French cuisine has always been branded as an exquisite and expensive dining experience till Saveur appeared in Singapore and began selling foie gras at less than $10. Since then, many people started queuing at the restaurant just to eat cheap french food. I wasn’t impressed with it as I can get better food with the amount I paid.

When Poulet invited me for lunch last week, I was pretty skeptical initially. “French bistro, will I be eating something similar to Saveur?” that is the first question I have in my head. Well, I still believe eating french food doesn’t have to be super expensive and unaffordable. But the quality of the food cannot be compromised too much. I think Poulet has done it right.

I have to put a disclaimer first because I don’t want to anyone to set too high expectation for the food or make unrealistic comparision. I am impressed because at such affordable price, we can get not-too-bad food. Of course, we can’t compare this to other french dining restaurant, but I think Poulet has clearly proved that French Food can be good and affordable (and definitely much better than Saveur)!

Poulet is an open-kitchen concept and a casual overall setting, with most options under $20. Chef Nelson Chua is definitely not a new-comer in this F&B industry. He was one of the pioneers to created the menu for New York New York for the ThaiExpress group. He then later went France to continue his career in a french restaurant before coming back to work in Au Petit Salut. Now, he is back in ThaiExpress group, hoping to bring to affordable french cuisine to people.

Escargot de Bourgogne ($8.80), Baguette ($2)

Poulet ‘s escargots has been a big hit with everyone since its opening about 3 weeks ago. The Burgundy snails were served pipping hot and seasoned beautifully with tomato fondue and almond garlic butter. The almond gave the fragrance to the dish which bread was soaked in milk and blended together to give it an additional texture. While I still prefer my snails to be baked with garlic and butter, this is a lighter version to the dish. A perfect condiment for bread I must say!

French Onion Soup ($5.80)

The caramelised french onion and fond de Veau was served with cheese croutons. The rich soup was made with red wine and sherry. It was very flavourful and tasty.

Granny’s Chicken Salad ($9.80)

Granny’s Chicken Salad was ordinary. The shredded chicken was mixed with granny smith apple, golden raisin and Romaine lettuce served with light capers mayo. It was such a big mouthful to handle and very filling.

Salad de Paris ($9.80)

Inspired from a salad Chef Nelson ate in Mexico, the chopped garden salad was mixed with dried cranberry, tomato, avocado, black olive and roasted pine nut served with french dressing. Everyone in the table love this because we ladies can eat it in small bite and the roasted pine nut adds to the fragrance.

Poulet Roti ($15.80 half / $28.80 whole)

Poulet simply means “chicken” in french, and the restaurant’s star dish is non other than Poulet Roti. The chicken is brined for a full day in a traditional recipe then placed in the rotisserie for a slow roast until the skin tans to a golden brown. Chef Nelson then add oomph to the dish with their home-made mushroom chardonnay sauce to create the perfect combination. The day when I went, they have only opened for barely 2 weeks and has sold about 500 chicken! How amazing!

The chicken was deeply flavoured with a tint of citrus taste in the meat. I felt the mushroom chardonnay sauce was unnecessary because that would actually cover up the aroma from the meat and made the chicken skin less appetising. Perhaps the sauce can be poured into a saucer and served at the side.

Oxtail de Bourguignon ($15.80)

My favourite is actually Oxtail de Bourguignon where the oxtail is pressure-cooked in red wine sauce with carrot and onion. It was a hearty stew with meltingly tender meat. The meat fell off the bones so easily.

Braise de Canard ($15.80)

The duck leg was braised in sweet wine sauce on baby spinach topped with cranberry and glazed shallot. Chef Nelson is a lover for cranberry, hence you will see it appearing in some of the dishes. It tasted somewhat similar to the oxtail, I would prefer to eat a plate of duck confit.

Banana Bread Pudding ($6.80)

Sometimes in cooking, you don’t have to whip up a creative dish to be well received. If you are able to do traditional dishes well, it will be well liked by customers too. I like the Banana and Warm bread pudding served with vanilla ice cream. It wasn’t too sweet and you can taste the real banana chunks in the pudding and it was a smoothing to the throat.

Caramelised Apple in Puffy Tart ($7.80)

For people who likes tart, you will enjoy the baked caramelised granny smith apple and almond paste in puffy tart served with vanilla ice-cream.

Tiramisu ($7.80)

Another star item in the menu is the tiramisu made with mascarpone cheese, sponge finger soaked in espresso and rum syrup. Scoop a big spoonful and allow the flavours to mingle in your mouth. The strong aromatic coffee, the tinge of alcohol and the softness from the sponger finger… it is a MUST TRY if you eat here.

Chef Nelson was telling me that the dessert chef makes super yummy souffle (not in the menu, but can request). Unfortunately, the chef was not working on that day. Looks like this is another reason for me to revisit the place! I strongly encouraged everyone of you to make a reservation first because it was already quite packed when I went there last week for lunch (even though they started operation for only less than a month!)

Poulet

Address: 201 Victoria Street, Level 4 Bugis+
Tel: +65 6509 9411
Opening Hours: Daily 11.30am-10pm

Address: Raffles City Shopping Centre
252 North Bridge Road, #B1-65/66
Tel: +65 6336 3119

Opening Hours: Daily 11.30am-10pm

Address: Great World City, #03-31/32
1 Kim Seng Promenade
Tel: (+65) 6733 4395

Opening Hours: Daily – 11.30am to 10pm

Address: Kallang Wave @ Sports Hub, #01-17
1 Stadium Place
Tel: +65 6702 7342

Opening Hours: Daily – 11.30am to 10pm

Address: Bedok Mall, #B2-31/32
311 New Upper Changi Road
Tel: +65 6844 9421

Opening Hours: Daily – 11.30am to 10pm

Address: Vivocity, #01-175/176/177
HarbourFront Walk
Tel: +65 6376 9087

Opening Hours: Daily – 11.30am to 10pm

Address: Changi Airport Terminal 3, 65 Airport Boulevard
#04-01 Viewing Mall South Level 4
Tel: +65 6542 2529

Opening Hours: Daily – 11.30am to 11pm

Address: Westgate, #01-07
3 Gateway Drive
Tel: (+65) 6369 9465

Opening Hours: Daily – 11.30am to 10pm

Website: http://poulet.com.sg/

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