Saveur

Another outdated post, but it's too good to not blog about. 

Savour has been opened for quite a while now and I never had the chance to try their outlet at Purvis street - cos it's very far away and I refuse to trudge all the way there and stand in a queue. I saw one of the local food shows featuring it - and their mission is to provide affordable good French food in Singapore. 

So when we were rejected by the Sushi bar (booked full, so full that they refused to take takeaway orders), we went to Savour, where they had a more reasonable queue (about 15 min). 

The mushroom cappuchino ($4.90) came with lots of froth. The portion is probably 2/3 a normal soup portion but I'm not complaining. Taste wise, it's pretty good not like the watered down thin kind.  

Garden salad ($4.90) - personally, I won't order this cos it sounds boring. There's some quail eggs, hazelnuts, olives, tomatoes and cheese on top so it's pretty worth the price, I suppose. But if you need to reach your daily quota of 4-5 servings of fruits and vegetables, go ahead.

Saveur's Pasta ($4.90) - signature pasta with chilli oil, konbu, sakura ebi and minced pork sauce.
My holy grail for similar dry pasta dishes has to be Gunther's truffle konbu angelhair pasta with caviar. Absolutely to die for. But I haven't tried it for a really long time! And the other one is Iggy's sakura ebi cappellini.
This one is pretty good, but I felt that the Konbu could be a bit stronger. Otherwise, for $4.90, I'm not complaining.

 I cannot not order this Foie Gras ($9.90) - for me, pan seared foie gras is one of my all time favourite French foods. Iit's pan seared withe apple-infused port wine and vanilla bean, served with crunchy apples. It's a small portion but worth the $9.90. And it's well done with a crispy exterior and wobbly smooth innards.

 Duck leg confit ($10.90) wtih mashed potato, sauteed shitake mushroom. Not bad, with the crispy duck skin and soft meat which falls away from the bone. But I was more impressed by the fish.

Pan seared sea bass, diced saute potato with crabmeat, French beans and caper vinaigrette ($14.90)
I was particularly impressed by the fish - the skin was crispy and lightly salted, and the flesh was flakey, moist and fresh.

They also have beef short ribs ($14.90), pork belly ($10.90) as other affordable alternatives.
They do have 'premium' items such as beef tenderloin ($24.90) and cod ($24.90) which we didn't try - cheapskate in me wants to get a bigger bang for my buck.

Service is good - enthusiastic young crew but then there were a few hiccups along the way. They forgot about our orders for quite a while - but gave us a complimentary bread bowl while we waited for the food. Saveur also serves complimentary water - for a restaurant with such value for money prices, I'm impressed that they offer water too.

My two cents worth - go for the cheaper dishes - I think with such value for money dishes, there's no use going to eat a fancy steak or expensive fish. I also like their motto - quality yet affordable French food for the masses.

Saveur
14 Scotts Road
Far east Plaza #01-07B Singapore 228213

Poulet

This is a way outdated post - just dug it up from the recesses of my blog - and since I've already watermarked the photos, I shall just blog about it. (Not sure if they've increased the prices, but these are the prices I found online)

The Salad de Paris ($9.80++) cranberry, tomato, black olives, avocado, pine nuts in a light French dressing was not bad - well dressed, light and refreshing.

Granny's Chicken Salad ($9.80++), which isn't really a salad (in local terms) considering that it has only 4 leaves and 4 tomato halves. The shredded chicken was combined with crunchy granny smith apples, capers and mayonnaise. Taste wise it's not bad (because of the sweetness from the raisins and apples) but I doubt this whole thing has even 1 serving of vegetables.

Iberico Pork Belly ($15.80++) was not bad - very tender and soft, served with leek confit and mustard.

The Braised Duck Leg ($15.80++) - braised in a rich red wine sauce (very tasty) with cranberries and glazed onions.

Their classic poulet chicken ($15.80)  - was very underwhelming. In fact, it reminds me vaguely of the western lunch I get at work. Slightly more moist and tender, but I won't be trying it again (the other mains are much better). The creamy mushroom chardonnay sauce is a bit jelak by the end of the meal. The chicken is brined for half a day and then slow roasted to get it's caramel brown colour. Very average only. For the same price, please try the other dishes instead.

I really liked the banana bread pudding (with a scoop of vanilla ice cream). If you don't like moist mushy desserts, this is definitely not for you - it's very moist, lots of soggy bananas and rather sweet. Ice cream was ok-ish, not like the awesome vanilla bean kind (like Marmalade Pantry's).

Price wise, it's quite affordable - mains are about $20 after taxes/service charge and they're pretty substantial and filling. It's getting rarer and rarer to find affordable food - the going rate for a simple dish of eggs benedict at most popular cafes is now around $20, so considering that these dishes are made from solid meat, it's a pretty good deal.

