The bold flavours and generous portions of Loulou French Cuisine

Rounding out our French food expedition during Restaurant Week was a weekday lunch at Loulou.

Which was a fitting end as it was the first restaurant that caught The Wife’s eye as she diligently browsed through all the event participants. Why? Simply because it had a cute name.

Loulou also gave me the idea of sticking to just one type of cuisine for the Spring 2024 season, making for more streamlined shortlisting.

Our selection process is typically quite rigorous, and takes up a fair amount of time and effort. But, in life, there is beauty in simplicity.

That, and also because I was feeling lazy and wanted to do less homework.

Loulou French Cuisine & Wine Bar

Keong Saik Road has changed over the years. While stalwarts like Tong Ah Eating House and Kok Sen Restaurant are still there, it has steadily gentrified.

Many modern restaurants and hipster cafés have popped up along the stretch. While the buildings themselves have been structurally preserved, their exteriors have undergone extensive facelifts.

For example, Loulou opted for a garden theme and decked out its entrance with flower-lined trellises, large potted plants and wooden furniture.

If it wasn’t for the oppressive heat, we would have been tempted to enjoy a spot of al fresco dining. But the lure of air conditioning was too strong, and we wisely opted for a table indoors.

Interior lighting was kept to a minimum, creating a warm and cosy ambience. At the back of the compact seating area was an open kitchen, where the chefs could be seen busily preparing food.

Menu

Our wallet friendly 3.5 course set lunch (S$32++) comprised an amuse bouche, starter, main and dessert.

• First Impression (amuse bouche): Oyster Fine de Claire
• Starters: Traditional Niçoise Salad, or Pissaladière Niçoise, or Andalusian Gaspacho
• Mains: Grilled Pork Secreto (220g), or Grilled Whole Rainbow Trout, or Stuffed Calamari “A La Provençale”
• Desserts: Loulou Crème Brûlée, or Champagne Infused Poire Belle-Hélène

There was a clear Mediterranean slant to the menu, expanding beyond the south of France (niçoise salad, pissaladière) and into Spanish (gaspacho, pork secreto).

After placing our order, a small hemp bag of baguette slices was delivered to our table, together with some salted butter.

We weren’t expecting to be served bread, so it was a pleasant surprise. Even better, it arrived warm and was crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside.

Curious about the rest of their food, we asked to look at the ala carte menu. When our server brought it over, we asked him for his favourite starter.

It was the Burrata & Kalamata, a salad of tomatoes, olives with basil pesto dressing and topped with a globe of fresh burrata cheese. I’m a sucker for good burrata, and promptly added it to our order.

Starters

Both the oysters and pissaladière were presented on a mini cutting board with the restaurant’s name etched on the handle. Interestingly, they looked almost identical to those at Joséphine, another French restaurant that we had visited less than a week ago.

As we were expecting just one oyster each as our amuse bouche, it was a surprise to see four of them appear. Even though they were quite petite, it was still a generous gesture.

I ended up having most of the tart, since The Wife detests onions, except when they’re in the form of deep-fried onion rings. It was a bit too heavily seasoned for my liking though.

The gaspacho was topped with a pretty arrangement of overlapping slices of baby turnips. The mandolin-thin circles must have been carefully positioned with tweezers, and added a nice accent to the simple soup.

Gaspacho is not common in Singapore. Probably because the idea of cold soup is relatively alien to local palettes. Our preferred temperature is somewhere between piping hot and burn-your-tongue, but we make the occasional exception.

After The Wife took the first spoonful, she excitedly asked me to do the same.

If you could transform a Bollywood dance scene into a dish, this would be how it would taste — exciting, dynamic and entertaining. With fluid choreography between the bell peppers, tomato juice, vinegar and olive oil. Interrupted by contrasting crunchiness from the cucumber and turnip.

It was the perfect dish for a hot and humid afternoon in sunny Singapore.

Equally refreshing was the burrata salad, a heaping portion of thickly-sliced beef tomatoes, bitter arugula, kalamata olives in a vinegary dressing.

The big blob of burrata was impressively bouncy, reluctantly releasing its flowy insides only after being disemboweled.

Our server swung by and handed us a small dish of flaky fleur de sel. “It’s nicer if you sprinkle some on top,” he suggested. Of course, he was 100% correct.

Unfortunately, the choice of tomatoes wasn’t ideal. While they were juicy, the taste wasn’t quite there. Heirloom or Momotaro tomatoes would have worked much better.

Any burrata salad inevitably gets compared to the one we had during a boozy brunch at 13% Wine Bistro last year.

Their use of sun-dried tomatoes and balsamic vinegar spheres resulted in strong flavours that melded well with the creamy cheese. It set a high benchmark that has yet to be breached.

Back again at 13% Wine Bistro for their Saturday Tapas Brunch

Mains

Given the S$32++ price point, the size of the grilled whole rainbow trout was unexpectedly large. As was the side of chunky and tangy ratatouille.

Seafood is expensive in Singapore, and it’s not unusual to be charged upwards of S$30 just for a piece of fish in restaurants. It felt like we were paying for the fish and got the rest of the meal for free, so to speak.

The trout was cooked just nicely and the unique smokiness imparted from using a charcoal grill shone through. Sprigs and thyme and lemon wedges were stuffed in its belly, lending a pleasant herby and citrus note to the juicy flesh.

Our only gripe was the multitude of fine bones, but that was unavoidable and easily overcome with some careful maneuvering.

When our server came to clear our wooden slab, she saw the cleanly picked off bones and exclaimed: “Wow! You really liked the fish!” In response, I gave her a hearty two thumbs up.

The stuffed calamari came in a similarly generous portion, accompanied by fluffy onion pilaf rice. While the stuffing was cooked through, the squid itself was overdone and slightly rubbery.

That didn’t affect the bold flavours, especially from the spicy minced chorizo and mixed Provençal herbs. But I couldn’t help but wonder if I should have gone with the pork secreto instead.

Desserts

By the time we got to desserts, the entire restaurant had filled up. There were even a couple of brave souls at the outdoor seats, in spite of the scorching sun.

The crème brûlée was nice, with a strong but natural vanilla flavour that could only come from infusing an entire pod, scraping all the tiny seeds inside and incorporating them into the custard.

We’re not dessert people and aren’t generally too impressed with the last course of any meal. But the champagne infused poire Belle-Hélène made us sit up and take notice.

It was delicate and refined, with just a hint of champagne permeating the entire segment of pear. Melted Valrhona chocolate, crushed almonds and a teeny tiny blob of whipped cream completed the ensemble.

I know I’m repeating myself here, but there is beauty in simplicity. And this dessert was a perfect embodiment of that.

Grandma Joséphine

Just before we settled the bill, we asked the server where the restaurant got its cute name.

“Oh, it’s the nickname for the owner’s grandmother,” was the straightforward reply. “Her real name is Joséphine, but everyone calls her Loulou,” she added.

The family must really love their grandma, because they named two restaurants after her.

Yes, Joséphine at Amoy Street, where we had dinner just a few nights ago, is also owned by the same folks.

Classical French with a touch of the Mediterranean at Joséphine

On hindsight, it explained many things.

From the customised wooden serving boards, to the Mediterranean focus, as well as the bold flavours and generous portions.

I’d be hard pressed to say which one I prefer.

They both serve good food and offer warm and sincere service. If you like one, you’d probably enjoy the other.

But if you haven’t tried either of them, and have a soft spot for desserts, then definitely head down to Loulou first for their heavenly poached pear.