le bistrot

i'm a firm believer of restaurants not able to serve up perfect or near-perfect dishes all the time for everyone, and oftentimes one can't really blame the chef; after all, one man's meat is another's poison. thus, it is a rather pleasant surprise to visit a restaurant thrice, each time ordering different dishes, and not be disappointed by any dish.

the miracle of a restaurant: a little place known as le bistrot, tucked away in a sleepy corner along joo chiat road. the smallish prix-fixe menu lists about five entrees, mains and desserts, with another one to two specials. a three-course dinner sets one back by about forty dollars; awfully good value, considering that dinner at the likes of ember and da paolo would easily cost upwards of sixty dollars.

in fact, i found it so good that i went twice in the week prior to my china trip, and have been wanting to revisit it when i was in beijing; my interest piqued at the time due to a fellow singaporean-on-exchange, hd, being platoon-mates with the chef, who apparently studied cooking in france for two years before returing to singapore to open his restaurant. i finally found an occasion to dine at the restaurant after being back in singapore for a month-and-a-half: to celebrate the end of the first interim crit with j and hk.



for dinner that night:

foie gras terrine with candied orange (half portion)
landaise salad: warm salad of duck gizzard confit, sauteed potatoes and mesclun greens (half portion)
côte de boeuf
lemon tart with honey mascarpone

i, being a sucker for all things foie gras, enjoyed the terrine very much; unlike pan-seared foie gras, where the foie gras is oily (in a good way heh, though always leaving me feeling guilty), terrine is creamy and smooth, and somehow less "exquisite tasting". to me, terrines seem more robust and earthy, sort of an "everyday" food than a gourmet-food-to-be-enjoyed-in-restaurants (though i certainly wouldn't say no to having pan-sear foie gras everyday too!). this terrine is also quite heavily spiced, something that i liked but didn't quite work for j. the candied orange (orange peel?) added a nice sweetness to the dish, though i thought it to be too firm to complement the creamy terrine; it was rather difficult to blend the two textures together. perhaps in a sauce form? terrine and marmalade... hmmm i want this for my breakfast!

the landaise salad is possibly j's favourite dish at bistrot; the gizzards chewy but not tough, sitting on nicely browned potato discs. the letdown was the salad i suppose: the standard mesclun of greens that comes with every entree/main seemed too brutish for this delicate dish. i kind of envision sprouts with generous amounts of rockets. a minor quibble though; the gizzards themselves were quite tasty, and not at all overcooked (and thus tough).

the côte de boeuf (as was the terrine) was a special of the day, and was only prepared medium-rare (to prevent the cuts of beef from turning into worthless charcoal by the well-done-ers no doubt =p). very beefy, and more rare than medium-rare, resulting in the meat being a bit too chewy and bloody for easy eating. i kinda liked the "primitiveness" though; it's my first time having beef so rare. also it was a very, very big portion too (12 ounces? can't recall the effing imperial units), and while good-value-for-money, the dish got a bit too cold towards the end.

however, the highlight of the day was, without a doubt, the lemon tart with honey mascarpone. for the number of restaurants and eateries in singapore, it is surprisingly difficult to find a place that does consistently wonderful desserts. how good is the lemon tart at bistrot? let's just say that if the restaurant were located not in joo-chiat but orchard, i'd make a detour on my way back home every other day. the crumbly base infused with the strong yet not sharp lemon flavour, with a dollop of creamy-firm mascarpone suitably perfumed with sweet honey; the taste and textures of the two items combined into a harmonious whole. very, very, very good indeed. they must never take this off the menu.

a real keeper, this restaurant; we'll be back soon.