Au Petit Salut

Au petit salut is helmed by chef Patrick Steuberger from Switzerland. Having garnered various experiences overseas in multiple countries and various michellin star chefs as tutors, Patrick returned to Au petit salut as executive chef in 2005. With such an impressive resume, its no wonder the restaurant was introduced to me by my boss. However, i maintain that reputation remains as reputation until put to the actual taste test. How will it fare i wonder?

Location: 40C Harding Road Minden Cluster

Contact: 64751976

Website: http://www.aupetitsalut.com

Price range: $40 -70 per head for lunch

Al fresco Section

Upon entering, you will find that the restaurant exudes a form of rustic charm for its location and the design of it exterior. Seemingly a colonial building that has yet to be teared down and located in the deep recesses of a mildly wooded enclave, its like stepping back in time to a less busy era where life was a little less complicated. In short, i felt relaxed the moment i parked my car.

Menu

The restaurant is a rather intimate affair with the interior seating about 30-40 people and the al fresco section seating around the same number of people. When i made my reservation, the restaurant was fully booked due to a corporate function but they made concessions since i only needed 2 seats. Decor wise, minimal is best for this place but i'm quite pleased with the simple and clean approach used.

Complimentary Bread and Watermelon Juice

We opted for the $38 and $50 set lunch menu which came with appetiser, main and desssert and topped a few more orders to try their food. The meal begun with complimentary bread which was done rather well. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Served warm with butter.

Foie gras de canard poêlé au vinaigre de Xeres

My choice of starter was the foie gras as usual. For the price, i'm surprised at how big a portion the foie gras was. In short, this would easily have cost more then $30 on ala carte given the size. Quality wise, it was also a surprise since the Xeres vinegar and red onions actually managed to enhance the taste of the foie gras by adding a sourish and sweet taste. The spinach also managed to neutralize the oily taste somewhat. However, make no mistake, this is still a sinful and oily dish but one thats done well in both quality and quantity.

Vegetable soup of the day

My gf had this soup and i had a taste, i can't remember what vegetable it was but i can tell you it tasted fresh, sweet and appetising.

Half dozen baked Burgundy snails with tomato and garlic butter

Another Look

Feeling a little adventurous, we ordered an addtional serving for appetiser which was these little critters you see here. Snails. First off, i've never tasted these things before and was warned that they come with a weird and sometimes pungent smell when done wrong. However, this rendition i tried was optimistic. The tomato and garlic butter was baked well into the dish and managed to cover the pungent taste. There was still a hint of the slimey texture of the snail but otherwise, the majority of the taste went to the garlic butter. It was quite alright actually.

Filet de boeuf sauce moutarde et herbes fraîches

Cross Section

Pan seared beef tenderloin of about 150gm served with mashed potato mustard and herb sauce. The beef itself was a little overcooked on the sides but got better towards the middle since my order was for medium rare. The meat near the middle was tender and succulent with a generous smattering of juiciness. The herb sauce fared pretty well but bordered on being too salty. Mashed potato was excellent, supremely smooth and easy on the palate but some may find it too milky.

Guinea fowl and pork sausage served with melted cabbage and bacon, brown jus

My gf's dish, i only had a small taste of this but i found it salty and sourish. Not exactly something i would like. For the record, my gf didn't like this much either.

Fondant chaud au chocolat

The full picture

Ah....fondants. Something i would soon stop ordering since i now know how to make it myself. Their rendition was pretty good, nice and crispy on the outside while warm suitably flowing on the inside. The chocolate is just right, not too sweet nor too bitter. This went well with the chocolate sorbet but horribly with the reddish fruit (i suspect raspberry).

“Mont-Blanc” vanilla ice cream, chestnut purée and meringue

Well, this didn't go too well. Being my first mont blanc and all, the vanilla ice cream was the only thing passable while the chestnut puree tasted like sweetened yam. Utterly disappointed given the rather flashy name.

Hazelnut tart with orange marmalade and vanilla “Crème Anglaise”

Another Look

Another disappointment in the dessert department, this hazelnut tart was once again, rather lacklustre in weird in the taste department. Its also warm and the thing that looks like ice cream isn't. It tastes like orange cream and didn't go well with the tart at all.

Total bill came up to $131 for this meal.

Final score: 7/10

Last Word:

In the end, the meal was still satisfactory even though one main dish and 2 of its desserts were rather lacklustre. Service was excellent while the relaxed atmosphere would have been complete if the corporate event was not ongoing while we were there. I did realise that all of the dishes that didn't live up to standard came from the $30 lunch menu while the $58 lunch menu was generally better in standard and taste. Maybe a difference in price means a difference in quality?

Bistro Delifrance

Delifrance is an all round familiar name which can probably be found in every major department store in Singapore. It begun in 1985 as a cafe officially and prior to that, have been distributing dough-made items to hotels since 1983. It brand owner actually heralds from France under the company name of Grand Moulins de Paris (GMP), which have been in the business since early 1900. With such a diverse and sound pedigree, its only right that Delifrance serves good food right?

