Lunch at O Batignolles | Causal French Dinning Experience
August 27, 2017
O Batignolles is one of the true blue (or Blue, White and Red should I say) French Bistro that you can find in Singapore. Decorated in a warm maroon color with some photos of french streets and the map of France in the dining room, it bears resemblance to the bistros that I have once eaten at in France. Entering the bistro, you can find the first dining area and their service staff that are happy to welcome you to eat here.
Walking through the passageway where the kitchen pass window is at you can find a more secluded dining room with only a few tables. The open dining area are suitable for company lunch up to 15 people where the more secluded dinning room is for about 10 people with comfortable sofa seating.
 |
| The more secluded dining room |
As it is located in the Central Business District (CBD), along the side of Chinatown but also where a lot of the office buildings are surrounding. Considering this fact, it is not strange to see that their weekday lunch menu features more of a set lunch menu catered more to the working people - where you can choose quickly depending on your appetite and what you are craving to eat.
 |
| Weekdays Set Lunch - Obtained from O Batignolles Website |
Ordering is simple. Just pick a set you would like to eat. For something light, Set A will do as it only has a simple savory tart with flavours like Salmon, Chicken or Cheese (Buffalo Mozzarella or Goat Cheese). To have something more filling go with Set B or Set C. Perhaps to be more fitting to the needs of the customers around the area, they have a more substantial salad choices as compared to sandwiches or quiche. There are 9 different types of salads to choose from, each featuring a myriad of ingredients. Whereas for the sandwiches and quiche, there's only two choices for sandwiches and one quiche option. For a complete meal, I would definitely suggest to get Set C.
Like the bistros in French, they also have a carte du jour (Menu of the day) which changes daily to feature four mains that you can choose if you choose to eat Set C from the Set Lunch menu. Upon seating, their friendly staff would ask you if you are familiar with the way to order. They would then showcase their carte du jour which is written on a blackboard to introduce to you the selected mains of the day. The day that I was dining, there was Beef Burguignon, Pavé de Saumon, Duck Parmentier and Linguine de Poulet on the carte du jour.
You can also order a la carte if you wish, which is what my companion and I did when we were dining at O Batignolles that day. We order a Set B with a choice of Quiche Lorraine and two of the mains - Beef Burguignon and Pavé de Saumon as a la carte.
 |
| Soup of The Day |
Shortly after ordering, soup of the day was served together with two slices of toast. Upon request, they would provide you butter with the bread. The soup was garnished The soup was rather confusing for me as it was orange in color which I had expected it to be pumpkin soup. Yet the pumpkin taste was negligible. After a few more sips, there was a few thin shavings of carrot which then made me realised that this is probably a carrot soup. However, the taste of carrot did not stand out either. Overall, the soup was smooth and seasoned nicely however did not have any character of its own. Perhaps other soups would have a better taste than this.
 |
| Quiche Lorraine with Salad |
Next we were served up with Quiche Lorraine together with salad on the side. Balsamic vinaigrette was also given on the side to complement the salad and you are free to add as much or as little as you wish. Quiche Lorraine is a simple pie with bacon and cheese as fillings and baked with an egg mixture. The slice of quiche that was served was really generous and it was garnished with chives. It was rich and flavorful despite using ingredients like bacon, cheese and egg that could potentially be overwhelming. The crust was also flaky and buttery, coming together with the fillings, it feels like an indulgent party in your mouth. The salad could not be faulted as well, all fresh and crisp and together with the balsamic vinaigrette, the salad cuts through the richness of the quiche.
 |
| Pavé de Saumon |
Next we were served up with the two mains, Pavé de Saumon which is essentially grilled salmon fillet on a bed of grilled asaparagus, zucchinis and carrot puree. When we ordered it, the service staff had even asked us what doneness we would like for our salmon - medium or well done. This is something that I did not expect especially from ordering a set lunch. When the dish came, the piece of salmon fillet is really generous likewise to the portion of the quiche. The salmon was cooked perfect in the middle and seasoned perfectly. On the other hand, the grilled vegetables was a little salty for me and likewise to the soup of the day, the carrot puree did not have any character on its own except that it is orange.
 |
| Mid Section of the Medium doneness Grilled Salmon Fillet |
 |
| Beef Burguignon |
The other mains was Beef Burguignon - from tradition french cuisine, beef stewed in red wine. It is served together with mashed potatoes, sauteed mushroom and pearl onion and grilled carrots. The sides that was served together gave a nod to the ingredients used in the traditional way of cooking beef burguignon. Starting off from the meat, the meat was tender and falls apart at the prod of your fork. It has been marinated and stewed well in the red wine broth as the flavour from the red wine and the meat was married into a beautiful succulent taste. With the little chunky bits of potatoes stuck in the mashed potatoes, you can tell for sure that they used real potatoes as well as butter and cream as it was also rich and creamy. To eat it in one mouthful, with the mashed potates, a slice of the sauteed mushroom, pearl onion and carrot together with a chunk of beef, when the flavours come together and dances on your tongue - you can be sure, your mouth will be grateful to you.
Finishing off the meal, was the mini dessert of the day together with a selection of coffee/tea. My companion selected a double espresso. The dessert of the day was actually a combination of two mini dessert - a one-bite choux puff and a one-bite brownie together with a tiny cup of fruit salad. They were served together on a platter with the coffee - which reminds me a lot of the café/thé gourmand (Dessert platter with coffee/tea) that you can easily find in bistros in France. As we were quite full from the meal, we can't complain much about the sizing of the desserts although I will not be too sure if someone else would be satisfied if they should only eat a Set B/Set C by themselves.
Overall, the dining experience was really great - a good combination of authentic French food with friendly and attentive service. The service staff always made a point of refill the water on our table and also came by when dessert was served to asked if we had enjoyed the meal. And moreover, after knowing that the bosses of this French bistro, along with their other crêperie bar - O Comptoir in Boat Quay, are a couple from France, it is no wonder that they could serve up such authentic french cuisine here in Singapore.
Expected Damage per person: SGD 18 - 30 ($$)
Overall of a 'Authentic French cuisine experience' 2 Ninja Stars
Operating Hours
Monday – Tuesday: 11am – 12pm
Wednesday – Friday, 11am – 1am
Saturday: 10am – 1am
Sunday: 10am – 10pm
2 Gemmill Lane
Singapore 069247
Contact: 6438 3913
O Batignolles Website
Here is where you can find O Batignolles:
Saturday: 10am – 1am
Sunday: 10am – 10pm
2 Gemmill Lane
Singapore 069247
Contact: 6438 3913
O Batignolles Website
Here is where you can find O Batignolles:
![About [span]me[/span]](http://i.imgur.com/mRIvMO9.jpg)
0 comments