Bistro Petit Salut (Chip Bee Gardens)

Dinned at Bistro Petit Salut for a casual business lunch a few weeks ago. Service was attentive and informative even during a large lunch crowd. Food on the other hand was slightly rather inconsistent.

Took the set lunch, the salmon tartare was fresh and generous and worked very well with the lemon olive oil. The main course beef rump on the other hand arrived more towards medium well against my requested medium rare. The quality of the beef wasn't fantastic either, though at these prices for lunch it can be understandable. Choux buns for dessert, while uninspiring, were very very good, the vanilla ice cream was rich and creamy, though the unfortunately they were drowned in chocolate sauce.

All in all it could potentially be one of the better value set lunches in Singapore if they exicute the food better. We were in and out after 3 courses within and hour while the restaurant was full, which is a good thing as some restaurants can struggle with the pace of the food during such busy periods.

4 good buds decided to hang out and chat over dinner.

We decided to try out Bistor Petit Salut and go for some French makan.

Saw the Standard Chartered set dinner and 2 of us ordered the $48++ set which came with 2 entrees, 1 main and 1 dessert and the other 2 ordered the $38++ set (one entree less).

In general, the food presentation is lovely and the quality good. Enjoy my food but as with most French food, the portions are not huge lor... hee...

My fav dessert is creme brulee and it was slightly burnt on the crust...too burnt...had a bitter taste but otherwise yummy.

I wouldn't say the food was the best part of the evening but the lovely friendship shared over dinner. :)

The critically acclaimed Au Petit Salut is a place i have always been meaning to try but never got the chance, and I mean fate or someone really didn’t want to have me go there. Had a dinner party at the Dempsey branch once but something cropped up and I couldn’t go. Brought my family there for dinner only to find the place was closed. Same thing when I went with my boy. Now I heard about their famous $25 set lunch which apparently served ESCARGOTS as a choice for appetizer. Now I am a sucker for escargots so I definitely had to try this. And again, as luck would have it, the Dempsey brunch was fully booked!!! Wasn’t gonna give up so I ended up here, at Jalan Merah Saga and I did not leave disappointed.

Tucked amidst a residential estate off Holland, the Bistro had a very chill and foreign feel. It was like a little sanctuary away from town, work, and all the hustle and bustle. We chose to sit outside which was well sheltered, providing for a cooling afternoon, with some greenery and wooden furniture setting the mood for lunch of savoury delights.

The place offered many set meals, of which they had an Executive Set Special, and various sets with different offerings at staggered prices. I zeroed in on my $25 set meal without hesitation. I chose the Escargots for appeitizers, the steak for mains, and cheesecake with sorbet for dessert; followed by a hot cup of tea. My boy opted for the escargots as well (only so I could indulge in more escargots by having his share – ain’t he a sweetie?), the Mushroom and Green Asparagus Risotto, Choux Buns (ice-cream puffs) and coffee. Our take? VALUE-FOR-MONEY, DELICIOUS, WELL PRESENTED, and we’re definitely going back!

Escargots
Although I must admit I can’t say their escargots are better than Ship’s but the fact that it was very tasty in its own right and was simply yummy, I’d give it a thumbs up as well. There was just enough garlic and an interesting addition of cherry tomatos. I loved it. My boy was dipping his bread in the garlic remains with delight so I’m pretty sure he liked it too.

Steak
The steak was amazing. It was very well grilled, char burnt on the outside but juicy and tender on the inside. The onions were well seasoned and added a good flavour to the steak. The fries too were a pleasant surprise. I’m a MacDonald’s salty soft fries girl so I really wasn’t expecting much from the fries but wow, they were good. I actually finished all of it and believe me, that never happens.

Mushroom and Green Asparagus Risotto
Not as good as the one at Graze but I’d say it wasn’t bad. There was a strong taste of asparagus though which made it feel like a vegetarian dish but I think the taste grows on you. A pretty good dish…

Dessert
I am combining the two here as they were both excellent. I am not the sweet tooth between us but the desserts were awesome. They were lovely and I enjoyed both very much. Simply yummy!!!

