Bistro Petit Salut (Chip Bee Gardens)

... sadly, I will never know.

We sat outside and after 15 minutes we were overwhelmed by the fumes coming from a barbie or a malfunctioning pizza oven from the competition next door. The cassoulet was dry and seemed to have been re-heated. The coq-au-vin was a dry and overcooked insult to french cuisine, it also came without any mushrooms. The nerves. Pointing it out to the staff didn't lead to any kind of apologetic gesture.The nerves. The escargots were alright though. 

Click HERE for photos!

As one of the restaurants in the less boisterous part of Holland Village in Chip Bee Gardens, Bistro Petit Salut is more commonly known as the no frills version of sister restaurant Au Petit Salut. While the bistro greets you with its minimalistic decor and plain dark oak-brown wooden walls and furniture when you walk in, it is anything but when it comes to the food. Bistro Petit Salut is certainly no nonsense and spares no compromise when it comes to serving good quality authentic French cuisine.

Al-fresco style seating arrangements are also available if enjoying the lush greenery and the humid weather is what you would prefer. Drivers need not fret for there is ample parking around the compound and estate without having to walk too far.

We came here for the Set Lunch at $28++ one Monday afternoon and there was a healthy stream of customers once more reaffirming the draw factor this French bistro holds especially since it was only the first day of the week.

Warm complimentary bread were served in a basket once we placed our orders. It was hard not to compare the bread with the one I had at Bistro Du Vin 4 days ago and unfortunately, this one did not quite match up but I dont usually turn down warm bread with good quality salted butter so the three of us polished off this basket quite easily.

For our Entrées, we decided on the “Salade Lyonnais” which was a fresh and delightful serve of greens mixed with croutons, tomatoes and a single poached egg.

I have also decided that whenever I am at a French bistro, ordering Escargots is a must! So the Half dozen baked Burgundy snails was a definite go. Served with tomatoes and garlic butter, this was a slight twist from the usual due to the added sweetness from the tomato paste.

I chose the Grilled marinated baby octopus served with couscous salad, basil dressing mainly because it sounded exotic and I was in the mood to try something different. The octopus tasted a little like squid but slightly more elastic and bouncy while the couscous was light and definitely whetted our appetites with the hint of lemon in the dressing.

Moving on to the mains, the “Minute” onglet beef with French mustard jus was definitely a dish worth remembering. Though the servers did not ask how well we wanted our beef done (it came as Medium), it was perfect for me. I loved how moist and easy to cut through the meat was and how well it had soaked up all the marinate. The presentation too was lovely with the pieces of beef sitting on the bed of mashed potato which gave this main a smooth finish.

The Catch of the day was Seabass served with marinated beetroots and Niçoise vinaigrette for the salad. If you have a huge appetite then this one is definitely not for you. The cut of fish was small and paled in comparison with regards to the presentation with the other mains. Though I must say it will appeal to the more health conscious individuals as the fish was not too fried and tasted light on the palate.

The Chicken leg confit with sautéed potatoes, bacon and mixed green salad deserves a special mention for its richness, tenderness and being so succulent all at the same time. The chef did a brilliant job in preserving the flavours of the meat during the first stages of cooking it in its own fat as it was peel-off-the-bone-easily delicious and frying it so perfectly that the skin was browned, crisp and tasty before serving it to our table. One of the best confits (duck or chicken) I have enjoyed by far.

Rounding off the meal with our desserts, I asked the waitress to recommend the top 3 on the list and these were her suggestions!

First up was the Classical Crème Brulee- another must order at any French bistro and again I could not help comparing it with Bistro Du Vin since the two visits were so close in dates. I had thought that the Crème Brulee there was amazing and unrivaled but after trying the Crème Brulee here, I could almost eat my own words. This one was ‘oh-my-goodness-what-did-I-just-eat’ good. Unlike other Crème Brulees which are usually chilled, this one was served warm and surprisingly, I embraced the difference because somehow the warmth tied all the flavours and sweetness together and made it superb.

