Fou de Fafa

On a recent visit, I managed to try The Nude Burger ($16.50), which is a burger patty without the bun on a nicely toasted piece of bread and surrounded by lots of green (your mama would be proud). I liked it when the juices from the meat blended into the bread to create a tasty bite in the mouth.

I also tried the Black Pepper Beef Pasta ($14.50), which is a fusion dish of the al dente penne with black pepper sauce. It was like a localised pasta, but I did not manage to get much beef in my dish.

As for the drinks I tried the "Have Me", which was a really strong citrus and sweet drink, too strong for me unfortunately when what I needed was something light to wash down the black pepper.

One thing that needs to be worked on is the ventilation. There were strong food smells coming from the kitchen and I did smell like some of the dishes by the time I left the place.

In conclusion though, I must admit that the place is a bold and novel concept, and if you are not a traditionalist and enjoy some creativity in your food, this might be the place for you.

Had a chicken basil sandwich there today and was pleasantly surprised, it's quite a satisfying size and filled with well marinated chicken that was adequately flavoured and moist. If there's one thing i hate, it's having a dry sandwich. 
Our colleagues had the Fou Flewed pizza which was basically an uber thin crust topped with salad leaves, tomato, avocado and chicken. It was equally yummy!
Slightly on the pricey side, but it's expected since it's on Shenton way.
Overall a great little cafe - they have an upside down clock in the kitchen too. The only thing probably would be the ventilation, a problem that plagues many little cafes. I hate having to smell like grease after lunch, luckily the food made up for it and we did not linger long there either.

Fou de Fafa features European/ Western and French cuisine. Well, it’s a small restaurant in the CBD area that serves wholesome and organic food at affordable prices. The eye-catching signboard caught my attention and the menu is scribbled on the board at the cashier. You just have to take your time to read it and order the food. I had a bowl of green salad to start , the salad comes with lots of tomatoes , cumcumbers and romaine lettuce. All mixed with their own dressing and black peppercorns. Vegetarian Lasagne Pancake ($16.50) The vegetarian lasagne pancake was recommended in HGW reviews thus I am not going to give this a miss. There is a choice of beef/ vegetarian. I had the vegetarian as I do not take beef (buddhist). The lasagne pancake is baked freshly upon ordering thus a waiting of 15-20 mins is required. Unlike the ususal lasagne which uses pasta sheets, they used organic pancake flour to make it into a pancake and wrapped it with beef/ cucumbers. They served the beef pancake to me despite my request for vegetarian and I send it back for a change. I had to wait for another 15 mins…GOSH! The pancake came pipping hot, it looks presentation. The pancake is very crispy and it remained crispy even after some time. There were slices of cucumbers and feta cheese in between the layers of pancake and a layer of mango chutney. The mango chutney is sweet and spicy (black peppercorns). Personally, I felt that the feta cheese is a little salty and heavy. I like all cheese except Feta cheese thus i didn’t enjoy it as much. It would be better if they used mushrooms or diced vegetables such as capsicums in the pancake rather than simply sliced cucumbers. Well, beef is slightly more expensive thus it would be well worth the same amount of money paid for. The pancake is a little pungent and spicy. I think they have used too much black peppercorns to spice it up. It taste something like mexican tortilla wrap. Not too bad but not many would prefer it. They Generally, the food here is organic and made freshly and thus the price is slightly on a higher side. No GST/ Service charge here. Vegetarian options available here.

Told my friend I wanted to eat something healthy and he came across recommendations for this cafe / restaurant.
The moment I stepped in, I was immediately enlightened by the artistic surroundings.  There were exotic lamps, uniquely painted walls and wooden furniture.  The aroma of very edible food was brewing from behind the counter.  I felt invited and ready to dine.
Since my friend reserved a table for us.  I saw a square table with 3 chairs with his name on a small chalk board.  It was held upright by a large lamp with blue tainted glass.  I was so excited like a child.
My friend and I picked a pizza with a name that ended with something like "Chicken Flewed", 2 magic potions, Choutte & Joy***** (sorry I couldn't remember) recommended by the friendly waitress and rice pudding with almonds.
I must say all the food and drinks served to us were AWESOME!!!  I consumed the pizza greedily like a glutton!  If you are going there in pairs, I think a pizza is suffice to share.  The rice pudding was such a delight.  Do try it too!  I had a great time there, laughing and talking to my friend.  It was generally quiet as well.  A good place to share your secrets with your friends. :D
I will definitely return to this cafe / restaurant again!  I shall try the other pizzas as I saw other people enjoying theirs. 
Love,Pam   

Came here upon the reviews I found on HGW. Despite it being a distance from my office, what is the distance if one can find good food?

Sat down on wooden chairs accompained by a wooden table. The place is relatively small and comes with difference kind of furnitures. While me and my friends were on the wooden chairs, there were others on other materials of furniture. It is a modern yet filled with old-english style feeling.

The huge menu stretches across the wall behind the counter. They serve pasta, pizza, sandwiches, rolls, desert, cakes and drinks. Things you can find in a western concept cafe. As it was my first time, we decided to ask the staff what we can order to share for 3. She mentioned that we should get 2 pizzas to share or 1 pizza plus say a sandwich or roll and she gladly cut it to 3s for us. Service, wonderful. However, her suggestion wasn't so good. Her suggestion seems to fill 3 people but not Asians. We ordered a pizza, one with the owners' name (the other also had another owners' name) and a black pepper beef pasta. It was too much for the 2 guys and 1 lady. The pizza was a biscuit-like pizza with loads of cheese, ham and vegetable. The pasta was spicy but for me, acceptable. The pizza is crispy and breaks easily so care must be taken to ensure that you would end up with nothing before it reaches your plate. However, I personally find it a little too heavy on the cheese side. After about 2 'slices', I couldn't take it anymore.

