[CLOSED] Balzac Brasserie & Bar

Offered as one of the starters for their set lunch, this "pumpkin velouté" left a deep impression on me. Why? Because unlike many other pumpkin soups, it contained quite a bit of cream; thus the frothy richness and gorgeous milky orange hue.
I was also completely sold when I discovered what it came with, namely a quivery, very lightly poached egg and crisped piece of bacon. Yummmmmms!

During my very recent visit, I was pleased to see that the chef had made some tweaks to the set lunch menu and price. Plating looked a little more casual now but the quality of the food and cooking was still impressive for what you pay.
There're two options for each of the three courses. For $25++, you get an appetiser and a main, while the $33++ gets you dessert too. Being greedy, I chose the latter and started with the "pumpkin soup with poached egg and croutons". For my main course, I picked the "seared scallops with mash and spinach" over the "beef brochette with truffle mash and bordelaise sauce" although it was a close fight. Closing my meal on a sweet note was the "mille feuille with strawberries and creme patisserie".
All in all, it was a masterfully executed lunch that left me happily full.

Balzac Bistro offers two options per course for their set lunch and they all sound really interesting.
I picked the foie gras and duck terrine as my starter. But for reasons unknown, it was replaced with duck rillette today. Not that I'm complaining because it was tasty and attractively presented with toasted baguette, pickles and salad. The pan seared sea scallops dish was my choice of main course. Fresh and succulent, the scallops were accompanied by large meaty mushrooms on a bed of butter squash purée. I decided to close my meal on a sweet note of poached pear (which came cubed and still quite crunchy) and champagne sabayon.
The set lunch menu at Balzac is pretty good value in my view, especially with the house-made bread (served with butter plus a chickpea dip), and the atmospheric Parisian bistro decor thrown in.

I was gobsmacked at how spectacular this beef tartare was. My eyes literally rolled in pleasure with the first bite. Having been hand-chopped with a knife, the texture of the Angus beef couldn't be more perfectly toothsome. Classic condiments of raw onion, shallots, sea salt, pepper and a full moon yolk made it burst with a deluge of flavour. The side of super-skinny, crispy and salty French Fries were addictive beyond measure.

Best duck confit in recent memory, and the mash was sublime.

Besides the hearty cocotte dishes, I really enjoyed the pillowy, truffled scrambled eggs with asparagus. #ilovetoeat