Choux buns with vanilla ice cream, warm chocolate sauce and sliced almonds or otherwise known as Profiteroles were sweet and petite. None too impressive after the ones we had at db Bistro Moderne but still satisfying and enough after a heavy meal.

The final one was the “Gateau Au Fromage Blanc” Homemade cheesecake with Madagascar vanilla beans and while I usually shun cheesecakes as a dessert straight after a meal, this one was surprisingly light in consistency probably due to the different type of cheese used from the norm. The sprinkle of pistachio nuts was an added crunchy bonus.

And a choice of coffee or tea was served for that perfect end to the satisfying meal.

Overall, I think that $28++ for a 3 course French meal is pretty reasonable especially for the standard of food served here at Bistro Petit Salut. It would indeed be interesting to try out the frills version- Au Petit Salut at Dempsey one day to see how it matches up. Time to start saving up!

It's been some tiem since we've dined at Bistro Petit Salut (BPS) because of the seemingly endless new restaurants opening up at RWS, MBS etc.  It was a favourite of ours for a long time, and we enjoyed having meals there.  It still serves great food and great value and it was wonderful to us to renew old habits left on the back shelves for the past 2 yrs.

Ambience:  It's still the same wood panelling with French paintings and still cozy and comfortable.  We got a inside seat this time because I recalled that we had to sit outside for lunch some time ago,  the place being crowded.  It wasn't very crowded and perhaps it's because of the competition or because they opened a new hip joint at Dempsey.

Food:  For starters we had a escargot with herb butter,  succulent and fresh tasting herbs,  like they picked it from the sidewalk off HV.  Bread dipped in this herb butter is heavenly.  The other starter was two types of pork sausages,  one was a proper sausage with casing and the other like a slab of "leberkeusen" or sausage pate.  Served with a side salad it was also tasty.  We ordered a beef onglet on a bed of mash and mustard sauce,  and the other was a braised pork shoulder, also on mash.  Both were deliciious but the pork was a little salty although I finished it all.  Well braised meats, great sauces typical of good French cooking and freshly prepared mash made both dishes memorable.  For dessert,  they served us a creme brulee (a little lukewarm and creamy) and the cheecake.  Both were well prepared but the cream left me a bit nauseated after such a large meal for lunch.  We ended with coffee and tea.  A 4 course meal for lunch is a bit excessive but we enjoyed it.  No dinner for us that day.

Value:  Great value for the quality of food.

Service:  A pleasant slim young waitress took care of us and passed by unobstrusively ever so often to check if we had finished our dishes so as to clear the dishes.  Had lots of fresh water to drink.

Bistro Petit Salut is the affordable offshoot of the high-end french fine dining restaurant Au Petit Salut. This laidback bistro serves authentic French a la carte dishes and set meals at very friendly price. A few weeks ago, I brought my girlfriend there for her birthday treat and we tried the 3 course set lunch at $28++.

For more photos, please click here.

The half dozen Burgundy snails are baked with tomatoes and garlic butter. You can't go wrong with escargots in garlic butter because garlic butter is a winner in whatever occasion. It was really fragrant and the snails are already removed from the shells, so convenient.

The Seafood risotto with light cream emulsion is scrumptious with a rich selection of clams, prawns, squid with light cream emulsion. I am not a fan of creamy stuff, but I love the risotto from Halia so much that I thought I should give this a chance. The dish is quite balanced in flavor with a generous amount of seafood.

My dessert was Choux buns with vanilla ice cream and topped with choclate sauce and almonds. Eating this always reminds me of the ice cream seller riding a motorbike, selling the ice cream in a bread. I don't think they make their own choux bun here, which is a pity!

Overall, I think they serve quite good quality food at a friendly price. I hope my girlfriend enjoyed it as much as I do! They also serve executive set lunch at $38++ :)

The set Lunch was affordable and I am impressed by the options available. The 3-course set lunch at $28++ offers a selection of 6 choices from each course and the executive set lunch at $38++ offers a selection of 2 choices from each course.

