After a particularly filling and satisfying Saturday brunch buffet at a wine bistro, we took a leisurely stroll around Telok Ayer to ward off food coma.
One of the restaurants we walked past was Joséphine, and our friend shared that it was highly recommended by his female colleagues.
Their menu was displayed outside, and judging from the weekday lunch sets from S$28 to S$44++, I could see why it was popular among office ladies working in the CBD.
Of course, it doesn’t threaten the undisputed champion of OL lunches — the humble Teochew sliced fish soup. But for an occasional splurge, fancy French food is a good option.
Besides the value-for-money set lunch, the ala carte menu also looked quite appetising. As expected, French classics like pan-seared foie gras, steak frites and duck confit featured prominently.
Sprinkled among the choices were a handful of Mediterranean dishes like seabass ceviche, fresh burrata and octopus casserole.
It sounded like a restaurant that we’d enjoy. I fired up Google Maps on my mobile and added it to our ever-growing shortlist of places to try in Singapore. In case you’re wondering, the current count stands at 148.
Hmm, come to think of it, maybe I should refer to it as a longlist instead.
As you’d expect, Joséphine got buried in the crowd. That is, until we started browsing the restaurants participating in the Spring 2024 edition of Singapore Restaurant Week.
We had decided to stick with a French theme this time round, and serendipitously, Joséphine appeared. So, instead of being just 1 in a sea of 148 candidates, it got upgraded to a respectable 1 out of 6.
Given such promising odds, it wasn’t a surprise that we ended up at the restaurant for an early dinner on a Saturday night.
The three course menu that they curated for Restaurant Week featured:
- Starters: Pan-seared foie gras, or Snails from Burgundy or Truffle mushroom soup
- Mains: Le confit de canard, or Chorizo cod fish or Grass-fed Maori Lakes striploin (250gm)
- Desserts: Le profiteroles, or Riz au lait “Joséphine”
We also asked to see their ala carte menu. You know, for research purposes. And totally not because we were feeling greedy and wanted to order additional dishes.
Although it would have been a lie to say that we weren’t sorely tempted by several dishes, like:
- Roasted bone marrow | Herb crumbs, sourdough toast
- French onion soup | Served with Comté cheese toast
- Monkfish Blanquette | Monkfish, creamy sauce, mushroom, onion, potato, carrots
- Quenelle “Lyonnaise” | Gratinated pike fish quenelle, crayfish, lobster bisque
- Baba au Rhum | Yeast-risen French cake soaked in rum syrup, served with homemade vanilla Chantilly
Sanity prevailed, and we stayed within the prescribed dinner set menu.
Deviating from our usual practice of choosing different starters and sharing, we both ordered the foie gras. We have nothing against French snails, but they didn’t stand a chance against fatty liver.
Likewise for truffle mushroom soup. Though it would have been a different matter if the onion soup was available. I’m a sucker for a nice French onion soup.
Beautifully-browned duck foie was served on crispy and buttery sourdough toast. The honey sauce that it came with was syrupy and rich, but I felt that it lacked sufficient acidity to cut through the fat.
Having said that, it was a delightful morsel that helped to start our meal on the right note.
After the server cleared out our plates, she came back with new cutlery. Since I didn’t order the striploin, I was surprised to received a huge-mongous steak knife.
Thinking that they may have keyed in my duck confit order wrongly, I double-checked with the server. She confirmed that there was no mistake, and assured me that it would be easier to navigate the duck thigh with the heavy duty knife.
It had a good heft to it, and was clearly well used. As I was admiring its weight and balance, I noticed the custom engraving that bore the restaurant’s name. Nice.
When my duck confit arrived, I was taken aback by its unexpectedly large size. Even the accompanying sauteed potatoes and onions were upsized.
Together with the generous portion of protein and carbs was an equally impressive amount of red wine sauce. It looked a bit scary, almost like a pool of blood, but it was very tasty.
