Bistro Petit Salut

Back again. Cos my iphone camera now has 337 food photos that I have yet to edit and upload :/

Just came back from lunch at Bistro Petit Salut. Lets just say I won't be back anytime soon - if ever. Food quality and standards have dropped, service is atrocious. Enough reason not to go back there by my standards.

Granted that they have pretty affordable lunch sets (3 courses - one appetizer, main and dessert for about $33 after the taxes and service charge) the substandard service and food quality doesn't justify the price - and now there's so many other eateries trying to make that lunchtime dollar.

 Bread served with butter. You'll have to request for olive oil if you want it (see below).

 Escargots with butter - as good as the last time, the garlic herb butter is served bubbling and goes really well with the bread.

 Another appetizer - the croque monsieur which looked really filling.

 My main - seabass (catch of the day) which was not bad, skin was nice and crispy, just that there's no carbs with the dish so do eat the bread. (Not that I'm complaining since I ate lots of bread with the snails).

 The beef - general consensus was that its good, no complaints from the people who ate it. The mashed potatoes are really nice, smooth and creamy.

 Stewed pork ribs - not bad but I'm not a big fan of stewed meats, much prefer them roasted/grilled.

All the previous times I've been here, I'll always order the Creme Brulee because it was one of their best desserts. Nice caramelized top, which shatters when I dip my spoon in, and lusciously creamy cream layer speckled with vanilla beans.

Unfortunately, I returned the creme brulee (something that I have not done in a long long time, and the last time I did it was because my meat was not cooked) cos the texture was more like a custard with ugly air holes inside (like the Chinese steam egg).Creme brulee was also served at room temperature.

4 of us ordered the creme brulee. Fortunately or unfortunately, I realized that the texture of 2/4 creme brulees had the custard texture, while the other 2 looked like how I remembered the creme bruleee to be. According to the manager, the difference in textures was owing to the uneven baking temperature in their oven.

The creme brulee that I got afterwards was exactly how I remember Au Petit Salut's creme brulee to be. So at least my meal ended on a happy note.

Service was dismal and disappointing. Didn't make reservations cos it was a last minute decision. So we were seated outside. When I asked the waitstaff (who later turned out to be the manager, not just a trainee, mind you) if they could shift us in later when a table inside was available, her flat response was 'they just sat down'. Meaning to say that the WHOLE restaurant sat down at 1.25pm? Ridiculous. Just a simple YES would do, or 'I'll try' would be sufficient. By saying 'they just sat down' just shows me that she's obviously not making any effort and can't be bothered.

Next up was the bread, which was served with butter. I asked for olive oil to go with my bread. My words exactly was "can I have some olive oil to go with the bread" and another waitstaff's response was 'YES WE HAVE OLIVE OIL" and then she just stood there. When I said I wanted olive oil to go with the bread again, she replied that the other restaurant patrons usually had bread with butter. It's really hard to get olive oil for your bread here.

The staff here just don't have any initiative. Either they're really poorly treated or poorly trained.

Went to PV after that to get myself some cupcakes. They're expanded and now have a branch at Tiong Baru just down the road from 40 hands. White chocolate strawberry is still my favourite! Also bought 2 of their new flavours - earl grey lavander and coconut pineapple. Will update again once I have enough stomach space to eat them ^v^

Bistro Petit Salut

Block 44 Jalan Merah Saga

#01-54

Singapore 278116

I'm intentionally not leaving a phone number cos I'm definitely not advertising for them. 

The Drawing Room - Weekday High Tea

 Post call high teas are the best - and even better if it's a weekday.
Actually, it was a hard fight between W hotel's high tea and St Regis, but for the location, St Regis trumps it. I think I narrowed down the high tea locations to these two because of the earlier timings and not many hotels have weekday high tea buffets.

