Le Petit Paris

One of the places which we had been seeing quite a fair bit over social media in the past week would be Le Petit Paris — located in Swan Lake Avenue within the Opera Estate that is a walk away from Bedok MRT Station, Le Petit Paris is located one of the more quieter areas in the East; this is especially considering how it is situated in the middle of a private housing estate. Occupying the ground level of the shophouse at 15 Swan Lake Avenue, the address may not be too unfamiliar for those whom have been following the happenings of the local F&B scene for a while — the same space used to have housed now-defunct establishments such as that of Slake, Garang Grill, and Mao King Tavern. The shophouse has seen a little bit of a revamp with its current tenants; Le Petit Paris now sports a blue facade — a more vibrant look than when it was occupied by its previous occupants, while there is also an al-fresco dining area that is located just right outside the door as well. As one enters the cafe, one would find the place being decked like a patio; faux plants hang from the ceiling above, with the ceiling lights carrying a slight Japanese vibe — seemingly installed by its former occupants and left untouched by the current tenants. The use of rattan-esque furnishings with a black-and-white colour scheme and marble table tops gives it a garden-like vibe with all that faux floral and fauna all around it; very warm and inviting. Turns out, the chef who is behind Le Petit Paris is Chef Felicien Cueff who has worked at Hilton Hotel in Singapore previously. While the menu is segmented into categories such as Appetisers, Breakfast, Mains and Desserts, we were being told that they are in the mist of refining the menu — the eventual menu might see different items made available during breakfast, lunch and dinner service. Other items such as the various patisserie and boulangerie items available for the day can be seen through the display chiller / cabinet, whilst they also do stock up gelato from Alfero Artisan Gelato as well.

Glancing through the pastries which are available in the display case at Le Petit Paris, we had first wanted to go for the Pain Suisse since it is an item which is typically difficult to find around French Boulangerie in Singapore. That being said, we do note that there isn’t any more of the Pain Suisse that is being displayed in the cabinet during the time we had made our visit; we found ourselves gravitating towards the Elephant Ear instead. For those whom have not heard about the Elephant Ear, the pastry is in fact similar to that of what other establishments would have called a “Palmier”. The lamination process of the dough gives the pastry here a very well-defined layered exterior. We would recommend consuming the Elephant Ear warm; the staff actually does pop the Elephant Ear into the oven to warm up the pastry a little here before serving it to the table. Taking a bite into the Elephant Ear whilst it is still warm, the Elephant Ear came all toasty and crispy — the pastry still being a little buttery yet flaky without crumbly into a whole mess. It is noted that the pastry does come in a glistening sugary glaze; whilst taking a bite into the pastry, one can certainly feel the slight difference in its texture from the layers closer towards the exterior of the Elephant Ear as compared to the layers closer to the centre of the Elephant Ear. The pastry does get progressively chewier with a bit of tension to pull apart as one reaches the centre; this was partially due to the sugary glaze getting progressively more concentrated into the middle of the pastry, creating a denser texture without being overly sweet at the same time. Overall, a pretty good rendition of the Palmier that hits all the right spots.

It wouldn’t be quite fair for us to comment on the overall experience of Le Petit Paris as a concept — whilst we did give some of the bakes and entremets a go, we skipped on having the items off their hot food menu since we weren’t quite craving for anything savoury not substantial during our visit to Le Petit Paris. That being said, we still managed to give Le Petit Paris’ Strawberry and Vanilla Coconut Cream Cake a go. The Strawberry and Vanilla Coconut Cream Cake was one with a rather interesting composition that sees elements of strawberry sitting atop the coconut-infused vanilla cream — all of those elements sits atop a cake layer with a brownie-esque texture. What we fancied about the Strawberry and Vanilla Coconut Cream Cake was the zippy notes of the strawberry elements that sat above the refreshing coconut-infused vanilla cream — a flavour combination which felt like a rather unique take of something tropical with a twist; all that with a chocolate-y element beneath that provides much of the richness and bitter-sweetness of cocoa to round everything off. Aside from the flavours of the Strawberry and Vanilla Coconut Cream Cake, the textures were also especially on-point with the mousse-like layers carrying an almost uniformed texture with the dense but somehow still light brownie layer that sits below. It does also seem that Le Petit Paris also went its way to source for coffees and teas from a European brand to compliment the entire experience with the food / cakes here — the coffee and teas are sourced from Julius Meinl; a company known to manufacture and retail coffee and tea that is headquartered in Vienna, Austria. Service was also personable and sincere; the folks willing to share and explain the stories behind the establishment and the food served. With all these being said, Le Petit Paris does seem to be a spot that attempts to bring a slice of Europe into the quaint estate of Opera Estate in Bedok; one where patrons are away from the hustle and bustle of Singapore, and simply immerse in an environment that can be described as “as European as it can get” — definitely a hideout which would be well-appreciated with residents nearby as well as expats around the island!