Location: Compass Point Basement 1 (right next to the escalator)

Website: http://www.delifrance.com.sg

Everyone's Familiar with this no?

For a cafe that was and still is priced at a premium, the restaurant really isn't much to look at. If you ask me, the only thing i've ever enjoyed from Delifrance was its mayo chicken or crab with croissants. And that was a pretty long time ago when the items were going for less then $6. Prices have skyrocketed since then however, and Delifrance is now known as Bistro Delifrance which supposedly offers better service and gourmet food.

Caesars Salad ($7.95)

In 2 words? Rip off. A small amount of lettuce with some crumbs and fake bacon pieces with thousand island sauce. It wasn't even fresh to begin with and the service was terrible to say the least. Is this just a bad start or was the visit doomed before it began?

Beef And Fish Combo ($19.90)

This is a rather self explanatory dish. Beef, egg, potato wedges and fish in bread crumbs. And somehow, they managed to make a perfectly simple dish perfectly bad. The wedges were (drum roll) cold in the middle, which means they did not thaw it enough and it wasn't fried well. The beef came well done which meant it was rubbery and required a chainsaw to get through. What really dissed me was that the service staff didn't even ask if i wanted the beef done in any way. The fish was also equally badly done, with a strong fishy taste and also inadequately thawed. The only thing they did not screw up was the egg but then again, i'm sure i can do a better job even with that one.

Choc Fondant ($5.50)

This was not my dessert. I specifically ordered a molten chocolate cake but was given the chocolate fondant instead. However, i did not bother to argue because, i've already waited 20 minutes after my meal for them to serve the dessert after repeated reminders and they still got it wrong. Honestly, Wall's ice cream with warm chocolate cake. Why would anyone bother paying $5 for it when its so easy to just make it ourselves?

Bill

An unsatisfying, terribly serviced and bad meal cost me $33.20 after discount. Thats $33.20 too much to pay for such a terrible experience.

Overall Score: 3/10

Last Word:

What went wrong? I remembered a Delifrance where we had to self serve that gave much better food and service overall. Maybe the waitress was having a bad day but i didn't pay to see her unhappy face from problems i never want to know. Service aside, i never knew the food could be that bad. I'm utterly shocked at the quality of food i got and honestly, coming back is not something that will cross my mind for many years to come.

Fre(n)sh

Hidden in a little corner in big ole Vivocity is this little gem of a restaurant. "Fresh and French" is the tagline and i'm most inclined to agree with it because in retrospect, that is exactly what you get.

Location: 1 Harbourfront Walk Vivocity #01-163

Contact: 63768005

Your Little Signboard

Counter

The interior is small and probably sits about 16 people max. Color palette is more or less sombre white with plastic and wooden chairs. The important thing i believe is that it is clean and that is more important than all the decorations a restaurant can pile up.

Uncomfortable looking chairs

They look nice of course but i wouldn't bet on how comfortable it will be to be sitting on top one of these chairs trying to enjoy my meal, needless to say, i was sitting somewhere else for my lunch.

A tattered looking menu

Drinks! Apple Juice and Lime Juice

For the tartine set, you get a drink, a tartine and a dessert. No gst and no service charge is a definite plus point and honestly, the service was pretty good.

Salmon and Avocado Tartine ($16)

My gf ordered the salmon and avocado tartine which is basically, toasted bread with avocado and smoked salmon and some salad. Do not let the picture fool you, this is not a small piece of bread at all. The serving size is huge and as you can see, ingredients are generous as well. Salad wasn't anything special but the tartine itself is plain good. Warm toasted bread with cool and slightly salty smoked salmon atop a bed of creamy avocado. I feel like going back for more right about now actually.

Fre(n)sh Chicken Tartine ($16)

Judging by its namesake, this is probably a signature item. And apart from the same qualities of freshness and warm toasted bread, it came with roasted chicken and sliced potatoes atop a bed of mustard and rosemary. What can i say? Its spicy and very different from what i've had before. You can liken it to having chicken and potatoes with Japanese wasabi as a base. My only complaint is that the chicken is a little too dry, otherwise, i like this quite a bit.

Opera

Presentation is a definite plus for this with its eiffel tower chocolate and snowy sugar sprinklyed for added effect. The opera is supposed to be 2 repeated layers of chocolate, coffee and cake but i couldn't taste the coffee at all. It was also dry which doesn't win it many points unfortunately. Could have been loads better.

Original Cheese Cake

I wondered what 'original' meant in this rendition but it basically means generic. Its not bad tasting mind you. Its just that it tastes pretty much like every other cheesecake out there.

Bill

The bill came to only $32 for 2 people! Imagine my surprise at the fact that there were no additional charges. This place is a must try for the fact that its value for money.

Overall Score: 7.75/10

Last Word:
If they can survive with charging service and gst charges and they are located at Vivocity, i really don't see why other restaurants can't. And otherwise, in all regards, this place serves good, healthy food which will have me returning for more whenever i'm in the vicinity. Must try.