The skin was crispy, as it should be, and the meat was moist, also as it should be. There was none of the stringiness that you’d sometimes find with overdone duck confit.
Both The Wife and I found the seasoning slightly heavy, though it could just be an us thing. We’ve been consciously cutting down on our salt intake, resulting in a lighter palate.
And our server was right. The chunky steak knife wasn’t clunky at all, and was the ideal instrument for swiftly dismembering the duck leg.
The chorizo cod fish arrived dramatically in a cast iron skillet, with a heavily-used wooden cutting board acting as a coaster.
It looked less like a classical French dish, and more like hybrid between a Moroccan shakshuka and Spanish fabada.
Flavour-wise, it tasted exactly like how it appeared — tomato-ey, spicy and bursting with flavour. The cannellini beans added body, and the piquillo peppers contributed a delightful sweetness to the rustic stew.
At first glance, the cod fillet looked dainty and underwhelming. It was only after cutting into it that our initial impression was overturned, and its true heft was revealed.
The fish was meaty, juicy and flaky, proof that it was cooked perfectly. A thin layer of chorizo sat on top and wasn’t just for show. It added a spicy note and crunchy texture, almost like the crisped-up skin of the cod.
It had us at first bite.
We scraped every last bit off the skillet, and were disappointed that no bread was available to sponge up all the sauce.
When dessert was served, we were glad that we didn’t add any additional ala carte dishes.
By then we were already feeling the effects of the large mains, and the generous portions of both the rice pudding and profiterole didn’t help. That didn’t stop us from finishing both though.
Fat grains of rice in the pudding were cooked al dente, and lounged in a pool of vanilla sauce with almond slivers providing the necessary crunch.
The profiterole started out slightly too crunchy, in my opinion, but developed into the right consistency as it started absorbing the melting ice cream.
Throughout the night, the manager and his team took great care of us. We appreciated his warm and friendly service and requested for his name card.
It said “Aldrick Digno Asanon”, but since it was quite a mouthful, he asked us to call him by his nickname “Drex”.
“Drax?!” I exclaimed, “Like in Guardians of the Galaxy?”
“No, no. D-Rex, like T-Rex the dinosaur,” he corrected me with a hearty laugh. I suppose I was close enough, since both are destroyers.
Either way, cool name.
I asked him what his favourite dish in the restaurant was, and without missing a beat, he immediately replied: “Duck Magret, medium, with honey sauce and a side of creamed spinach!”
Okay, looks like we’ll have to add that to our earlier list.
By the time we left, all the tables on the first floor were taken and service was bustling. They have a second floor, but since it was a weekday, it wasn’t open for service.
I can understand why Joséphine is so popular, and I have a feeling that we’ll be back soon. Especially since we already know specifically what to order next time.
Singapore Restaurant Week
The bold flavours and generous portions of Loulou French Cuisine
If you could transform a Bollywood dance scene into a dish, this gaspacho be how it would taste — exciting, dynamic and entertaining.
Apéro is a French bistro that serves exceptional Spanish smoked sardines
Processed immediately using Japanese methods after being brought into the port of Santoña, the sardines are then smoked with natural beech wood before undergoing a classic salting process.
An all French affair for Singapore Restaurant Week Spring 2024
Our usual shortlisting process is rigorous and time consuming. For this season, we chose to go with a simpler approach, and focused only on French restaurants.
Cherki is not afraid to experiment with bold Peranakan flavours
We eagerly scanned through all 38 items on the menu. They all sounded really enticing, and the thought of ordering everything briefly crossed our minds.
13% Wine Bistro is more than just a place for drinks
The Seafood Bisque tasted like something that could have been served at a fancier restaurant, and not in a wine bar with a tiny kitchen and minimal staff.
Here is our shortlist for Singapore Restaurant Week Autumn 2023
In the immortal words of Kenji Fukui, the OG Iron Chef announcer: “Who takes it? Whose cuisine reigns supreme?”
