Bar-Roque Grill

There are time you step into a place with little, or no, expectations. All I got was a message from my sister saying that I had to try this place. They had «French bak kut teh». But order in advance.
So I went.
Service is very good and friendly. The kind of service which is just right, not overbearing, but ever present. Even for the mundane things, making sure glasses of tap water are topped up, everyone’s got a fork, and a knife, and a plate. Spot on. Top notch.
The chef comes out to greet everybody. And comes to tell us what this French bak kut teh is all about. Its obvious he’s been in Singapore a while. He tries to tell us what the real name of the dish is, but we have a hard time understanding. Its actually a Germanic name, because this restaurant features food (and wines) from the Alsace region. Its pork and veal ribs slow cooked in a Dutch oven with white wine, and its mm mm mm, oh so good. The French, he tells us, usually eat it with «moos tahd», but just for us (and probably every other Singaporean that comes through his door) he has prepared a small plate of chilly padi and soya sauce, the proper dark type. Like I say, he’s probably lived here a while.
Its good, very good. I finish the whole bowl, and 3 more.
Have I mentioned the tomahawk steak yet? We thought a 1.7kg piece between 8 adults and 1 voracious pre-​teen, would be a bit of an over-​kill. But I guess its never a problem when its cooked to perfection. After displaying the cooked product to us, it was taken back to the open kitchen for the sous chef to dissect into tiny tasty morsels. Oh my, I’m still dreaming of it in my mouth even though its now 3 evening ago I had it.

There are moments of excellence in this restaurant but they’re left shallow by uneven food and mediocre service. For the prices, they should be a top-​notch experience but it is not. Our appetizers were great, but the meat quality in the mains was just lousy, but very well cooked. The food runner seemed angry at us when our order came out incorrect. When you pay $ 50USD for a steak, you expect a pretty good experience.
While they claim that the food is French, it’s the same vaguely continental food you can get other places. The mashed potatoes were watery, the other sides were merely adequate.
As a last insult, they only had table-​side salt, not just shakers. They may think that freshly ground salt is a good idea, but it is not. We wouldn’t need salt if you didn’t underseasoned the food. and then when we try and salvage it, they add salt to the would (pun intended) by not having simple salt and pepper shakers.
This exemplifies what is wrong with the restaurant. A handful of good ideas ruined by trying too hard to be fancy and elegant. It just comes off as clumsy.

Living in Singapore, I end up eating more chicken and pork than seafood or beef, and finally there was a night where I wanted to grab a steak but not necessarily pluck down $ 200 at Cut. While Bar-​Roque isn’t a steak house, it does have some nice options at a reasonable price. As we knew our main would be large, we opted for just a shared salad — grilled octopus. While the octopus was ok, it was nowhere near the beauty we had Osteria Mozza, although the romesco sauce was a nice touch. The piece de resistance was a platter of 3 types of beef — short rib, ribeye, and hanger steak. They were all well-​done, and I really appreciated the fact that the medium rare was in fact a true medium rare, as i’ve been finding that many places tend to overcook a bit here. Having mini salads was also a nice touch. So overall, I would say Bar-​Roque delivered with a few minor exceptions. First, the rib eye was thin. I mean I have seen many burgers that are thicker than the rib eye here. But the fact they cooked it properly was amazing so kudos there. Second, while blasamic-​based dressing was ok, it might be nice to have an option like blue cheese. Finally, the frites were so so. Perhaps it is because I had the best frites at sb bistro earlier in the week, but the frites tasted like they were cooked in a less than fresh batch oil. The place is fairly spacious so I would definitely go with a group, and the platters are a great way to take care of the table. A nice option on Tanjong Pagar road!

I celebrated my birthday at Bar-​roque in January. I thought treating my family to some French food would be fun. Overall, the restaurant has an energetic vibe and the food is good, but on the pricey side. The owners seem to be gunning for a smart casual, chic restaurant but the average prices you’re paying for mains ventures into fine dining territory.
We tried the octopus salad and something I can’t recall now for starters, before sharing the seafood and meat platters and a pasta for mains. I thought the charred ribeye was very well executed and the lamb chops were faultless, but the meat platter as a whole seemed to suffer from a rather one dimensional flavor profile. The seafood platter had some succulent prawns and a well cooked john dory, but the fish didn’t blow my socks off (try Blu Kouzuna). The ravioli (or whatever you call those little pockets of goodness) was tasty and heavy on cream. I also wanted to order the rotisserie duck but was unaware that you need to order it 4 days in advance. In sum, the food was good but not excellent, much as I wanted it to be.
Service was proficient, which I guess in Singapore is enough for one to breathe a sigh of relief. The waiter that took our orders was a little sassy, pointing out that we weren’t in the know about having to pre-​order the duck like another table did. The pacing of the food was ok at the start but soon lengthened into very long wait times between our mains, which none of my family members appreciated and so we ended the evening a little blah.

Had our NYE dinner here and was well-​pleased with our experience…
Service is impeccable (Steered by a kiwi, I may be biased…) and the barman will make a cocktail to suit your tastes.
The tartines are a must… I had major food envy when sampling my fellow diners plates. The fries are done to perfection (like an upper class KFC — which is a compliment in my book!). I shared the charcuterie board which was very French (expect terrines and all sorts of cold meat concoctions), the special which was Oxtail Ravioli and warrants the term «amazeballs» and their trademark apple pie which was rather delicious but wasn’t warm enough for my liking unfortunately. I’ve already mentioned the fries, but the mashed potato and the mushrooms were also perfection in a side dish.
Delicious aromas permeate the place although I have to admit that I wasn’t a fan of the décor… the massive painting of a cherub (I think that’s the term for baby angel?) was a bit naff in my opinion, as was the glittery curtains. But the charming staff and appealing menu made up for a few glitches in interior design.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a decent European dining experience, although prepare to pay for it… We paid $ 260 per couple (albeit, 3 courses and some wine).