Bistro Du Le Pin (Orchard Plaza)

[ORCHARD, SINGAPORE] Hidden within a cosy side of Orchard Plaza where many izakayas are located at, lies @bistrodulepin where you will experience an explosion of french-japanese fusion flavours created by a Japanese chef. We had their Omakase Course ($100 per pax) and long story short, the cook here is insanely good and you really need to judge just that.

Coming in, you will be greeted by a rather rustic vibe, with a single server rushing everywhere to fulfil orders and a seemingly nonchalant chef. Once you open up, you will come to realise that they are really friendly!

There were about 8 courses in total, and we were increasingly impressed with each dish served. Don't be fooled by the plain saltine crackers served at the start; the other appetisers were so darn good, especially the chicken pate 🐔.

All sashimi 🐟 served were extremely fresh, and the garlic miso sauce on the Sliced Yellowtail was amazing. Full of umami, I wish I had rice to mop them all up.

As for cooked dishes, the Miso Cod 🐟 was incredible, so flaky, so fresh and they gave such a chunky piece. When you think things can't get any better, the Kagoshima Beef 🍖 topped the charts. Meaty, beefy, juicy and tender, nothing beats having this with just wasabi.

As there aren't many carbs, do expect to be about 70-80% full. I was thankful that the chef gave me more than one scoop of their delicious ice cream & sorbet! (don't think they offer this all the time, so I wouldn't bet on it)

Overall, the food & quality of the dishes is absolutely lovely and I will definitely come back again. I do see people complaining on Google about the service and how the server is doubling up as the line cook, but I feel like they are trying their best with the manpower crunch they are having. I feel like only a certain group of people who appreciate this will come back, no wonder why 70% of customers that night were regulars 😁

The cramped and cosy 13-seater interior reminded me of neighbourhood sake bars in Tokyo, but the less than ideal air conditioning and heat from the kitchen certainly didn't make for comfortable dining. Luckily the carafes of cold sake went someway in providing relief from the warmth.

Food here is tasty in general but otherwise very average. We enjoyed the scallops and asparagus bathed in a seafood-y cream sauce, as well as the cheap $3 otoshis(compulsory appetisers) of potato salad, liver pate, bread and baby anchovies. I would feel more inclined to return if the air conditioning situation was improved.

Taste: 3.5/5

Lunch Bara-Chirashi at @bistrodulepin is perhaps the highlight of any weekday soirée on Orchard Road. At $14 a bowl, I am hard pressed to find a similar quality, hearty meal than this one; comes with a miso prawn soup.

Situated in old Orchard Plaza, this is just a small establishment with confined space, giving one the same feel like that in Japan itself.
Not as obvious from its name, it is actually Japanese fused with French influences. And the result was a Japanese dining experience with surprises in taste. That explained why the meal started with appetisers with cream cheese, liver pâté and burrata cheese.
On top of the more typical but fresh items like Hiroshima oyster and Anago sushi, we were intrigued by their other items done very differently. Their sashimi was served with an interesting miso-peanut butter like sauce which gave it an awesome flavour, we’ll-complemented with crispy garlic chips and wasabi. The fried tuna was served with a tartar-like toppjng that went well with the deep-fried tuna.
The meal was no lacking in premium ingredients, with black cod, king crab, Kagoshima beef and Uni.
The black cod was well-executed and flavoured with a plum-pesto sauce, special and delicious. The king crabs were done tempura style and served with also an unique orange ginger sauce. Biting into those well-marbled juicy beef was just heavenly. And the meal definitely ended on a high note with the yummy angel hair pasta topped with Uni and generous portion of Ikura.
By the end of the meal, we felt absolutely satisfied, with the good deal, quantity and quality of the food. We would recommend to add on a sake or wine to make the experience an even better one. Due to its space and popularity, early reservation will be a necessity to avoid any disappointment.

I loved their chicken liver pate with Meiji crackers. The pate wasn’t as fatty as foie gras, but was still very creamy. There wasn’t a very strong stench and it tasted quite pleasantly light with the biscuits. The portion was also surprisingly big, considering this was only $5!

Bistro du Le Pin occupies a small space on level 2 of Orchard Plaza, which is near Centrepoint, at Somerset mrt and has affordable lunch sets (bara chirashi and omelette rice) for about $15. The chef is Japanese, so you can be assured it’ll be a great experience. Also found out that they offer omakases at night!

Tried Bistro du Le Pin’s barachirashi don lunch set (only $14!!), which includes free flow green tea (they use proper tea powder) and this prawn miso soup, which has a prawn head inside and tastes almost a bit like local prawn noodle soup- very rich and shrimpy. Although their barachirashi was quite generous, it was sadly quite average for me (would have preferred the sashimi to be a bit colder). However, there were quite unique bits of sashimi inside, like the uni-covered squid (looks like orange looking noodles), baby shrimp, and some type of clam? They also used freshly grated wasabi. Overall, it’s not bad, but not sure if I’d come back to have this, given better options elsewhere.

P.s. it’s a really small space (about 13 people?), so maybe just come as a pair haha. They are located at #02-25 Orchard Plaza, which is near Centrepoint at Somerset mrt.