1) Grilled Marinated Baby Octopus Served with Couscous Salad, Basil Dressing

I like the rich marinated baby octopus, it is not overly sweet and is grilled to the right consistency. The basil dressing has a little sweetness and go really well with the Couscous Salad - very appetising indeed.

2) Half Dozen Baked Burgundy Snails with Tomatoes and Garlic Butter

The intense flavor of the hot garlic butter and tomatoes with escargots is delicious. This delicacy is served out of their shells in portions of six. If only there are more crushed garlic... It will be heaven! 

3) "Minute" Onglet Beef with French Mustard Jus & Mashed Potato

It a tempting main course even it's not a steak. It has the chewy tenderness finishes with a savory and subtle almost offal-like flavor. 

4) Seafood Risotto with Light Cream Emulsion, Parmesan Cheese

The cheesiness and viscosity of the cheese is a too strong for me although I don't dislike cheese.

5) Chocolate & Pear Mousse Cake, Crème Anglaise

These are scrumptious, so perfect with the pear bites & crème anglaise.

6) Choux Buns with Vanilla Ice Cream, Warm Chocolate Sauce and Sliced Almonds

It's just choux buns filled with vanilla ice cream and drenched in chocolate sauce, it is nothing extraordinary.

Click HERE for full review and more photos.

http://fourleggedfoodies.blogspot.com/2011/11/bistro-petit-salut-chip-bee-gardens.html

It's not often we get to try set lunches on weekdays, and even though Bistro Petit Salut does offer their set lunches on weekends, we wanted a relatively quiet chillout place with good food

Burgundy Escargot - Duly impressed by the options available for their set lunch, I opted for the safe choice of escargot in garlic butter - can never go wrong there! The tomatoes gave the otherwise oily and jelat starter a nice balance

Sausage and rillete duo - First taste of a proper rillette and it was good! Texture akin to slightly moist tuna flakes, salty and strong in porky flavour, it was great even on it's own. My only gripe is that the baguette was quite c*** - cold hard and chewy, I read somewhere that they get all their bread pre-made from Delifrance now which is quite a pity :( 

"Minute" onglet beef  - Presumably grilled then oven roasted after marinating in mustard jus, the beef was tender and yet firm to the bite. And the SAUCE - holy c***. So extremely deep in flavour you just have to lick the plate clean. The onglet or hanger steak wasn't really that minute - I guess it was around 100-150g which is enough in a three course lunch to be honest. And for the price it was really worth it!

Catch of the day (Trout with marinated beetroot) - This was okaay. I mean it's probably 'boring' compared to the other options, and I did wish it was more bold in flavour. I liked the accompanying beetroots though, never had it with fish before.

Profiteroles - First bite on the pastry and you'll notice, moist and soft, unlike the hard and powdery ones I've had before. Chocolate sauce was warm and slightly bitter and really generous, as are the 3 huge scoops of vanilla ice cream and sugar dusted almonds. Read some meh reviews of their profiteroles but this is epic win in my book - just eat quickly cos it melts too d*** fast!

Homemade Cheesecake - I'm usually not a gigantic fan of cheesecake, but again, haven't had cheesecake for yonks. This wasn't disappointing - very rich and cheesy, fills you up in the right way. You can tell it's got the good stuff in there. Just wonderful with black coffee to end a meal!

Bistro Petit Salut to be a great quiet set lunch place to chill out on a day off. Weekends would be understandably crowded, so definitely make a reservation if you can. The choices available for their set lunches is one of the widest and most varied I've seen, with 5-6 choices available for starters, mains, or desserts.

pictures here

Nestled in the heart of chip bee gardens is BPS, a sister restaurant of the lovely Au Petit Salut. I headed there for a national day brunch opting  for the 3 course Price Fixe Menu. Choices of entrees were various salads, soups etc. Upon seeing escargots on the menu, i knew i had to order it as my palette was craving it so badly.

