Like clockwork, Singapore Restaurant Week is back again, with the Spring 2024 edition scheduled to run from 5 to 28 April.
Yes, I know, that’s technically three weeks, but it’s been a while since they’ve kept it to just one. Calling it Singapore Restaurant Month would be more appropriate, but I guess the original branding has stuck.
The Wife is on their mailing list, and after receiving the notification email and doing a quick scan of what was on offer, a couple of French restaurants caught her eye.
Our usual selection process is quite rigorous and time consuming, but this time, I suggested a simpler approach.
Why not stick with just one type of cuisine, and choose from there? And since she already had her eye on some French food, it seemed like as good a place to start as any.
Using the SRW website’s filtering functionality, and applying European > French to the Cuisines category, 18 candidates surfaced.
They all served French dishes (bien sûr), but the price points of their menus differed wildly. From S$28++ for a simple three course lunch at Joséphine, to S$168++ for an extravagant seven course dinner at Riviera.
After whittling down the various options, we settled on six restaurants for our shortlist.
1. Loulou – French Cuisine & Wine Bar
I’m a sucker for pretty plates, and the featured image of Loulou’s deconstructed lemon & meringue pie drew my attention immediately. I was mesmerised by the bright colours and deliberately haphazard placement of each component.
They say that we eat with our eyes first, and they would be absolutely right. Of course, it didn’t hurt that their menu included gems like grilled whole rainbow trout and French bouillabaisse.
Making a reservation at the whimsically-named Loulou is pretty much a certainty. The only question left is whether we end up going there for lunch or dinner.
2. APERO
This cosy-looking bistro along Circular Road is offering a value for money three course lunch set featuring classic dishes like sauteed clams in white wine, seared sole fish with caper butter and the ever popular crème brûlée.
It seems to be newly opened and barely six months old, but already has extremely high Google ratings. 63 reviews and counting, averaging 4.9 ⭐/ 5.0, with numerous comments raving about both the food quality and good service.
3. Joséphine – French Cuisine & Wine Bar
We’ve actually walked past Joséphine with a friend before, and I recall him sharing that it was a popular lunch spot with his female colleagues. The S$28++ lunch set offers three solid choices each for both starters and mains, and I can see why it’s managed to draw in the office lady crowd.
A dinner reservation there might be more prudent, given their high lunch traffic and limited seating. Even though it’s double the price at S$58++, the menu includes pan-seared foie gras and confit de canard, two of my favourite French dishes.
4. Atout
My initial instinct was to drop Atout from our shortlist, because it was hard to access the chichi Dempsey Hill enclave without a car. But then The Wife pointed out that it was just a two minute walk from the nearest bus stop.
Only then did I take a serious look at the menu, which was essentially a large steak frites for two people, made with fancy beef (200 day grain-fed Stockyard Angus, by the way).
Hats off to the chef for having the courage to feature such a simple yet classic dish, and the confidence to pull it off well.
5. Gunther’s Modern French Cuisine
Gunther’s is practically an institution in Singapore, having operated out of its original Purvis Street location for almost two decades now. All the meals we’ve had there have been great, but it’s been a long time since we last ate there.
The S$148++ dinner set is a bit too rich for our wallet, though I have no doubt that it would be très délicieux. Especially the cold angel hair pasta with Oscietra caviar, which has been on their menu since day one.
The friendlier S$48++ lunch set, however, looks like it could be a gentle re-introduction to an old favourite of ours.
6. Napoleon Wine Bistro
With a name like Napoleon Wine Bistro, there should be no doubts as to the “Frenchness” of the food served there. Surprisingly though, the eatery chose to use a truffle risotto as its featured image, and even includes burrata and linguine as options.
Thankfully, the rest of the menu is classically French, with staples like duck rillette, foie gras poêlé, steak frites and chocolate fondant cake.
Perhaps the Italian influence is because Emperor Bonaparte was born in Corsica? It was an intriguing thought, interesting enough to add the bistro to our shortlist.
Final Decision
Ah, decisions, decisions.
It’s unlikely that we’ll visit all six places. Based on recent history, we’d probably end up at two, or at most three, of them.
Of the bunch, only Gunther’s is familiar. So this would be a good opportunity for us to try out the newer French restaurants that have popped up in Singapore.
Should be fun. I’ll report back in a month or so.
