedly showed me the menu of the day. We were later informed that the menu is seasonal, and subject to change based on that season’s ingredients.

LIAISON menu on the day of visit

There was an option to add wine pairings to the dishes, or go with individual wine glasses. We asked for recommendations and were given a couple to taste.

Getting a wine recommendation

The husband got himself a glass of red wine.

La Barroche

And I went for the Rose.

Markus Molitor

Food: French flair with Japanese ingredients

And then, we were served our first dish.

Canapés: Pumpkin Churros and Marinated Mackerel

These are easily the nicest canapés we ever had.

The pumpkin churros were light and fluffy. Dotted with a dollop of pumpkin cream and tiny pumpkin seed, one bite in gave a tiny crunch.

The mackerel was marinated; not overpowering, but just nicely flavoured. The base underneath was crunchy and it hid an intensely-flavoured tomato sauce – sharp and astringent, but in a good way.

Small but Mighty

Next, we had a very large oyster from Hiroshima, Japan.

Boiled Oyster with Buttermilk and Herb Oil

Usually, Japanese oysters are already Da Bomb – fresh with a taste of the ocean. But at LIAISON, this is where Oyster Meets French Methods. The buttermilk sauce was ultra dill-infused, and the oyster bit was topped with caviar.

Oooh, Caviar

To our surprise… the oyster’s meat was already CUT in half.

Ever had that experience of trying to slurp an oyster and it’s too big to manage? Here, shucked, removed from the shell and CUT – it was so easy to eat. 

I declare this life-changing oyster as my favourite item of the day.

Good to the Last Drop

Just when you think that it can’t get better, LIAISON surprised us again. This time, with a bit of seafood. 

Sauteed Squid and Crown Daisy Puree with Bottarga

What we have here is a mass of complexity. First off, the green base is a young crysanthemum leaf sauce, according to the server – though the menu says ‘crown daisy puree’. It is clarified that they are of the same plant family. There are bits of lotus root vegetables and the root of Yuri (some Japanese flower).

The bubbles atop are squid ink bubbles. A server came and sprinkled Bottarga (salted and cured fish roe) over it – just a light touch of saltiness to taste.

Complicated, but we were in awe at the multiple flavours that came with this one small dish.

Sprinkling of Bottarga / Roe Pouch

At this point, the server brought us warm bread and butter.

Warm bread and soft butter

The attention to detail truly shows how a restaurant goes above and beyond. Look at this – I could choose to salt my bread or use one or more of the flavoured butters – Truffle, Seaweed, or Plain. Plus, adding salt to both the Truffle and Seaweed butters somehow brought out their flavours more strongly. 

We definitely had extra servings of bread that day.

Assorted flavours (Top Left, clockwise): Truffle, Aonori (green seaweed), Plain, Salt

Next up was a meat and vegetable dish, or more specifically: venison and shitake mushroom.

Shitake Mushroom stuffed with Venison, Black pepper sauce

The main sauces are black pepper on the outside, and red wine on the inside (I think, at some point all the flavours mixed up).

The inner meat is REINDEER. If no one said anything, I would definitely have been fooled – that meat looked and tasted like foie gras.

This was so good, so velvety rich. The husband and I ate this alternatingly with bread… totally explain why bread was given to us just before this dish arrived!

Behold the gloriously sinful meat inside

At this moment, every dish had already exceeded our imaginations, but LIAISON wowed us again. This time, with seafood again.

Steamed Flounder wrapped Scallop mousse with Cauliflower puree

A scallop wrapped inside the fish? Bring it on.

Hello little Cauliflower

The fish was light, but the scallop’s taste was strong. Further lightened and contrasted by the cauliflower puree, every bite was so sickeningly smooth it was unbelievable. No usual scallop shreads/threads appeared when we bit into the scallop. No wonder the Menu named it a Scallop mousse.

Super Smooth

And then, there was poultry. 

Roasted Duck and Shimonito leek with Bigardo sauce

We loved how the restaurant uses local ingredients and tries to highlight them; the duck here is a well-known product from Aomori, and the leek is from Gunma. 

Staring at the Duck fat surrounding the meat…

All in all – an amazing dish. The duck was perfectly cooked; tender without being too soft, fat without feeling greasy, and covered with a slightly sweet sauce. Truly. this was satisfaction on a plate.

Leek right underneath

Dessert

At this juncture, the server informed us that the desserts will soon follow, and as part of the meal, we were asked to choose either a tea or coffee.

Tray for Selection of Tea and Coffee

Tea lovers would be spoilt for choice – it was so tempting, but that day we both really wanted coffee to go with dessert. 

Spot the Coffee beans behind in glass jars

I don’t know what coffee beans they used, but gosh, the aroma was just what we needed.

So hard to NOT be a coffee addict

Dessert number one, on first glance, looked like a scoop of bubbles atop some little stones.

Kiwi with Lime granite and Mint foam sauce

The little stone-like things were the kiwi and lime granite. The foam was infused with mint. Overall – this was super light and refreshing; almost like a palate cleanser to reset the taste buds before the next dessert.

Barely there

Then we received dessert that’s a twist on the classic Apple Pie.

Apple Pie with Rum Ice Cream and Caramel sauce

Do not underestimate the very unassuming pastry here – this Apple Pie is truly something. Hot and creamy on the inside, akin to the texture of baked apples, and flakey on the outside, the play on textures was an ultimate wow to the taste buds. Add rum ice cream that’s laced with heavy rum, added with raisons that were ALSO soaked and dripping with rum… can you spell Addiction a la Apple Pie style?

a Marriage made in Heaven

We ate so well, we almost forgot that we came to celebrate an anniversary – the food was THAT good. 

Amazon Cacao Financier

Celebration or not folks, diners will still receive the same food – the only difference is that the restaurant wished us Happy Anniversary in chocolate sauce writing. The Financiers themselves were awesome. Deeply cocoa in flavour, they were warm, with a slight crunch layer on the outside.

The Financiers were also placed on warm white rocks, inside a Le Creuset mini cocotte to keep warm.

a special meal, for a special day

All in all, an extremely well-prepared, wonderfully luxurious, and happiness-inducing meal. 10/10 highly recommended, and we left, wishing for a chance to return someday again. 

Till we meet again

American Express Global Dining Credits

 

Note: At the time of dining, holders of the American Express Platinum Charge card are entitled to S$400 worth of Dining credits annually – of which S$200 is alloted for local spend within Singapore and S$200 for overseas spend.

As such, I used part of the overseas spend benefit to offset the bill.

LIAISON review: Lunch

– Course Meal for 2 pax: JPY 8,000 x2 = JPY 16,000

– Rose wine x1 – JPY 1,200 per glass

– Red wine x3 – JPY 1,200 per glass x 2 = JPY 2,400

– Service Charge – JPY 1,960

– Tax – JPY 2,156

 

Total Bill: JPY 23,716

At the time of dining, the price of JPY 23,716 was converted to SGD 215.06. 

Final Cost for LIAISON review: Using the overseas dining credits of S$200 (which I received as statement credits a few days later), I paid a total of SGD 215.06 – SGD 200 = SGD 15.06.

American Express Platinum Charge Card (Image source: American Express)

Inspired by this post and want to apply for an American Express credit card? Apply through one of my referral links and receive either bonus Membership Rewards points or statement credit:

Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed on this page are that of Happy High Life and may not necessarily reflect the position of American Express. Happy High Life is not responsible for any decisions made by readers. The terms and conditions for each credit card's application and usage may be subject to change by American Express. Therefore, readers are recommended to check any matters with American Express or its partners; the list of all benefits of the Platinum Charge Card can be found here.

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