Half dozen Baked Burgundy Snails w garlic butter parsley jus & heirloom tomatoes The escargots came pipping hot,when i took my first bite i nearly scalded my tongue.  The various flavors of the dish just exploded all in my mouth, which was a wonderful feeling from the succulent snails to the richness of garlic butter and parsley jus  I could not stop eating and in a blink of an eye, everything was gone. It also went  great with the bread served.

Salmon Tartare w Rocket Salad The next entree was the salmon tartare which was savory yet refreshing at the same time! The acidity and saltiness of the tartare complemented each other very well especially with the slight aftertaste of lemon zest. The rocket salad was also tossed well with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, simply refreshing!

For mains, there were choices such as Catch of the day, Braised Lamb shoulder, risotto, pasta, Chicken Confit or the Onglet steak. We decided on the Catch of the day and the Braised Navarin Lamb Shoulder.

First impressions, the lamb had a nicer colour which meant it was scored sufficiently before braising. The meat was well seasoned and tender ( how i would expect a braise to be) while the mashed potatoes were just nice, not too starchy and overworked. The best part of the dish was the stew obtained from the reduction of the broth made from the braise which exploded with flavours of lamb. tomato paste and mirepoex.

Threadfin was a fish i do not often eat, thus i thought it would be worthy of a try instead of my usual love for Halibut ( king of the fighes in my opinion) or the more mainstream play it safe salmon. The fish was seared nicely with its crisp skin and cooked just right with its meat melting into your mouth when you take your first bite! the texture of its meat reminded me a little of cod somewhat or rather, making it a rather pleasant main. Sauteed greens were pedestrian and the nicoise vinaigrette was pretty alright as its acidity complemented the fish.

Gateau Au Fromage Blanc (Homemade cheesecake w Vanilla Beans)

The cake had a nice texture and fluffiness , with the sweetness being perfect and the essence of vanilla beans not being overpowering, i loved every bit of it, along with the raspberry coulis that came along with it.

Profiteroles with vanilla ice cream and a warm almond chocolate sauce What can i say, profiteroles are definitely one of my favorite French desserts! the feeling of biting into one was indescribable as the explosion of goodness and flavours in my mouth would be out of this world. The profiteroles were nice, the pastry was cooked nicely, and still crispy and fluffy despite being soaked in a warm chocolate sauce, the profiteroles were also in smaller bite-size portions than other restaurants which was a good thing. The only disappointment was the chocolate sauce which was a tad too runny and bitter for my liking

The meal ended nicely with a cup of coffee/tea. Overall it was a nice lunch experience with a decent atmosphere and ambiance the bistro had.With the value for money price fixe menu at $25++ ( now 28++ ) I would definitely return sometime to try the other dishes ( grilled octopus w couscous, chicken confit ) despite its shortcomings in certain areas ( mass produced and cold bread), it was overall a good national day brunch.

i went there with my gf for her bday, hoping to have a nice and peaceful dinner ...thus we chose to be seated inside...

it started nicely and we were waiting for our food. but not long after that, a group of singaporeans entered and started to talk so loudly. not before long, another group came and talked and laughed with the same level of noise. it was really irritating, we couldn't even enjoy our food.

we asked to move outside, if it will be noisy condition, at least we won't be surrounded by all walls. but the staff told us all seats were booked. maybe they didn't lie, but until we saw some seats were still empty half an hour thereafter.

it seems like we were not the only ones annoyed by the noise made by other groups in the room, one lady even left after her entree without bothering to wait for her main course.

the food, apart from the noisy ambience, was actually not bad all. too bad we couldn't really enjoy it.

maybe it was just our bad luck to meet those annoying group of people, but i do hope this restaurant and its staffs can do something in this kind of situation, if they really want to keep the quality of their place as one of decent 'fine dining' place in spore, otherwise this place will become like a normal cafe to me, not worth the money at all.