All in all, it was a very good lunch break away from work and I had a fantastic time. If there was one negative thing I had to comment about the lunch was the service of the staff who took our order. She didn’t or rather wasn’t able to provide any recommendations whatsoever and she was standoffish in her replies which was quite a turn off. Lucky for her, the ambience, the quality food and service of her fellow colleagues, more than made up for it and I left satisfied with my lunch experience. So YES, she is definitely seeing me again.

foodgossip.wordpress.com

Bistro Petit Salut offers authentic French fare. The menu and price is targeted at broadeningthe customer profile to include a younger group of diners with discerning palates for French food. With its relaxed and friendly setting, it will also be a destination for families and friends. Bistro Petite salut is the ‘’sister” chain of Au Petite Salut at Dempsey Road. I was attracted to the $25++ 3 course set lunch that is offered. What the hell can you find such affordable and reasonable price for the standard that is served? Besides the 3 course set lunch, they do have ala-carte dishes AND set-dinner as well. However, I feel that the set lunch is really worth the price so why opt for ala-carte? Complimentary bread 4 slices of baguette served with some olive oil and butter, nothing fantastic. Mixed green salad with basil, walnut or tarragon dressing My choice of starter: The mixed green salad with tarragon dressing. The salad was served less than 5 mins prior ordering, even before the tea and water is served. The taste of the tarrangon dressing is very sharp which is too sour for me. But others may like the tinge of sourness in it. The portion of the mixed salad is really huge and served as a refreshing appetitizer. Trout Fish collar with spinach puree, baked potatoes & parsley, nicoise vingrette This was the ”catch of the day” which I had. Many restaurants would offer codfish, sea bass, barranmundi fish which are quite common. They served the Trout fish collar which is something different. Served on a bed of mixed salad & topped with diced tomatoes, the 3 trout fillets were well-seasoned & tender . The spinach puree with parsely had a little buttery flavour which was quite good. I’m not too sure what ingredients do they actually use but it definately appeals to my taste bud. Fresh Strawberries with rhubarb compote & sorbet This was my choice of dessert as I wanted to had something light and refreshing. The dessert was served immediately when I finished my main course, a little too soon (the pace). The strawberries were thinly sliced & arranged neatly around the plate with a dollop of strawberry sorbet in the middle. The presentation is very beautiful and the strawberries were not too sour & the sorbet is light abd refreshing. My verdict: Definately worth trying again. The set lunch priced at $25++, with so many choices of dishes to choose from. The only downside was the pace of the food being served which is too fast. I was asked to fill up the feedback form to provide any suggestions. I would definately come back again and hopefully” the catch of the day” would be something different!

I went there last night for a meal with some friends expecting very nice food. The food is not that good. I had cheese souffle' as a starter and beef as main. As dessert I had souffle' of the day: ok, nothing special.The dinner set menu offered many options and it was not too expensive but I rather eat at home than come back to this place

A "3 course plus coffee/tea" set lunch; of good quality and impressive portions; in a French themed bistro; with great service; on a weekend: for less than $30 nett. Tell me a place with better value and I'll make you my idol.

Entrée: Half dozen baked Burgundy Snails with Tomato and Garlic Butter
Mmmm, this was yummy. The flavour of the generous pile of herb-garlic-butter was thoroughly infused into the chewy snails and I mopped the rest of the sauce up with the leftover bread from the bread basket. Warning though: these snails come hot so be careful not to burn your tongue with it!

Main: Minute of Beef Rump Steak served with Shallots Confit and French Fries
When served, this dish look deceptively small. But start eating it and you'll realise - this is a full portion. Done to Medium Rare upon request, the steak was a little on the tougher side but still relatively chewy, and very very flavourful. The fries? Crispy and decent, though nothing spectacular.

Dessert: Bread and Butter Pudding with Fresh Vanilla Beans
Now, I'm a little confused here. Though it says "bread and butter pudding" on the menu, what was served looked (and tasted) very much like a Crème Brulée. In fact, a friend ordered a Crème Brulée at Au Petit Salut (the sister outlet) previously and was served the exact same item! Name aside, this was good. Not too sweet, not too buttery/creamy and served in a generous "hand-sized" portion. I ate it all.

The service here is attentive without being overwhelming. Our water jugs were never less than half full and we never felt rushed to leave despite staying on past 3pm (their last order was at 230pm). And service here, was always with a smile.

However, having been to both Au Petit Salut and Bistro Petit Salut, and trying the same items at both establishments, I must say that the quality at the more "atas" Au Petit Salut is slightly better. Or maybe it was just a one-off experience. I'll dine at both sides again and come back with the results :p

Petit Salut has been through a lot since my school days (expanding, closing, re-opening etc). It is good to know that now it has become a cosy French bistro which I can simply go in shorts and slippers. The lunch set is really cheap at $25++, a figure which is non-existent some 10 years ago.

