5 stars for that lobster bisque. Definitely one of the best for flavour we’ve had and we do love our lobster bisque. $ 12 for a small bowl with a tender tasty meat dumpling inside. And… for $ 14 you can take home a jar of it that Chef Patrick says will be good for 2 months — «pasteurized directly in the jar». This is Patrick Heuberger’s new venture, after he sold his share at Le Bistrot Du Sommelier. He seems to have gone back to basics, and I like it. It seems to be pitched as a charcuterie place, but the food all round is hearty, comfort french food so look beyond starters. And almost everything is sold packaged to be taken home(good for 2 months generally) and reheated easily. As Chef Milo says, «we made it as simple as can be». We had the daily special smoked mackeral. Not briny like pickled mackeral. Not something I usually go for but it was quite light, to balance off the duck rillette. The duck rillette is just like it was at his former restaurant. and it’s very good. I guess there wasn’t anything to improve there. Chef Patrick served our table all night and it was a real pleasure getting to chat with him over the food, take his recommendations and just enjoy his humble interactions. As he said, he has 20 years of food experience, 2 months training in coffee. LOL. Chef Milo made our latte in the end and it was a tad on the hot side but still not bad and quite tasty. Highlander beans. We also shared the 600g pepper crusted ribeye at $ 88(black board special), good for 3 to 4. There were 5 of us. Chef was rather confident that the ribs were good so that rounded up our meal. I have to say, I just returned from the states where I had ribs a few times so I thought I was a bit«jelat»(over it) at the moment, but wow the ribs were GOOD! Nicely balanced, not too sweet, tender but still with a little bite in them. Desserts, I had to try the rhubarb crumble. It was even better than how it was served at Le Bistrot Du Sommelier with the cream on top. Here it was classic crumble, pure comfort, crunch topping. We scraped up every last bit. Chef Milo showed us how they sell the filling and the crumble vacuum packed separately so that you can bring it home, pour the crumble on the rhubarb and have it ready piping hot with 20mins in the oven. $ 12 take home. yes we did! Now.is this really a 5 star experience? There’s some things it’s not. It’s not all dark woods and warm hearth romantic by the fire atmosphere, nor is it classy fine dining with shiny finishings. The setup is very simple, pretty no frills. You have to get over knowing that almost everything has been pre-made and is on sale just metres away in the big coolers. But face it, this style of french food IS alot about slow cooking. You don’t think they made everything in 20mins do you? Good wine. a selection of choices from 38 to 50 bucks. Where can you get that at any upmarket restaurant French or not? For what we paid for 5 persons($ 350) including 4 lobster bisques, a bottle of red wine and 2 rhubarb crumbles — at most French restaurants you would be looking at $ 500 onwards. Parking is convenient. Unpretentious solid French with that Singapore neighbourhood touch — I like. You don’t have to worry about sparkling or still, big jugs of water available. NOTE: No air-conditioning but the fans were strong and quiet. It’s perfectly ok to come in shorts or capris if you’re stylish like that ;) I heard they do English breakfast for $ 12 on weekends and Chef seemed very proud of his own recipe sausages so I look forward to trying those next time! We left with a complimentary big bag of Sicilian tomatoes from Chef to try, he said good for salad :)