for photos and more reviews head to http://theendangeredsartorialist.wordpress.com/food-listings/

i googled petit salut and found out that the meaning was small welcome? hmm.. wierd. anyways, bistro petit salut is supposedly the cheaper version (bistro-style) of the high and mighty au petit salut, now situated a stone throw's away from dempsey. its like.. if you can't afford au petit salut but still want to claim to have gone to some petit salut, head down to chip bee gardens near holland village for the "cheaper" experience.

anyways, restaurants in chip bee gardens are all pretty atas, but try to dress down their decorations and ambience to make it more mentally accessible to the masses, what with their simple deck chairs and wooden tables set for alfresco dining, bistro-style ambience that doesn't attempt to create much of an otherworldly experience. still, by virtue of its location, you get the sense of a hidden find, where you can chillax in the shade watching the world go by amidst the baking hot sun. sounds pretty good to me. lets get to the food. for lunch, there's typically two choices - the $25 set meal that's available in the menu and a $38 special set menu that scribbled on the boards. seeing words like black truffle, wagyu beef and 'blanc manger' i opted for the latter, whilst my friend opted for the former. (which was kinda annoying for me because it became a point of comparison, especially since i felt that his appetizer and dessert was more worth it. -_-)

 asparagus salad with summer black truffle vinaigrette

this appetizer left me really quite confused honestly, because i couldn't figure out where/what the black truffle was and neither could i suss out the taste of what i assumed was the black truffle, because the leafy, asparagus taste dominated the dish. to its credit, the dish felt refreshing and light and you could see the effort gone into shredding the asparagus till it looked like celery bits but in my opinion, i don't get the dish. the flavors whilst refreshing, were nothing exciting or new and i couldn't understand the combination of truffle and asparagus. =( maybe i am quite noob at this food tasting stuff. haha

grilled wagyu rump steak served with shallots and garlic confit with french fries

now after that not-too-satisfying appetizer, i was craving for some good main course. upon seeing the dish, i quickly realised i had ordered the classic entrecote with pomme frittes dish (essentially, steak that is cut into strips and doused with generous gravy and paired with shoe-string french fries) , but using asian ingredients (wagyu beef). the flavor of the steak was delicious and interestingly complex -- by this i mean the flavors evolved in your mouth, usually starting with an "attack" phase when you first taste the dish, then an "evolution" followed by an "aftertaste". to me, tasting food is akin to tasting wine and hence u see such similar process.

the disappointing part however where the french fries, which were slightly lacking in flavor though nice and crunchy. i mean, i've tasted much better fries so this was surprisingly lackluster. furthermore, the fries didn't exactly pair well with the beef, hence feeling more like an afterthought carbs component to the meal. that makes me sad, because i believe everything on a plate happens for a reason. =(

home made pineapple "blanc manger" roasted almond pudding with fresh mint coulis

so i googled "blanc manger" and turned up with a reference of blancmange, a sweet dessert commonly made with milk or cream and sugar thickened with gelatin, cornstarch and often flavored with almonds. honestly, this sounds just like panna cotta. and tastes very similar to it besides the roasted almond flavor. yet again, the flavors of the dessert was complex, with hints of milk, ground almond (like your typical almond-tea chinese dessert). it was refreshing, and balanced well with the pineapple. that being said, the fact that the dessert resembled panna cotta and that it didn't seem too difficult to make made me a little annoyed, considering my friend's strawberry shortcake looked much better than this. lol. maybe again i dunno the goods.

all in all, an interesting but not exactly completely satisfying experience. to me, it felt like this wasn't exactly authentic french but more like contemporary french with asian influences. it was a hit and miss to me, but definitely the food here was of some standard. 

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Having just eaten at another french restaurant that offered a comparably priced set lunch menu to BPS's executive lunch set ($36++), the difference in quality and presentation couldn't be more apparent.  For instance, while both places offered duck confit, the aforementioned restaurant served a quite passable, crispy duck leg, while the one at BPS was more of a soggy fried lump.  The dessert was also disappointing.  The black forest cake served was more like an insta-mix chocolate cake sans the berries typical of this dessert.

Service was decent though.  For value for money lunch specials, there are much much better places to patronize.