Petit Salut's escargot has always been good. Like the fact that the baked burgandy snails with tomato and garlic butter are tender and the sauce is flavouful and not salty.

I ordered seafood cannelloni with crabmeat, scallops and prawns as I wanted some creamy cheesy carbo for lunch. Cannot really go wrong with baked cheese so this course is quite good, not mind-blowing but stable, good and wholesome pasta. Petit Salut's dishes are rather low on sodium so one can get the real taste of the food.

Braised pork knuckles in orange juice and mash potatio ordered by my dining partner came with a very very pungent pork smell which kinda put me off immediately. However, it did not taste as strong as the aroma. Generally a good dish with tender meat, great orange juice infused carrots (a pleasant surprise) and buttery mash potato but I think I can only take a few bites and let the man finish the rest.

For desserts, tiramisu was way too light and I cannot detect the kahlua. But I know people who swore by petit salut's tiramisu so I guess is really a matter of preference. What can be agreed on is the tiramisu is really just an ugly slab of toppling blob on the plate! The rich and creamy bread butter pudding was much better. Perhaps Petit Salut is basically French not English so the pudding tasted and looked like creme brulee.

Food at Petit Salut is good but not fantastic, suits people who like light and natural taste of ingredients I guess. Although I usually prefer stronger tasting food, somehow I still enjoyed Petit Salut, for it has been a place filled with good school days memories.

For more photos, do drop by muchadoabouteating.

Everyone has a Xmas Wish List. Everyone but me. My Wish List comes in the form of an excel file of eateries I had compiled after actively reading HGW for a good 9 months. And now, with the 9 month gestation period finally over, from a boy a foodie is now born...

A mistake on my part, I mistook Hacienda for Cafe Hacienda @ Dempsey where J, E and myself had originally planned to have our brunch. Hence, we made the short journey down to Bistro Petit Salut instead where I was hoping to put a tick on 1 more place in my foodie list.

I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of choices available for the $25++ set lunches. No less than 6 choices each for entree, main and dessert. If you do the math, the can probably eat here about 200+ times without getting the same combination, splendid. There is also a $35++ executive set lunch available though there's only 2 entrees to choose from with no choice in main or dessert but with Pan-seared Foie Gras only available in the executive set, I was practically given Hobson's Choice. Executive Set Lunch it was. J and E both opted for the normal set lunches.

For the Entrees,

I had the Pan-Seared Foie Gras served with Baby Spinach and Duck Jus Vinegrette. This is the reason why Foie Gras embodies the epitome of French Cuisine. A crisp exterior shielding the fatty gelantinous goose liver on the inside. The Baby Spinach with Vinegrette Dressing played second fiddle to the Foie Gras but was nevertheless vital in complementing the dish in both taste and aesthetic value. Magnific!

J got herself the Mixed Green Salad with Basil, Walnut and Tarragon Dressing. Trust me, it sounds a lot better than it actually is. One of the main herbs used in French cuisine, my unrefined palette couldn't differentiate the Tarragon Dressing from a mild vinegrette one.

E had the Country Rye Bread Toasted with Parma Ham and Comte Cheese with Mesclun Salad. At first, I thought it was just a fanciful cheese toast but the intensely flavourful composite of parma ham with comte cheese blew me away. Guess I won't be holding my home made cheese toast in such high reverence any longer.

For the Mains,

I had an order of Oven Baked French Quail Stuffed with Mixed Mushrooms Wrapped in Puff Pastry, served with Mash Potato & Red Wine Sauce. With such a long name, it had to be good right? Wrong! There wasn't any puff pastry to begin with, unless you count the shreds of deep fried beehoon-like garnish as a puff pastry which I certainly don't. Stuffing a quail with mixed chopped mushrooms and spinach sounds interesting, but mushrooms do not value add to the flavour so what use is it stuffing something bland in an attempt to enhance the quail's flavour? It just made the taste weird. The quail wasn't what I expected. Putting it crudely, it tasted like chicken breast made unpalatable by the wrong choice of stuffing. Even the mash was just pleasant at best though I thought the red wine sauce was ok.

E's Seafood Cannelloni filled with Crab Meat, Scallops and Prawns served with Side Salad in Terragon Dressing was passable. Despite the generous portions of Seafood, I felt that the Cannelloni was slightly dry and overcooked. The tomato base was good though. As it turns out, the Side Salad here is exactly the same as the entree of mixed greens that J had.

