Eating french food no longer burns a big hole in the pocket with more affordable french restaurants opening up in Singapore. Located at Level 2 of Rochester Mall, is the 2-month-old 2Fifteen Kitchen which sells affordable and quality French food.

Executive Chef Kenny Yeo who helms the restaurant, uses a strong French heritage influence in its recipes. I knew Chef Kenny when he was with Tables by the Bay 2 years back, a french restaurant in Keppel Club.

He is a very talented chef who has honed his culinary skills with one of Singapore’s top restaurants – Les Amis and celebrated restaurants such as JQ Concepts in Taipei and three-Michelin star hotel-restaurant Le Centenaire in France. Chef Kenny is the one and only chef I knew, who does French cooking yet talks to me in Mandarin and Hokkien!

The restaurant is furnished with wooden tables and earth tones cushioned chairs against rustic brick walls and warm wooden flooring. The concept radiates a homey setting, and the friendly Chef Kenny will come and greet you during your meal to ask for your feedback. Because we are very comfortable with his cooking, we let him have the freedom to decide on our dishes for that night.

We love the Frementle Octopus Leg with Citrus Oil, Ripen Tomato and Pearl Mango which is found in one of the Degustation Menu. The octopus is slow-cooked for 20 minutes before dipping into rosemary and pan fried to give a fragrant chewy texture.

Next, we had a plate of Warm Salad of Duck Foie Gras with Grape Petite Salad & Raspberry Vinaigrette ($26). Foie gras is pan-seared till fragrant which melts in your mouth. The grapes are filled with a nice aroma. Chef Kenny said, because foie gras is very heavy, so he added the acidic raspberry sauce to balance the flavours.

Homemade Soup of the Day was Mushroom Soup ($12) which was made with abalone, button and shitake mushrooms. Subtle herbs compliment the rich mushroom flavour in this decadent soup. It makes a perfect starter to the dinner.

I had a memorable story with Chef Kenny’s Prawn Capellini in Aromatic Oil ($26). Back then when Chef Kenny was still with Tables by the Bay, I went there for a food tasting and they held a cooking competition between me and someone from a famous food website. The challenge was to cook this dish and the winner would get a free dinner for 2. I won because my competitor’s pasta was too salty!

Now that Chef Kenny is here at 2Fifteen Kitchen, I am very happy that he included this dish in the menu. The sauteed prawns sit on a bed of Capellini pasta in fragrant aromatic oil. The special aromatic oil makes this dish special enough.

Chef Kenny recommended us another pasta dish which is Cavalliere Cocco Pappardelle with Braised Duck, Sage, Rosemarry and Parmigiano Reggiano ($22). We called it the high class hor fun. We are not exactly a fan of creamy pasta but we certainly love the braised pork with crispy skin!

We also had Grilled Ribeye Steak, Garlic Tomatoes, Shallot Confit in Red Wine Sauce ($40). The shallot enhances the savory red wine sauce and the steak is thick and juicy.

Confit of Salmon Roulade with Soft Herbs, Wild Rice, Hazelnut Oil and Poultry Jus ($28) is another dish which Chef Kenny is very proud of. Salmon is wrapped in parsley and soaked in oil to cook it. Healthy wild rice has a crunchy texture which provides a stark contrast with the soft and smooth salmon. It requires about 20mins cooking time.

If you do not like thick pastry tarts, then you must try 2Fifteen’s Homemade Apple Tart, Vanilla Ice Cream & Almonds ($16). The tart skin is very thin and crispy, so you won’t get sick of eating more!

Chef Kenny makes the best souffles I ever had, and I remembered it from the first day I knew him till now. When I came here for dinner, my request was to eat his Souffle (because it is not in the menu). And he agreed to do it just for us!

His souffle never failed us and it just makes me a very happy girl. It is very light and fluffy with just a tint of alcohol and you can taste the fragrance of the egg white. Although souffle is not in the menu, you can make a request to him and he is very happy to do it for you. But bear in mind, it takes about 20 minutes to make the souffle so make sure you inform him at the start of your meal!
2Fifteen’s Set lunch is also very popular with people working around Buona Vista. 2 course costs $28 and 3 course costs $35. They also have a kids menu and breakfast is served till 6pm.

B R U N C H   I S   L O V E

2Fifteen will unveil its delectable brunch menu from 3rd November in two sessions : 11am and 1pm on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays. The buffet-style brunch will present a variety of palatable greens, grills and carvings, cheese platter, variety of breads, eggs done to your preference and much more!

A brunch buffet costs S$38 per adult; children between the ages of 4 to 12 years will pay according to age however there is no charge for kids below 4 years. Celebrate a meal with free-flow of house pour of champagne, red and white wine for S$28.00 per adult or top-up S$7 to enjoy a bottomless coffee, tea and a selection of juices.

2Fifteen Kitchen
Address: 35 Rochester Drive, Rochester Mall #02-15
Tel: +65 6659 8215
Opens daily from 11am to 10pm