Came by to celebrate my Sis' birthday as there was some buzz about this newly-opened restaurant and also it was on Burpple 1-for-1 Mains deals. The place was still pretty empty with about 7 or so tables filled at 7pm on a Thursday. The ambience was pretty nice, cosy and somewhat quiet, plus the entire space was spacious and airy.
To start off, we had the La Tradition Onion/Lardons Tarte Flambe ($18), which was somewhat like a thin-crust rectangular pizza with generous sprinkles of caramelized onions, lardons and cheese. Savoury, cheesy, crisp, with a touch of sweetness, this was absolutely delicious and we scoffed everything down. So good, in fact, that we immediately ordered another tarte flambe - but this time the La Champignons ($22), which just replaced the lardons with mushrooms. While not as sinfully savoury as the lardons, the earthiness of the mushrooms was delicious especially with the dollops of light mushrooms cream.
Skipping the entrees, we headed straight to the mains. The Joue de Bouef a la Provencale ($32) was slow-cooked beef cheeks with cherry tomatoes, garlic, olives and provenรงal herbs, served with buttered coquillette (i.e., mini-macaroni) pasta. The beef cheeks were tender and went so well with the buttery pasta, although the rich beefiness of the meat might turn off those who don't eat beef often. Alongside, we also ordered the Crispy Duck Leg Confit w/ Mashed Potatoes ($32) which was a much bigger hit with my dining party. The tender duck leg still had its crispy skin, and it sat atop an amazing buttery mashed potato and duck jus. Really, really rich and flavourful, my friend couldn't stop harping about how good this was.
However, what presented a alight oddity to the evening was the inexperience of the serving staff. The waiter who initially served us seemed to be new and did not really have a good grasp of the menu. Also, I initially ordered the Seafood Bun but after realising that one of my friends could not eat prawns, I went over to him - who was still in the midst of keying in my order - and told him to remove my Seafood Bun order. However, a little while later he came over to my table again to reconfirm my order. The strange thing was, right after another staff came by and told the first waiter that he'll confirm my orders instead. All in all, i thought all these repeating of my order were slightly unnecessary.
Be that as it may, the food was good, the ambience was lovely, and with the Burpple deal it made my dinner all the more enjoyable. Would I return? Yes, at least once more, to try the other dishes in their extensive menu especially the other tarte flambes :D Sign up for Burpple with my invite code DARR9295 to enjoy 1-for-1 deals here and at many other restaurants now!
