French restaurants are aplenty in Singapore, it is not difficult to find good French food here. But if you are on a hunt for a pocket-friendly option, the options become considerately limited. So I was quite excited to hear about Poulet, a casual French restaurant, by the Thai Express group, at the new Bugis+ (previously Illuma) which specialises in poulet rôti (roast chicken).

On Poulet’s menu, you can find appetisers ($5.80 to $9.80) like escargot, saute wild mushroom and French onion soup; main courses ($8.80 to $15.80) like Iberico pork belly, Smith chicken and egg mayo sandwich, and braise de poulet; and desserts ($6.80 to $7.80) such as banana bread pudding, tiramisu and caramelised apple in puffy tart.

We started with a salad de Paris ($9.80), a simple garden salad with tomato, avocado and roasted pine nut with French dressing. Next up was half a dozen of escargot ($8.80) with tomato fondue and garlic butter. Both appetisers were okay, but nothing to shout about.

After which, we shared three main courses. The beef ($15.80) in red wine sauce with carrot and onion arrived first. For the price, we thought that it was very decent.

Flavour-wise, the braise de canard ($15.80) in sweet wine sauce was good, but texture-wise, it was way too dense for our liking.

The star of the show, something that you must order at Poulet, is the poulet roti ($15.80 for half, $28.80 for whole). I’d come back just to eat the chicken.

We agreed that the main courses were competent. Our only grouse is that they could do with some starch given that the portions are pretty small.

From the dessert menu, we ordered a banana bread pudding ($6.80) and apple tart ($7.80). The banana and warm bread pudding served with vanilla ice cream was run-of-the-mill. Luckily, the baked caramelised Granny Smith apple in puffy tart was good, and we ended our meal on a sweet note.

All in all, Poulet is a casual dining place that serves affordable and decent French fare. The food is acceptable; and at these prices, there is little to fault.

Poulet Restaurant
201 Victoria Street
Level 4 Bugis+, Singapore
Tel: +65 6509 9411
Daily: 11.30am – 9.30pm

For more recommendations, read my list of French Restaurants in Singapore

Located at Chip Bee Gardens, Chez Petit Salut is the sister restaurant of Au Petite Salut, and it is a great option for causal dining if you are craving for French food.

Like the main restaurant at Dempsey road, the French bistro offers two different set lunches: 3 course set lunch at $30++.

We had two normal 3 course set lunches and for starters, we had the Salmon Tartar, which was light and refreshing – the perfect appetiser to start our lunch. When it comes to escargot, there are typically only two reactions: a) I love it or b) eew snails are so disgusting! My lunch partner belonged to the latter camp, and refused to touch the escargot so I had everything to myself.

It took us a while to choose the main course. You could have the excellent Onglet Beef with French Mustard Jus and mashed potatoes, or the Penne pasta with roasted vegetables, or the catch of the day. It is impossible to not be tempted by the Chicken Leg Confit and the Braised Lamb Shoulder, and it’s hard to say no to my favourite Mushroom Risotto.

We eventually settled on the Mushroom Risotto and the Catch of the day which was an Escolar. The fish was very fresh and well-cooked, it fell apart nicely when we teased it with a fork. The portion was quite small for guys, but it is probably just nice if you don’t want to fall asleep in the office after lunch.

As much as I love risotto, I’d usually avoid this dish when it comes to choosing a main course for set lunches. It seems a little silly to choose risotto when there are meat and seafood on the menu. But I was glad that I ordered Chez Petit Salut’s Mixed Mushroom Risotto with light cream emulsion and Parmesan Cheese. It was rich, and creamy: thick flavourful rice done al dente, with the earthiness of the fresh mushrooms giving it an additional flavour.

I think this is easily one of the best risotto that I had before.

Amongst the six desserts available on Chez Petit Salut’s set lunch menu, we didn’t want the Fresh Fruit Salad, Homemade Strawberry Shortcake, and Financer with chantilly cream, so it left us to choose two desserts between the classic Creme Brulee, Choux Buns and Homemade Cheesecake.

We agreed that the Gateau au Fromage Blanc was too good to miss, and since I had Au Petit Salut’s creme brulee before, we went for the Choux Buns with vanilla ice cream.

Filled with vanilla ice cream and glazed with a sweet and thick coating of chocolate sauce, the choux buns were gone before you could pronounce profiteroles. While they were not fantastic, we wanted to end the meal on a sugar high, and the Choux Buns did just that.

The Homemade Cheesecake was accompanied by a mixture of fruits, a delightful end to a great lunch at Chez Petit Salut.

For more recommendations, read my list of French Restaurants in Singapore

Chez Petit Salut
44 Jalan Merah Saga #01-54
Chip Bee Gardens Singapore
Tel: +65 6474 9788
Mon to Sat: 11.30am – 2.30pm, 6.30pm – 10.30pm
Nearest Station: Holland Village

I’m a simple person, with a simple taste bud, however nobody ever believe me. Even though the food at fine dining restaurant is good, but it’s not me, I prefer going to small, unpretentious, and cozy places instead.

Escargot, escargot, you really need to hand it to the French. They cook anything that can crawl, and make everything taste so good! The escargot that I’ve tried before, have a very strong garlic and buttery smell from afar, but La Petite’s rendition did not involve the use of these, instead the sweetness of the snail was deeply captivated within the croissant. The bread was so good; it absorbed the essence of the juice from the escargot (6 pieces for $12) – it was heavenly!

Foie gras, has long been one of the sacred food that I promise myself I’ll try in this life. Up till now, I’ve not exactly eaten it before, not unless you count the one which hardly had any foie gras. Let me describe more about the encounter: she tasted familiar, hold on, it seems to be like pig liver. Oh no, it’s even better than that! With the gamy taste, it’s bound to be an acquired taste, but to everyone out there, go on, try it! And you can proudly declared: I’ve sample foie gras before!

We were contemplating between the foie gras pan fried w/orange confit ($17), or the ravioli of prawns and foie gras in light lemon creme ($14.5). And we went for the latter. The uncanny similarity with the Chinese dumplings, but this one had foie gras and a big prawn instead. Initially, we thought that there would be hardly any foie gras inside, but we were wrong. The foie gras fillings were substantial, enough to experience the goose liver taste!

In my eyes mouth, duck will always be better than chicken. But most places doesn’t serve duck, and even if they do, its usually duck confit or pan seared duck breast. There’s nothing better for a duck drumstick than a duck confit! I enjoyed slowly peeling off her clothes, admiring everything there’s for us to see, before bringing my nose to smell her fragrance. Oh my, she smells so good! I closed my eyes for a second, and imagine the unimaginable. In my excitement, I brought up the fork again, and poke it into her. Slowly, we teased each other playfully, until to the point where we couldn’t take it no longer. Then, I tucked in. It’s good! Confit de canard w/gratin ($15)

For more recommendations, read my list of the Best French Restaurants in Singapore

La Petite Cusine
10 Jalan Serene
#01-05 Serene centre
Tel: 6314 3173

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