However, they do not serve water, so you'll have to buy bottled water. Thumbs down for that.

I suppose that this is a much better alternative to Nandos (which I really dont' like) if you're hankering for some chicken (though it's not Halal certified), and  price wise its comparable to Nandos. I won't mind getting the banana bread pudding again.

I tried Poulet at the Great World City outlet, but it's taking over Singapore with lots and lots of outlets.

Poulet outlets are at:
Bugis
Chinatown Point
Vivocity
Bedok Mall
Jurong Point
Raffles City
West Gate

Cafe Gavroche

Tried Cafe Gavroche on Julie's recommendation - it's a very prettily decorated French cafe at Tras street - with a very nice skylight in the middle. Makes you feel as if you're not in Singapore. 

Smoked salmon eggs benedict ($25)
Prices were a bit steep for the amount of food, though I must say that it was very well executed - perfectly poached eggs, thick Hollandaise sauce and lots of salmon. It could do with a bit more Hollandaise sauce. The potatoes were pretty impressive - nicely seasoned with crispy edges.

I must have gone to Cafe Gavroche when the chef was having a bad day, cos I seem to be the only one who wasn't impressed by the Croque Madame. Every online review has raved about the Croque Madame, and it even made it to the 50 things to eat before you die in Singapore list -.-

Unimpressive Croque Madame ($18)

Gyurere cheese and ham I can taste, but where was the bechamel sauce? No doubt the two thick slices of white bread was cottony soft and fluffy, the egg nicely cooked and still runny, but it was very dry. I might consider revisiting but it's such a pain to get to Tras street especially on weekdays.

Fromage Blanc with Apricot Compote ($8)

I first tried Fromage Blanc at Frensh (which is now closed - used to be my fave store to go for tartines).
Its a simple French dessert, made from fresh cheese and usually a fruit jam. It's pretty similar to greek yogurt, very thick, creamy and slightly sourish (but less so than yogurt). I really liked this dessert, but my other dining companions thought that it was very underwhelming.

The dessert of the day was creme brulee ($11) comes in a nice shallow dish, so that there's more surface area for the burnt sugar.

Very smooth and luscious. Tastes as good as Au Petit Salut's.

The whole time I'm thinking of Kitchenette (not sure if they've raised the prices cos I haven't been there for eons, but I'll be re-visiting them in the first week of Nov!). It's a nice cafe especially if you work in the CBD area, but it's a bit out of the way for me, and the parking here is really a pain. 

Cafe Gavroche

69 Tras Street, Singapore 079005

Tel 62254869

Cocotte at Wanderlust Hotel

Read a glowing write up on Cocotte in the Straits Times Lifestyle section a while ago along with the 23456643 other people who saw the article. I think it was Wong Ah Yoke who wrote about it ? And the description of the the Cocotte chicken and how it is lovingly marinaded and cooked for 2 days (hence the limited supply). I was sold after reading about the chicken.

So many moons later, I finally make it down to Cocotte to sample their famous French chicken. Being the last minute people we are, we made a booking at the last minute (actually, we had wanted to try No Menu but being last-minute, there was NO space - Forlino is popular ++) and hence we settled for second choice at Cocotte. Which had space - just that we had to vacate the table by 830pm.
To start, mini French Baguettes with French butter which were nice and crusty on the outside and cottony soft on the inside. Good restaurant bread puts me in a good mood for dinner. In particular, I like the one from Bonta (winner of all restaurant breads - there's a lump of cream cheese hidden inside!) and from Otto (onion bread is fantabulous!) The fresh pear, macadamia nuts and blue cheese (or was it gorgonzola?) salad with a light lemon-olive oil dressing didn't quite hit the spot for me. I partially attribute it to the extreme bitterness of the greens. Though I did like the combination of crisp, juicy pear, creamy pungent cheese and macadamias.

The escargots come with a tomato coulis (fancy name for paste) which was tart and refreshing, as well as a ?basil sauce. Instead of being baked in the usual tray (that most escargots come in) with butter and garlic, these came in dainty choux pastries. The snails themselves were tender, moist and juicy though I won't get the appetisers here again. Passable but not spectacular.

The Chicken (fancy name is Poulet Roti) is only available for dinner and costs a whopping $60 for a full chicken. It's marinaded for 2 days and roasted. And it's no ordinary chicken - it's a hormone free chicken (I suppose they left out the 'injected' cos any live chicken cannot possibly be hormone free).

The meat is so soft, succulent and juicy, that even I, the one who does NOT eat chicken breast (cos I find it much coarser and drier than the lovely juicy thigh) ate the breast happily. The skin is roasted to a brown perfection (though it's not the crispy kind).

