le bistrot

It's been a long time since I've visted Le Bistrot. The last time I went was some years ago when they were still operating out of their original Joo Chiat shop, a small cosy corner at the ground floor of an apartment building with, maybe, 10-15 tables and one person running the house, in addition to the lone chef at the back. The fare was straightforward, bistro staples like steak and onion soup. One of my favorite was their crab salad, freshly deshelled blue crab mixed with a little mayonaisse and a light dash of lemon juice, wonderful flavour with no gimmicks. The decor was equally unpretentious.

Move forward a couple of years, they are now at Stadium Cove, a cluster of restaurant at the bottom of the Singapore Indoor Stadium near the Kallang Basin. The space is visibly bigger and more "designed" than the original. Intentionally mismatched country style chairs arranged around wooden tables, a partition of unevenly cut timber planks divide the space into 2, the special menu chalked onto the blackboard wall, visible as the diner is led into the main dining area. The space is lit by an array of naked bulbs. The vibe is sort of a hip modern-rustic, the ambience is still casual but more self-consciously so. There were more wait staff managing the ful house, looking more frazzled and a little less personal then I remembered.

I started the meal with the vichyssoise glacée which was a chilled leek and potato soup paired with a cold Pernod marinated tiger prawn with avruga caviar on a bed of telegraphic cucumber. The chilled soup which came in a small glass was light and refreshing, thick but not heavy, though the flavour veered towards the bland side and the profile was somewhat monotonous. The Pernod marinated tiger prawn provided a little perk of flavour with the Pernod seeping into the cool telesgraphic cucmber below. You might ask what is a telegraphic cucmber and I honestly admit that I had not idea and had ordered this partly because I was curious about it. The cucmber came in a single long coil like a telephone wire and I, at that point, thought telegraphic refers to the cut of the cucmber but a little research on google some time later revealed that telegraphic cucmber is actually a variety of cucumber which is characteristically long and thin with a hook at the end. The coil cut cucumber was a fun way to eat cucumber nevertheless.

For my main, I shared a cote de boeuf with a friend. A cote de boeuf is basically a rib steak that comes with a single rib bone, one serving size is usually big enough for 2 persons. We had initially wanted it done medium rare but was advised that due to the thickness of the steak, the steak would have reached medium doneness by the time the centre has been properly cooked. We agreed with recommendation with the implicit idea that it was the best way for the steak to be cooked. The steak arrived already sliced portioned into 2 plates, the centre was pink and moist and a pool of jus has already dripped off the sliced steak. The sight was quite tantalizing, the steak looking more pink and moist then What I had expected. We tucked in striaghtaway (well, after taking photos). The steak was wonderful, well seasoned and perfectly cooked, every part of it was moist and bursting with beautiful flavour. The steak also came with a big basket of aioli fries and mesclun salad at the side which were quite enjoyable in their own right but totally overshadowed by the steak.

Already quite full from the steak, I shared a dessert with a few others. We ordered the pastilla, which was a dark chcoclate pastachio ganache wrapped in filo pastry with a scoop of vanilla ice cream at the side. The ganache was nice and rich and the basil oil drizzled onto the pastry provided a pleasant contrasting note, though the dessert as a whole, was not terribly exciting and the plating felt a little half hearted.


Since starting at their Joo Chiat shop and now at Stadium Cove, Le Bistrot has been operating with a prixe fixe menu, fixed prices for either a 2 or 3 course meal. However , the prixe fixe system at Le Bistrot is perhaps increasingly more theory than practice as many items on the menu carry with them a surcharge on top of the prixe fixe, meaning the the cost of your meal varies depending on the items you choose. The surcharge is usuallyaround$10 but it is still fairly significant considering the 3 course prixe fixe is $60 and the possibility of multiple surcharges for different courses.

Prices aside, Le Bistrot serves one of the best steak I've tasted in Singapore, so good that it makes the the other non-steak courses on their menu seem mediocre. However, their epicural aspirations can definitely be felt on their current menu which has gotten more elaborate compared to their one they used to have at Joo Chiat. Their website says they are now a "bistronomique", a gastronomic bistro bringing "a new twist on the traditional French bistro" through the "creative yet idiomatic use of classic techniques and traditional ingredients to gastronomic ends". I'm all for culinary experimentation and creativity, but I hope that they do not forget the roots of the restaurant as a simple down-to-earth bistro. As long as they continue to serve up a mean slab of steak, I will be a happy return customer.



le bistrot
2 stadium walk
#01-03, singapore indoor stadium