L'Angelus

A majestic meal is incomplete without a divine dessert to end it, and that’s where @langelus.sg Clafoutis ($24++) steps in. Clafoutis is a rare dessert in Singapore, and I think L’Angelus is the only French restaurant I’ve seen that serves this old school French dessert. Clafoutis is essentially a crustless tart, as the eggy custard is studded with cherries and baked till gloriously golden brown. Every order of clafoutis is baked to order and it does take fifteen minutes to bake, so you gotta order it along with your entrées.⠀
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Clafoutis has the texture of an extra fluffy pancake crossed with flan, and I enjoyed every bite of the eggy & sweet custard. Topped with vanilla ice cream, this could’ve gotten way too sweet way too fast, but the bitter & sour cherries that have been soaked in brandy injected that sharp contrast to the uniform sweetness of the clafoutis & ice cream. The cherries, besides releasing some of the brandy that was absorbed into it, also injected fruitiness into the dessert in bursts. ⠀
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Even though L’Angelus’ clafoutis is only comprised of three elements, all three elements are excellent and it was assembled by highly skilled hands. L’Angelus is definitely the place to be if you’re looking for some fantabulous French fare, and you bet I’ll be back sometime in the future.

Boeuf Rossini, also known as Tournedos Rossini, is a classic French dish that’s as French as baguette, La Marseillaise and snobbish people. Of course @langelus.sg serves it, and of course I ordered it without so much as a second glance at the rest of the menu, sixty six dollar price tag be damned.⠀
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Boeuf/Tournedos Rossini is a decadent dish that calls for a filet mignon to be pan fried in butter, served on a crouton and topped with a slice of foie gras before everything gets garnished with slices of black truffle & a drizzle of Madeira demi-glace. L’Angelus does take it slightly further with the addition of a mushroom duxelles and combining the truffle with the Madeira sauce, and it works wonderfully.⠀
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Filet mignon tends to be a less flavourful cut due to the lesser fat content running through the filet, but this steak had no such problems. It was seasoned spectacularly, and the addition of the savoury Madeira sauce made sure the filet was phenomenal. However, just like with the red wine sauce, the Madeira sauce was a little too runny and should’ve been reduced more.⠀
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Slightly subpar sauces aside, the other accompaniments to the filet were flawless. The mushroom duxelles was unarguably umami with a charming chewiness, and the flawless foie gras was just as good here as it had been on the appetiser: perfectly seared & a hedonist’s heaven. ⠀
Perhaps the most exceptional element on the plate is the crouton, the foundation upon which everything was built upon. It was skilfully toasted and it retained its crustiness right till the very end, with the last bit still staying slightly crisp. It withstood the moisture from the mushrooms, juices from the steak and the Madeira sauce excellently. Trying to load the foie gras, steak and duxelles onto the crouton for a one biter is logistically challenging, but the effort is well worth the breathtaking bite into heaven.

The French know their way around a steak, and @langelus.sg are steak savants. They have three different cuts of steak, and my father couldn’t resist the allure of the 300 gram Black Angus Entrecôte (Ribeye, $60++). I mean, can you blame him after looking at this beautiful beef?⠀
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The steak sports the aesthetically pleasing diamond grill marks on top of a satisfactory sear, and it was served medium rare, flirting dangerously close to rare territory. That was some masterful work from the chef, and the Black Angus steak certainly impressed. Seasoned superbly yet simply, the beef was tremendously tender and required minimal effort to cut & chew.⠀
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The accoutrements were a fantastic fit for the steak. The sautéed mushrooms were outstanding with their salty, meaty chewiness, and were a capable complement to the stellar steak. The potato gratin was superbly seasoned, and it was soft and fluffy right down the middle of all those layers. Each layer is breathtakingly buttery too, so this little rectangle of potato is utterly piquant.⠀
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Unfortunately, even though the French are renowned for their saucy sensibilities, the red wine sauce served along with the steak was a disappointment. It was too thin and was lacking in salt, and sure I fully understand that it’s no bordelaise sauce, I was expecting a bit more flair from the sauce.⠀
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Even though the sauce was sadly subpar, the entrecôte was still exquisitely enchanting. Sixty bucks is quite pricey, but the unquestionable quality is most certainly worth the splurge for a special occasion, or as an extravagant indulgence.

Classic French haute cuisine isn’t that common in Singapore these days, but @langelus.sg has withstood the test of time, dishing up authentic & fantastic French fare since 1998. How authentic is L’Angelus, you ask? Well, for starters, we had Escargots ($23.50++) served in little individual pots, and Foie Gras Poêlé ($26.50++ for 60 grams).

As for the Foie Gras Poêlé, this cut of foie gras might just be the most perfectly seared piece of liver I’ve ever had. The exterior is seared sublimely and the inside is cooked just enough, taking on a texture akin to slightly softened butter. An incredibly delicious and slightly gamey butter, that is. The hawthorn purée adds some tartness to attempt to balance out the incredible richness of the liver, and the pickled plums add even more balance to the foie gras. Perhaps the most interesting element of this appetiser is the bak kwa sauce, which is sweet and smoky, an interesting and uncommon pairing with foie gras that works unexpectedly well. The little bak kwa bits in the sauce are unfortunately burnt though, and definitely have that burnt bitterness.⠀
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Still, with a start this stellar, there’s no way you can lose at L’Angelus.

I ended the meal on a sweet note with their Mont Blanc 🌰, featuring white chocolate chestnut mousse 🤍🍫, chestnut vermicelli & biscuit joconde. It was really sweet!

For mains, my favourite has got to be their
Le Pot-Au-Feu Revisité (+$10)! ❤️ Featuring fork-tender slow-cooked US short rib 🥩 & a marrow & vegetable dumpling 🥟 in hearty beef broth, this was impeccable!