 Assortment of TWG teas

 It's a buffet with replenish-able items from the three tiered high tea stand and buffet area. I didn't like the chicken pot pie (on top) - then again I'm not a big fan of pastries (with the exception of TBB's chocolate croissant)

The chicken pie and salmon quiche were very unremarkable. 

I'm such a sucker for high teas and the highlight for me is the very quintessential cucumber sandwich. I must confess that whenever I make my high tea bookings, the first question I would ask is if they have plain cucumber sandwiches.  These are the innards of the cucumber sandwich - they've removed the seeds from the tomato so that the sandwich won't get soggy. The cucumber and tomatoes are sliced so finely that they look translucent. There's also a thin layer of cream cheese. Somehow, I can't seem to make my cucumber sandwiches taste as good as those found at high tea buffets. 

I think I could eat tons of this but it's such a waste of calories... Plus they get digested so quickly I get hungry again! I think the other sandwiches were smoked salmon and minced chicken but none of them were as good as the cucumber sandwich (of course I am biased). 

 5 types of scones, including truffle scone. There was also a duck scone which had some dried out pieces of duck, and didn't go well with the other condiments...

Clotted cream to clog up my arteries. Somehow I thought it tasted best with the truffle scone <3 p="">

Different jams.

Preserved meats, smoked salmon and sushi

The cheese selection - I really like the kikorgani cheese. It's from New Zealand and is a blue cheese but it is extremely creamy and soft. And it just won the 2013 Champions cheese award in Auckland. I wonder where to buy it from (Other than the cellar door, which sells it in 1kg - way too much for me)...

 Desserts galore - the desserts look better than they taste, but perhaps it's just diminishing returns.

 There was also a crepe station (either sweet or savory) and ice cream :D

The ambience was great - it was quiet so we got a table facing the pool, and there was a pianist in the restaurant area itself.

Perhaps it's time to visit the 10@ Scotts again, which really impressed me the last time I was there (really long ago!)

The Drawing Room
29 Tanglin Road
Level 1 the St Regis
T 65066888

MAD - Modern Asian Diner at the Grandstand

Ok I'm back after a month's hiatus - busy holidaying (awesomeness) and work (not so awesome but tolerable) and studying (the most unfun thing ever cos when I read stats, I feel like some of my friends who used to read the street directory upside down :/).

Went to MAD at the Grandstand a while ago, before most of the shops were opened. Actually, this was one of my friend's failed attempts to try Valentinos (couldn't get through the line, and when we went there it was booked full - and this was on a weekday...)

 Ipad menu - seems to be the latest fashion
Basically, it's a mash up of Chinese, western/fusion and pastries from a bakery.

 Custard pau -
The dim sum is priced on the high side, think it's like 4-5 bucks per order but I don't think the quality justifies it.

 Yam pastry and some prawn beancurd roll - passable but also not worth the price.

 The western menu fared much better -the ribs (I think it was about $28) were sticky, smokey and fell right off the bone. The zesty cabbage salad was a great palate cleanser.

 We tried the paella (I think this was chicken, for about $25 bucks?) - came in an impressive pan and some onion cream sauce. Great texture - with the

 This potato dish from the tapas menu was a disappointment - potato cubes with some very dismal and forgettable dressing.

 One of my friends came a bit later and ordered the grilled chicken. It was really aromatic and the marinade reminded me of bbq stingray (minus the sambal). However, for $24, it was a really tiny piece of half chicken.

The cheese cake ($10) was really impressive, from its luscious texture to its glossy (and what I think was) apple jelly top. Paired with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, it was a sweet ending to the meal.

Generally, the food here, like the rest of Bukit Timah is on the high side, but then again for the convenience and free parking, I think I won't mind coming back. I think the western menu was much more value for money - with exception to the tiny chicken. 

Would come back to try Bar Stories - I've been hearing pretty good things about them and also since I'm not trudging down to Haji Lane to their main bar cos it's so inaccessible... 

200 Turf Club Road

#01-20/21 The Grandstand

Tel 64663303