Review: Le Bistrot

Sometimes new restaurants, especially small ones, don't open to trumpets and fanfare or reviews in the papers, but get around (figuratively) through word of mouth. I'd been hearing about Le Bistrot for a month before it was reviewed, thanks to some good francophone friends.



Unfortunately Le Bistrot's location in Joo Chiat deterred me from trying it out for quite a while, as I'm somewhat opposed to any eatery that requires an expressway to get to.



Le Bistrot is pretty tiny, accomodating at most 20 diners. The small interior is matched by a small menu, two courses for $22, three for $36. You could also just order just the main course for $19, though that probably wouldn't be as economical.



There also some special items on the menu that are changed from time to time. The goose rillete was one of them. Somewhat dry, I felt, but pretty rich and flavourful nonetheless.



I've been a very happy diner since US prime was reintroduced in Singapore. The special for the main course that night was a prime rib-eye, which came at a $15 premium to the prix fixe. Nonetheless, it was pretty excellent, meltingly tender and robustly juicy.



The meat item on the regular menu is the rump steak, which the chef will not cook beyond medium rare, which is unusual for a steak, so expect your meat to be a bit bloody.



For dessert, I had the chocolate mousse, which I found a little too heavy; with not enough lift provided by the egg whites. I couldn't finish the whole thing, but that was partly due to the large rib-eye steak.



The dessert special was a chocolate-flavoured creme brulee. I know I've said creme brulee should be classical and just vanilla-flavoured, but I must admit this chocolate one was pretty good. I didn't like that the caramelised crust was so thick, though; I thought it detracted from the delicate chocolate custard underneath.

Service is truly excellent, our waiter was humourous, informative and attentive, simple qualities that are strangely so difficult to find in service staff. Ambience is cosy, if a little cramped, but location is where the restaurant suffers most. Joo Chiat is simply much too far away to warrant going back to on a regular basis. Of course, if you live nearby, that's not likely to be a problem.

Le Bistrot
451 Joo Chiat Road
#01-06 Breezeway Centre
Tel: 6447 0018

Location: 1/5
Ambience: 3/5
Service: 4.5/5 (I'd give 5, but I'm stingy that way)
Food: 4/5
Overall: French food on a decent budget.

Technorati Tags: Reviews, French, Restaurants, Le Bistrot

Review: PS Cafe

Apparently third time's the charm, because we finally managed to get a place at PS Cafe for supper, though not without some difficulties along the way.



PS cafe looks much better by night than it does during the day, as all of Dempsey Road is blanketed in darkness with only PS Cafe lit up like a beacon of warmth and welcome.



The reason for that is that on a Friday evening, PS Cafe is incredibly packed. It may have had something to do with the fact that Dick Lee was celebrating a birthday there, but I'm sure it would have been full even without his party. We were there for supper, at 10pm, and we were told that we would have to wait at least half an hour for a table to be freed up.



Eventually, we settled for a table outside while we waited for a table inside to be cleared. While it was pleasant enough outside among the trees, it was too dark and humid to be truly enjoyable, so it was with great relief that we adjourned back into the air-conditioned interior for our just desserts.



We had a double fudge chocolate cake, which was the most massive chocolate cake I'd ever seen, quite possibly the mother of all chocolate cakes. Thick, soft chocolate sponge was enveloped in a heart-stopping amount of fudge and slathered with a generous quantity of chocolate syrup, served with vanilla ice cream. A tad rich, but whatever doesn't kill you makes you very happy indeed.



We also had a flourless orange cake, which was surprisingly light for a flourless product. I didn't have much of this, as I was somewhat distracted by the chocolate cake.



A banana and mango crumble was also ordered, and I find that I'm beginning to like crumble more and more. All those soft, caramelised fruits exuding sweet juices, offset and absorbed by the flaky, buttery crumble, is my idea of a hearty dessert.

Service is not too shabby, even at the peak of business, and the atmosphere is laid-back, easy and almost boisterous. Actually finding a table, without a reservation, might be something of a nightmare though. Even getting a reservation is problematic, with a different contact number to call.

PS Cafe (casual)
28B Harding Road
Tel: 6479 3343
Reservations: 9070 8782
Website

Location: 2/5 (Remote!)
Ambience: 3.5/5 (4 if at night)
Service: 3.5/5
Food: 3.5/5 (based solely on dessert)
Overall: Probably best to come for a full meal then round off with dessert

Technorati Tags: Reviews, Casual, PS Cafe

Review: Banoo

Have you RSVPed for the floggers' dinner yet?

Banoo is without a doubt one of the more exotic places I've dined in recently. Middle Eastern eateries are in the main few and far between, but a full-blown Persian restaurant is quite possibly the rarest of all.



Located in the same row of shophouses as Papi and The Patissier, Banoo is somewhat more homely than the latter two. In fact, I'd never known of its existence before that day.



Its small interior accomodates perhaps up to 30 diners, and most of the space is taken up by the bar/counter as well as a big glass case that hides the kitchen and serves as a drinks storage area.



To my non-Iranian eye, Banoo seems generously decorated with many Persian craft items, from hookah pipes (which may actually be usable rather than for sale) to ceramic bowls and teapots.

I arrived rather late, so I wasn't able to sample some of the interesting Iranian drinks the others had ordered. I did manage to try some of their tea, which could just as easily have been Lebanese as Persian; I'd have no way of telling. It seemed moderately spiced, rather more piquant than the English and Chinese teas we're used to.