J's order of Catch of the Day with Spinach Puree, Parsley Potato and Nicoise Vinegrette was the best choice of main we made today by far. The Red Collar Trout was fresh and shared a similar texture to Barramundi(Asian Seabass). I particularly liked the rich and creamy Spinach Puree which went perfectly with the Trout. With a shade of wasabi green, the sauteed parsley potato was delightful.

For desserts,

I had the Fresh Passionfruit Blanc Manger. I had initially mistaken this for a Panna Cotta but the slight disparity in the taste and texture affirmed my doubts immediately. Though Blanc Manger is supposed to be an almond pudding, I couldn't discern the almond taste, probably because it was musked by the intense flavour of the passionfruit. Not as good as I envisioned it.

J's Kahlua Infused Tiramisu was met with mixed opinions. J found it good though lacking in Kahlua but I found it not suitable to my palette as the layers of cake and cream didn't fuse well together to bring out a unique singular taste, in fact I could distinctly tell them apart during mastication.

E complained that her Meringue filled with homemade Sorbet and topped with Fresh Fruits was too eggy and not sweet enough. I did have a few bites as well and it didn't catch my fancy. I'm don't have much of a sweet tooth but I did like the lemon sorbet as it did cleanse my palette at the end of the meal and left a much needed refreshing aftertaste.

Apart from the entree, my meal was pretty much below par but I do believe that with careful selection and srutiny, you might stumble upon some gems in the menu.

Service is pretty much unobtrusive yet attentive and we were pretty much left to our own devices in a tranquil rustic setting.

Bon Appetit!

To celebrate my bf’s birthday, I decided to take him to Bistro Petit Salut, a cosy little French restaurant at the Chip Bee stretch behind Holland Village. The sister (or poorer cousin?) of the classier (and more expensive) Au Petit Salut, it was surprisingly good, with prompt, polite and friendly service, and delicious, reasonably-priced food.

The starters were a lobster and beetroot salad thing (Citibank set meal promo), and a lobster consomme (normal set meal). Found the lobster to be fairly fresh and tasty – not powdery – and while I don’t really eat beetroot, I decided that the taste went well with the lobster. The consomme was normal, but good at that point because I was feeling a bit queasy. It came with a cute little ravioli thing which I think was filled with lobster and tomato – savoury and tasty.

The Citibank set came with 2 entrées, the second being mussels cooked in white wine and Provençal herbs. At first the sauce tasted kinda funny, but as we ate, it kinda grew on us. Ended up scooping the sauce to drink after the mussels were long gone, lol. Reminds me of France, seriously.

Being the carnivores we were, both of us had steak. Had a bite of the bf’s angus steak – thought it was alright, not too bad, but I’m really not a fan of medium done steaks, so. He thought it was a bit salty. On the other hand, I was completely in love with my steak! Lovely, red, juicy steak with caramelized onions and bearnaise sauce; it was so tender and flavourful such that I savoured every bite. MMM!

His chocolate mousse (I think) cake with berries and lemon sorbet was rather nice – the sorbet lent a refreshing taste to the moist and slightly bittersweet chocolate. My choux buns with vanilla ice cream, warm chocolate sauce and sliced almonds were splendid – a sweet, cold and crunchy end to the meal. So totally wonderful.

T’was a great experience and I would definitely go back! At $48++ and $38++ for the Citibank and normal sets respectively, it’s really quite reasonable and value for money. Must also once again commend them for the good service – it’s getting kind of rare in Singapore these days.

Full review here: http://ingredientsofhappiness.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/bistro-petit-salut-chip-bee-gardens/

Came here with a family member from overseas for a catch-up over dinner.
Got the $48++ Citibank deal (usually $68++), which is good value - but once you throw in the wine (we got a carafe and a glass) and coffee/tea ($6++), and it adds up.
The ambience is great for a quiet dinner and conversation - the lighting's not too dark/bright and the tables are spaced out enough. The staff were also very attentive and knowledgable. Of course it was a weekday evening, so only a handful of tables were taken.
The veal was prepared just as we asked for and the overall servings left us 2 men satisfied. Frankly, the food was good enough for us to concentrate on catching up, instead of talking about dinner!
As previous posters have said, there are better quality offerings out there and this is good value for money - however, if wonder if it can compete with set menus which include the wine/beverage.
Bottom line is you cant go wrong sticking to the set menus!