Basilico has restored our faith in all-you-can-eat buffets
Its specialisation in Italian cuisine, focus on quality not quantity and the pièce de résistance, an amazing cheese room, truly sets it apart.
Our first foray into Portuguese cuisine, courtesy of Lusitano Restaurant
I know we’re definitely coming back for a return visit. We do, however, need to make sure we bring in sufficient reinforcements next time.
Akanoya Robatayaki was nice, but not as fun as expected
Sometimes, dining out is not just about enjoying good food, it’s also about experiencing unique entertainment.
It’s homework time again: Singapore Restaurant Week Spring 2023
It took me quite a while to review each of the individual menus, weigh their relative pros and cons and identify any unique must-try dishes. Here is our shortlist, ranked in descending order of preference.
Curating a seven course dinner using memorable dishes from 2022
On this last day of 2022, I wanted to spend some time revisiting the memorable dishes that we had over the course of the year.
Elotes, Sisig and other Mexican x Filipino dishes at Alegria
Uniquely Mexican items were featured prominently in the interior décor, including colourful sombreros and vivid Día de los Muertos masks.
Lunch at Beirut Grill has made us fans of Lebanese cuisine
The blobs of chickpea Hummus and mashed eggplant Baba Ghanoush were familiar sights, but there was also the cheese yoghurt Labneh, red pepper Muhamarra, Cucumber Yoghurt and eggplant Moutabal.
Poisson should have let their seafood take centre stage
Overall, it was a decent meal. But compared with those that we’ve had at other Restaurant Week places, it was somewhat disappointing.
The intriguing and inventive Bengali flavours of Aapon
I know nothing about Bengali cuisine. But half the fun of dining out is trying out brand new flavours and expanding taste boundaries.
So much food, so little time: Singapore Restaurant Week Autumn 2022 edition
This time round, there’s a bumper crop of 83 restaurants to choose from, spanning across a wide range of cuisines. Which ones will make it to our shortlist?
We walked past the 15 Stamford Bar and fell down the rum rabbit hole
When we stopped at the bar that afternoon, all we wanted to know was where to get the pretty golden pineapples on display. But we ended up accidently spending an enjoyable and boozy two hours, courtesy of Tim the awesome bartender.
If you like Spanish food and wine, you’re going to love FOC Restaurant
It’s safe to say that FOC is now our favourite restaurant in Singapore. The food is great, the wines are interesting, and most of all, the service is amazing.
Boeuf is totally worth the beef overdose
Part Two of our beef expedition during Restaurant Week brought us to Boeuf. Compared to the laid-back nature of our first outing at Gemma Steakhouse, Boeuf was a hardcore meat joint that screamed: “BEEF!”
A relaxing weekday lunch at Gemma Steakhouse
The artichoke-filled fresh pasta, with cute but savoury baby crayfish and lightly-spiced sauce offered a combination of flavours that were a welcome departure from typical tomato or cream-based pastas.
Fusion food is hard to pull off, but 15 Stamford does it masterfully
It’s easy to descend into fusion/confusion when mixing ingredients, cooking methods, seasonings and presentations across so many different cuisines, but 15 Stamford navigated it wonderfully.
The semi-buffet at One-Ninety offers a great balance of choice and quality
The good thing about buffets is the large amount and variety of food on offer, ensuring that everyone gets to choose what they want to eat. The bad thing about buffets is that, for the very same reasons, the quality of food tends to be mediocre.
When you can’t fly to Japan, head to Tanoke for good food and lots of sake
The six bottles of sake on display were only a small sample, because once you turn around, you’re greeted with a wall of chillers packed with sake from all over Japan. It’s not a terribly large collection, but it is impressive and not a common sight in Singapore.
We really tried our best to finish the generous lunch at Beach Road Kitchen
As we were browsing the various restaurants participating in this year’s Restaurant Week, the menu and compelling price point at Beach Road Kitchen caught The Wife’s attention and we found ourselves there on a weekday afternoon.