I opted for a Kebab Koobideh ($15), which is supposed to be the house special. Koobideh sounds like a rude word, but that's just me. It turned out to be a lamb kebab, served with some "Iranian bread" (rice would have been a better option), a tomato, onions and a garnish of parsley and kaffir lime leaves.

While the kebab itself was quite tender and spiced with sumac for a lovely aroma, I was very disappointed with the bread, which was thin, flat and tasteless. It was like eating strips of doughy paper.

Banoo serves lots of other Middle-Eastern food, but I wasn't feeling that adventurous or hungry.

Location's not great, as there's no convenient train or parking, especially on weekends. Service is decent; strangely there's a young Chinese waitress, which is odd considering I would have thought the restaurant would prefer Middle-Eastern servers.

Banoo (Iranian)
7 Mohammed Sultan Road
Tel: 6235 7989

Location: 2/5
Ambience: 3/5
Service: 3/5
Food: 3/5
Overall: Certainly ranks high on novelty, good if you're feeling like an explorer

Technorati Tags: Reviews, Restaurants, Iranian, Banoo

Review: Casa Roma

Have you RSVPed for the upcoming floggers' dinner?

I have learned, the hard way, and to my great inconvenience, that many places are not open for lunch on Mondays. In fact, on a business card I acquired some years ago, Casa Roma states that they are not open on Mondays, though apparently they've changed that policy.

After driving to Papi and finding it closed, and then to Pizza da Donato, which was also closed, we eventually settled, tired and disgruntled, for Casa Roma. A low-key, unremarkable Italian eatery along Bukit Timah, only a few doors away from an outlet of the Pasta Fresca chain. Despite the competition, both places seem to be doing well.



Ordinarily this would be classified as "Italian", but the decor is slightly kitsch, and with plastic tablecloths, I think I can be forgiven for labelling it "Casual".

The eatery has an excellent frontage, which endows the interior with lots of light, so it's quite pleasant. Not sure what the lighting is like at night, though.

Service is eager, if somewhat incoherent. It took us a while to figure out what the specials of the day were, and this was only because they were helpfully written on a chalkboard.



I was feeling understandably peckish from driving about, so we shared an order of bruschetta ($4). Interestingly, it comes on soft garlic bread, the kind you might order at Pizza Hut. While not very authentic, it was still very good, and the tomato concasse was quite excellent.



I had a pizza prosciutto e funghi, which I unwisely chose to be topped with parma ham, causing the price to be bumped up to $22. The parma ham didn't look or smell too fresh, but it was still edible. Casa Roma makes very competent thin-crust pizzas, and they're very generous with the size of their pizzas. Usually one is enough for two people, but if you're a big eater you should have no problems.



May had the lasagne ($17), which was rather too liquid and runny for my tastes.

Casa Roma only charges the 10% service charge, so it can be a fairly reasonable place to dine depending on what you order.

Casa Roma (Casual)
833 Bukit Timah Road
#01-09, Royal Ville
Tel: 6464 8509

Location: 5/5
Service: 3.5/5
Ambience: 2.5/5
Food: 3/5
Overall: Convenient and reliable, with few extra charges

Technorati Tags: Reviews, Casual, Italian, Casa Roma

Review: Phin's Steakhouse

It is unfortunate that in Singapore, there are no very good steakhouses. Even Morton's and Lawrys do little to distinguish themselves as purveyors of quality steaks and roasts, and charge you the sky for sometimes dubious meat.

Even more unfortunate though, is the severe lack of budget steakhouses. Even places like Les Bouchons, which is considered fairly decently-priced, is not very cheap. It seems like steak cannot be had at a discount.



Phin's Steakhouse is one of the few establishments that have attempted to make steak more economical and accessible to students and food bloggers with a budget constraint, located as they are near SMU and in Cathay Cineleisure. Unfortunately, in this they have not been particularly successful.



I went to the one in Liang Seah Street, which had the misfortune of being a very small eatery. This caused some problems, as the steaks are served on sizzling hot plates. The smoke thus generated is not easily dissipated, and in the small, confined space, there were some unpleasant moments where my nose was assaulted by the dense fumes.



Phin's Steakhouse serves all kinds of western food, including oysters and fish and chips. But I figured it made most sense to order steak from a steakhouse, so I went for a Ladies' Cut of rib-eye ($19), medium, with a wild mushroom sauce.

The mark of a good steak is its degree of doneness - it should be cooked to perfection, which naturally, is medium-rare to medium. My steak was decidedly overcooked. Thankfully I opted for the rib-eye, so the fat content rendered the steak still tender despite being overcooked. I didn't bother to eat most of the vegetables. The mushroom sauce was terribly creamy, as well.

I am told the fish and chips is quite good, but a steakhouse that overcooks its steaks is unforgivable. Though perhaps because I ordered the thinnest cut, it was easily overdone. Still, I feel a certain standard of profession has been breached here, and I certainly hope their other offerings fare better.

Phin's Steakhouse (casual)
1 Liang Seah Street #01-15
Tel: 6333 4396
Email
Website

Location: 3/5
Ambience: 2/5
Service: 3/5
Food: 2/5
Overall: Some things just cannot be discounted

Technorati Tags: Reviews, Casual, Steak, Phin's Steakhouse