The presentation is really nice and I can just imagine how appetising a whole fat roasted chicken sitting on the wooden chopping board... but they've kindly catered to diners in smaller groups and this is the half chicken ($45++) which is meant for 2 people.

The rustic French coutryside vegetables (at least, that's how I imagine it to be, though I can't say for sure where these veggies come from) and the aromatic brown gravy. The roasted baby potatoes are seasoned with coarse sea salt, and the vegetables (asparagus, fennel, peas +++, carrots) are nicely roasted and a nice balance to the chicken.

It was at this point I started regretting ordering a starter because I was 1) getting full 2) really enjoying the chicken.

Though we were slightly full, I had to try the apple tart tartin ($21++, meant for 2 people) which was another of their signature dishces.

The Tart tartin is basically an upside down tart - it was served in a pan and flipped onto a plate at the table. The apples are caramelized into a sweet syrupy pulp but not too soft hence they're able to retain their shape. But bit into one and it will yield to the slightest pressure. The apples also have a nice dark red hue.

I particularly disliked their shortcrust pastry as it was thick and hard. Not very buttery either. Ended up not eating the tart at all. But the apples are delicious - especially when eaten with the creme fresh.

The strawberry pistachio tart ($11++) is a dainty dessert which had fresh strawberries stacked on a thin buttery cookie. The green stuff is actually pistachio paste. It's more elegant than the apple tart but I think if I had to choose between the two, it'll really be a tough fight.

Pink macaroons, with complements from the chef

The bill for all the food above was $135 nett - and we didn't take any drinks. I really cannot remember how much each of the dishes cost but I suppose if you really want to find out, you could either search the internet or call the restaurant.

The general consensus is that it's rather expensive, not the most accessible place (though they do provide free valet). Go for the mains and desserts. Starters we tried were less than impressive. Part of my dining expirence was marred due to a particularly large group in the adjacent table with young children. One of them kept shouting and crying throughout the later 3/4 of our meal which totally spoilt the ambienceD:<

Wanderlust hotel's waiting area is rather intersting and they have all these unique chairs - this one's made from a supermarket trolley (no wheels so you won't roll away) and there's even an old school barber's chair (think Sweeney Todd) in front.

Cocotte

2 Dickson Road,

Ground Level

Wanderlust Hotel
Tel: +65 6298 1188

Bistro Du Vin

Bistro du Vin was reviewed in the Straits times quite a while back, and it was near impossible to book during that period of time. It's been some time now, and when I visited it on a Monday evening, business was brisk. It's a casual French restaurant, which serves simple, home-style dishes. Crusty bread served with butter (we requested for olive oil and balsamic vinegar, which they gladly obliged).

Seafood Bisque (I think it's about $10, can't remember the prices cos I don't have the receipt). It's pretty good, a nice bowl of thick, brown bisque with a sweet seafood flavour and a slightly bitter aftertaste. Served with cheese, bread and potatoes mashed with mayonnaise.

Niçoise salad (I think it was in the $10-$15 range) whigh was well dressed and tossed had a generous amount of flaked tuna and briney anchovies on an assortment of salad leaves.

My Braised Chicken Thigh in Red Wine ($23++) was a droolsome stew - the sauce was really tasty, and had the meaty flavours from the chicken, red wine and other stewed vegetables. The chicken thigh was so soft the meat fell of the bone. Mashed potatoes were very light and fluffy.

Grand Marnier Souffle ($15?) had a generous sloush of alcohol. It was light and fluffy with a brown skin-like top. Served with vanilla sauce and vanilla ice cream. I think I didn't like it cos Grand Mariner has a citrus base?

The Apple Tart ($10?) has a thin, flaky pastry base with finely sliced apples, topped with a sprinkling of icing sugar. The apple tart is not bad, but it can't rival my favourite Gunther's Apple Tart, which wins hands down with it's crushed candied almonds. Time to visit Gunthers when I get my next pay and maybe day off? Lunch it shall be...

I really like the simple and homely decor, including the tiled floor, red walls and many framed pictures. Looks just like a quaint cafe in France. Service here is above average, with friendly, efficient and knowledgeable waitstaff. Prices are slightly higher than what I'd like to pay, but then again, food and service is good.

So relaxing to sip a cup of tea and read a magazine inside the restaurant. I think it makes me forget that I'm in Singapore for a moment! But I doubt I'll be holidaying anywhere in the near future :(

Bistro Du Vin

1 Scotts Road, #02-12Shaw Centre

Tel: 6733 7763

Daily: 12pm-2.30pm, 6.30pm-10pm

Choupinette

I've had a pretty productive week - finally tried 2 more restaurants on my restaurant wish list

Choupinette is located along the row of shops/restaurants right after Coronation Plaza. They're a well known breakfast/brunch/lunch place, and they've recently started a dinner menu (Tues to Sat, 6pm-10pm), which has Duck Confit ($22), Stuffed Lamb Shoulder ($24) and some other interesting French Dishes. I went there and ate their all day brunch for lunch.

