La Petite Cuisine, Upper Thomson

I wouldn't have decided on this place if not for the many favourable reviews on the affordable and good French fare at La Petite Cuisine. At first glance, it seems hardly impressive with its barely lit interior and shoddy furniture.

We also read about the bad service but we did not expect to experience it first hand. The service staff was rude and snapped at us when we were asking for recommendations. In fact, she blatantly ignored us when we signaled to ask her for a piece of cutlery. It didn't bother us much, but I could see why people were complaining about the apalling service - it definitely was not an exaggeration.

The menu was limited to 8 choices for mains so it didn't take long for us to place our orders.



Additional mains could also be found written on the glass panel.

Complementary warmed bread rolls

 We were served warmed bread rolls before our mains and I appreciate the fact that they were warmed.


The Sirloin steak with french frites and salad
$16.50

The Sirloin steak with french frites and salad turned up to be a disappointing small slab of meat. Portions aside, the steak was quite good and done the way we liked it- medium well.

Dory with white wine butter and rice
$12.50

Most of us had the Dory with white wine butter and rice. The fish was nicely pan-fried and soaked in savory butter sauce. I thought it complemented the buttered rice rather well. I thought this dish was pretty good. You can change the rice to fries, salad, pasta or gratin for an additional $1.

Assorted fresh sausages (lamb, beef & pork) with frites and salad
$14

The assorted fresh sausages (lamb, beef & pork) with frites and salad were decent but I would go for the other mains. 

Pear chocolate mousse 'Belle Helene' layer cake
$4
or $3.50 with every main course

The pear chocolate mousse 'Belle Helene' layer cake is definitely worth mentioning. It stands as one of its kind with the different layers of sponge cake, vanilla ice cream and pear chocolate mousse topping, creating a wonderful soft blend of flavors- I loved it! I would come back for this cake.
Other desserts of the day include items like Opera cake with chocolate sauce, Mango passion cake with coulis of Passion fruit, and Creme caramel.

Probably a decent place to go for affordable French fare, if you don't care about the service.

La Petite Cuisine
227 Upper Thomson Road, Singapore

Tel: +65 6459 0553
No GST or Service charge

Bistro Petit Salut

We headed off to Jalan Mega Saga on a quiet Monday. The place was rather empty with only four other patrons seated in the restarurant.

We had a $48 set dinner and an additional main course as we were still full from our heavy lunch.

 

 Complimentary bread basket

The complementary bread basket was decent, it would have been nice if they had offered olive oil to go with the bread though.

 'Seafood Bouillabaisse'

For the starter, we opted for the Seafood Bouillabaisse based on the staff's recommendation. The broth was rich and the seafood was pretty good. The soup came with three small slices of garlic bread which I lapped up almost immediately.

Pan seared onglet beef with French fries,

'Café de Paris' butter sauce

We had requested for the beef to be medium well, but it turned out medium instead. The beef was chewy and it was too gamey for my liking. The fries felt like they had been fried in overused oil and I never reached for seconds thereafter.

Oven baked fillet of black cod with herb crust

served with fennel compote, tomato vinaigrette

The fish was decent, not the freshest black cod that I had though. The tomato vinaigrette and the herb crust was a good complement to the otherwise bland fish. This dish did not leave behind an impression, it was only passable.

“Gateau au Fromage Blanc”

Homemade cheesecake with Madagascar vanilla beans

I was surprised by the size of the cake when it came to our table as it was really small. This dessert was strongly recommended by the staff but it turned out to be a little lesser than average. It is not a dessert I would order again as it felt like a run-of-the-mill cake off a neighbourhood confectionary store.

I would say go for the set lunch instead. At $28 per person, the set lunch seems to be a much better deal.
When we left, we saw Da Paolo and Original Sin packed with people. Perhaps that is an indication on what is good along the stretch of restaurants.

Bistro Petit Salut
44 Jln Merah Saga
#01-54
Singapore 278116
Tel: 6474 9788