Poulet

We headed to Bugis Plus to watch the newly released Dark Knight on Friday night. The shopping centre was uncrowded presumably because pantang Singaporeans stayed clear of the Bugis area (due to the collapsed scafolding incident a few days earlier).

The show is dark and the characters are brooding and convincing. I totally lapped it all up. But the purpose of my post is not to rave about the show.

Introducing Poulet...one of the newest restaurants to open in Bugis Plus (formerly known as Illuma)

Ambience- very tasteful! Furnishings are reminiscent of a French bistro, complete with brick walls (lining the open kitchen), little street lamps perched between tables and piped in French music. Cutlery and crockery is of good quality. (quite heavy!)  Best of all, prices are reasonable with majority of the dishes going for under $20. Great for an unpretentious but cosy date.

As the name Poulet suggests, the restaurant prides itself for its roast chicken.  The chicken was literally roasted in its own juice, yielding bland tasting but perfectly cooked flesh which was partially redeemed by a tasty cream sauce scattered with chopped onion and field mushroom. I could almost detect a hesitant pause in the waiter's breath when I asked for chili sauce.

For starters, we ordered a platter of buttered garlic escargots. These were fresh and plump. The garlic butter topping was nice but not well melded into the escargots themselves.

Our soups took ages to arrive. While waiting, I was so hungry that I ordered a (disappointingly stale) baguette. Hubby's french onion soup was hearty but lacked the quintessential patch of melted gyuyere cheese.

 I throughly enjoyed the mushroom soup which was thick, buttery and very satisfying.

Hubby's oxtail stew was "fall off the bone" tender and very delicious. Although the portion looks quite big here, the actual amount of meat (after removing the bones) is actually very little. Not recommended as a main course for people with big appetites. The accompanying pearl onions were a nice touch.

Unfortunately, service was so slow that night that we had to pass on dessert (I was quite looking forward to trying their apple tart with vanilla ice cream). I'll probably drop in again just for dessert and drinks next time.

Total damage for 1 starter, 1 side, 2 soups and 2 main courses- $64.