PUBLISHED July 30th, 2013 01:59 am | UPDATED May 17th, 2016 05:57 pm
Opening a restaurant in Singapore is one thing, managing to keep it open is another. With new places opening weekly across the city, restaurants are playing their best game in order to run high with the never-ending competition. Bar-Roque Grill, a French-inspired bar and grill, has now pitched up in Tanjong Pagar and in little under a month, everyone is already talking about it.
Bar-Roque Grill is named such, from its well-thought out Baroque inspired décor. Filled with plants and statues this restaurant has the feel of al-fresco dining, but inside. The interior is a little unusal and at first I couldn’t decide whether it was classic or try-hard, but once I took note of the detail, such as the graffiti cherub painting on the wall by Ceno 2, easily mistaken for an actual painting, and the stools with bicycle pedals, I quickly decided that actually it was pretty damn cool.
I love to eat. Like as in… I’m planning dinner whilst I’m eating breakfast, kind of love to eat. One thing I truly appreciate is a chef who knows how to expose the natural flavours of the food they’ve chosen to work with and is able to base the dish around the ingredients; rather than worrying over a pompous combination or sparse presentation on a big white plate full of nothing but garnishes which aren’t even edible. Bar-Roque’s Stephane Istel has got it down.
I’ll start off with the classic Tart Flambee ($12 small or $20 large), consisting of bacon, onions and cheese, which currently comes in 4 different varieties, but will be expanding to adopt more flavours. This for me is the perfect bar food. Essentially a super thin, much less naughty pizza which is light, simple and great for a gorge.
Salads. It’s not often I rave about a salad. Actually, who does? What kind of salad do you actually think about the next day and say ‘Corrrr, you’ve got to go to blah blah for their salads!’. Usually when I’m eating a salad I’m just thinking about how many slices of bread I can stuff myself with before it becomes pointless and I might as well have had a sandwich. But Bar-Roque Grill’s salads…they’re actually wow. These are fairly small but filling, deliciously fresh, natural and a great match of flavours.
The Char-Grilled Octopus Salad ($24) is nutty (thanks to the almonds), meaty (hats off to that meaty, smokey flavoured octopus) and fresh (everything else). The ingredients here really help frame the octopus, with their fresh and yet super-flavoursome complimentary tastes. I mean just have a look at the colour in this…
We also tried the Spinach Salad ($16), lighter than the last, still nutty and as this one is a little more neutral, it would be a great match with some of the rotisserie meats on offer.
If you’re coming to Bar-Roque Grill for lunch, salads- although expensive, are a perfect little lunch filler. If you’re coming for dinner.. this is what you want, it’s on the menu as NZ Little Neck Clam and is priced at $22 (Appetiser) and $32 (Main Course). Go for the main course because this is what you want to be tasting and it’s here you can really start to taste that French inspiration. The idea of sausage and clams paired together with mushrooms and a white wine sauce sounds slightly wrong? Well it works, people! It works! This is messy, so make sure you use some of the sourdough to mop up the rich juices. A truly beautiful, wellthought out dish which is just a little pan of sizzling, bursting flavours.
If you’re big on meat then I really ought to mention the French Free Range chicken ($38 or $20 for half) which is buttery soft and beautifully cooked. Served with mash potato I’d recommend getting some of the Ravioles ($12) to accompany the chicken as we did. The Ravioles is hearty, full of mushrooms and quite honestly a meal in itself.
For dessert we tucked into some of this crispy thin Banana Flambee (again $12/$24), which is off menu at the moment, but will be added over the next couple of weeks. It’s served with a dripping of Nutella and is, for us, the pefect way to finish off a hearty meal.
We love Bar-Roque Grill, for its hearty, eat-at-home, rustic dishes which care about ingredients over everything else!
Written by Superpat