The price of my Eggs Royal's - a staggering $21 (this is without the plus-es! inclusive of one hot drink and one small fruit juice).

I actually wanted to justify spending so much on my eggs, so I asked the waiter if there was anything special about my eggs (perhaps they were organic, I though, which would partially explain the exorbitant price), but to my dismay, it was 'just normal eggs'. Oh well, since it's rare that I'm free (to explore new places) for lunch, and even rarer that I'm free (or awake) for brunch, I decided to splurge a bit. After all, it's not everyday that I have a 2 week pseudo-holiday.Eggs Royal's comes with 2 poached eggs on toast, with smoked salmon and hollandaise sauce. Lots of hollandaise sauce. The eggs were poached perfectly (but not like I've never had nicely done poached eggs elsewhere) with the centers still runny. Not sure if they use some very special type of smoked salmon, but it tasted very ordinary to me. My one cold drink -pineapple juice from a carton.My one hot drink - hot chocolate which tasted pretty thin, flat and tasted like something that I could easily make at home (minus the froth and chocolate powder). Drinkable, not impressive.The Chou Chou's Set ($22++) with the Croque Monsieur

It comes with any juice, water, soft drink, coffee or tea (or Iced Chocolate) and a dessert. Croque Monsieur was pretty small, with some ham and cheese. I think Canele does a much better job (with their Croque Madame). The iced chocolate, like it's hot counterpart was very uninspiring. Creme Brulee (with the Chou Chou's set) - served cold with a thin layer of burnt sugar. It was pretty eggy and was rather hard. Definitely not very memorable and I've tasted better. They didn't have the chocolate mousse, so we were stuck with either this choice or 4 macaroons.
Choupinette's Brunch/Lunch menu

Choupinette epitomises the extremely expensive prices for normalish food along Bukit Timah Road. Somehow, the restaurants/cafes which are easily spotted from along the main road seem to have higher than normal prices, for average tasting food. Perhaps the pastries are better? I suppose you're paying for the nice cutlery and ambience. As well as the rental. This is definitely a place to try if you like to dine at Dempsey.

Choupinette

607 Bukit Timah Road

#01-01 Tel: 6466 0613

Restaurant Absinthe

Another terribly outdated post -before it disappears into the recesses of my computer (my photos folder is super messy! :/) I decided to try Absinthe cos everyone who went there previously said it was really good. Restaurant bread - crusty on the outside, and soft inside.

Soup of the day - Tomato and Cream Soup
This was my appetiser - the tomato soup was delicious - bursting with the sweetness of tomatoes.

Balik Salmon Salad with lime dressing
According to this website, 'Balik' is the best part of smoked salmon. No wonder why we thought that the salmon tasted very different from normal smoked salmon. It wasn't overly salty, and it looks more like half-cooked salmon than smoked salmon.

Pork Belly - Braised kurobuta pork belly, fennel salad with Star Anise jus
My main - I personally thought that this tasted like dong po rou - very oriental tasting, probably because of the Stair anise? Since I don't particularly like chinese food, I didn't quite like this dish. To give the chef credit, the pork fats were perfectly cooked - a thin crispy layer on the outside, and a melt-in-the-mouth bottom layer. Though I don't like pork fat so I didn't like this dish. Plus, the meat part was super super thin. Half of it was fats (which is great for people who like pork fats).
Steamed Grouper with artichoke heart, potatoes and ginger soy jus.
I also didn't like this main cos it tasted just like a Chinese dish. Just that it came with mashed potatoes (which were dry) and an artichoke heart. Other than that, it tasted just like steamed fish from any Chinese restaurant.

Chocolate Cake, Vanilla Ice cream and raspberries

The best part of the whole meal - the chocolate cake was wicked. Icy raspberries embeded within lucious layers of creamy chocolate mousse, balancing the rich, sweetness of the chocolate. I think this is probably one of the better chocolate cakes I've eaten.

They also gave us some valrhona chocolates after our meal.

The 3 course set lunch costs $38++. I really didn't like both mains - tastes too Chinese for a French restaurant. Though dessert was great, appetisers were passable. Perhaps ala carte would be better - but it'll definitely blow my lunch budget. Maybe dinner some day, since everyone else who has been here says its good

Restaurant Absinthe

48 Bukit Pasoh Road

Tel: 6222 9068