The prices of the food and drinks are rather steep for lunch. For one sandwich, it can easily go up to around $8. Foodwise, I think it's pretty ok. Nothing fantasic. However, the service and the setting does make up for it. I supposed if you do drop by after lunch hours, it will be a reallly good place to chill and read a book, while having some of their rather unique drinks.

Lunchtime at Fou de FaFa was a scene of organised chaos. The place was downright buzzing with activities! Jam packed with people dining in or waiting around to collect their takeaway orders, the cafe somehow exudes pure positive energy. It’s just a happy place to be in! Besides the quirky and funky vibe, the imaginative and ingenious food brings cafe fare to a whole new level.

Don’t scoff at anything with the word “vegetarian” on it, please. Because the Vegetarian Organic Pancake Lasagna ($16.50) was unbelievably good! Thickness was just right with layers of cheese and zucchini in between the pasta sheets. The magic probably lies in the savoury ”special sauce” which has a tinge of sweetness I suspect comes from applesauce.

I like hearty salads that prominently feature grains or legumes as they are filling enough as a main dish. Go ahead and feel virtuous with the Les Salades ($15.50) with Organic brown rice, chicken, egg, tomato and pistachio. It sounds so healthy!

We really need more cafes like Fou de FaFa around. How I wish Singapore has as strong a cafe culture as cities like Melbourne! True, local cafes are aplenty but I find that character is wanting for most and menus lack creativity and originality. If it’s not pasta, then it’s uninspiring salads and sandwiches, aye?

For photos/reviews, drop by http://myfoodsirens.wordpress.com/ =)

We tried the Chicken Pesto sandwich and also the Spicy Chicken Wrap. The chicken pesto sandwich was delicious and the spicy chicken wrap had a refreshing zing and fresh ingredients. The ambience was also nicer than most other cafes we went to.

The counter service staff was courteous, prompt and efficient.

I would have given the service an 8 but for one unpleasant incident that happened today. There was a nice aroma coming from the kitchen and encouraged by the friendly service, I approached the kitchen counter to ask about the dish that the chef was cooking.

A sullen man mumbled something to me and gave me such an unfriendly stare that we left immediately. We were puzzled by this incident as we have been here many times and we didn't expected to be treated like that. Especially in contrast to the fabulous service staff at the counter.

We are still coming back though for the good food. Such useless people we are.

It was one of those times when I wasn't hungry but didn't mind a nibble. The juices were good and the crispy crust vegetarian pizza was delightful. So crispy and light that you don't feel you are sinning. Though we didn't initially ordered the pizza but it looked so good that we decided to give it a go. Boy, I am glad we did!

Why didn't anyone in this city tell me about this place? I stumbled on it attending meetings in the building. It's practically next door to another sandwich joint belonging to a better known brand, but that's where all similarity ends. FDFF is all about warm fuzzy quirky charm, exhortations to live life, love people and dance scribbled on walls and pillars, and everyone shares the few large tables - as if exhorting you to start loving your neighbour right here right now!
There are gourmet sandwiches, pastas, salads and exotic Thai dishes, but the dish that impresses me most is the pizza. I'm not even sure if you can call it a pizza, but they do, so all I can say is that the crust is light as air and reminds me of eating papadums without the spice. There's also an organic and healthy feel to everything, so indulge in $10 drinks called BananaMoo and Lemon Magic which have lots of mint and pomegranate sprinkled in. This place feels a bit Australian, a bit European to me, so the Thai touch is very nice and cosmopolitan. It's this combination that makes Singapore interesting!

I’d believe that I had mistakenly walked into an Art & Craft classroom with the cheerful colours of its walls, eclectic mélange of furniture, chalkboard-styled menu above the counter and a humongous zany upside-down clock hanging on the wall of its kitchen. It stood out like a strawberry in a bowl of peas in the CBD area and I like it!

I thought it was cute that my reservation was written on a small chalkboard, placed on our table.

Faced with a myriad of options, the friendly staff offered to walk us through the blackboard menu and recommended the Special Pizza aka Jay’s Pizza ($26), which she said has “more meat than the other pizzas”. Generously topped with egg white, avocado, seasoned chicken, sausages, chilli flakes, different greens, pine nuts and possibly beetroot, it was like a huge festive pie! We were astounded by the sheer size of it. In fact, I was a little miffed that the wait staff didn’t warn us when we ordered a 2nd main cos it didn’t occur to us that the pizza would be so behemothic. The pizza could easily be shared between 3-4 pax. Needless to say, we couldn’t finish it at all; half was left untouched. Anyhoo, the thin crust was as brittle as pappadoms and gave a tasty crunch with every bite. The wacky toppings were unconventional but toothsome as well.

Thai Spicy Chicken Tortilla Wrap ($10.50) was delightful and I actually like the tortilla wrap so much that I finished the whole nine yards; wrap and fillings! Usually I’d leave the wrap after taking a bite as I don’t wanna get too satiated.

We also decided to give the healthy blended juices a try with all the quirky names and interesting concoctions of the ingredients calling out to us. Both Chouette ($7) and A Better Planet ($9.50) were fresh and invigorating with a minty tang and I immediately felt zested up right from the first sip.

Service was friendly and warm waters were provided upon request. Our pizza was doggie bagged with plastic utensils when we told them we couldn’t finish the pizza.

It’s a pity that this small cafe is not opened during the weekends as it would make an excellent brunch stop on a leisurely Sunday morning/noon where I don’t have to jump through hoops ie ERP and exorbitant parking costs of CBD area, etc to enjoy a fun healthy meal.