Avoir Faim!

Natural wine pop-up bar Drunken Farmer doesn’t just serve up great wines, their limited but carefully curated food selection really wowed us too. I haven’t had a charcuterie platter this good since Paris. The duck rillettes was chunky and wondrously greasy, the saucisson not as salty and more nuanced than the norm, and the forest mushroom pâté, a loaf of meaty goodness. Served with the traditional accompaniments of cornichon and baguette, every element on the board went fabulously with our wines.

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Taste: 4/5

Chef Stephane of Bar-Roque brings his expertise in charcuterie to Tanjong Katong French bakery stalwart Do.main, and boy is it good. Everything is house-made and deliciously authentic, but my favourite on the platter probably has to be to the meaty, unctuous rillettes that’s just perfect slathered onto house-baked bread, with a dab of whole grain mustard and a pickle. C’est délicieux!

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Taste: 3.5/5

Buttery and flaky puff pastry ensconses tender but admittedly over-done beef on a bed of sauteed mushrooms and wilted spinach. Still, this didn’t prevent me from enjoying the very well-seasoned dish, although it seemed as if the pâté and duxelles were missing.

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Taste: 3.5/5

Slow-cooked in duck fat for 3 hours, this is as good as you’ll get in any casual bistro in Paris, with salty, pull-apart flesh and crisp skin. But please, more of that duck jus sauce!

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Taste: 3.5/5

Not as runny as I would have liked it, but the luxuriant lobster flavour imbued in each spoonful more than made up for it. We were told the chef prefers a thicker consistency for his risottos and truth be told, we took our time before digging in, so this dish definitely warrants a second try in the future to be eaten whilst fresh. The richness and size of the portion will definitely prove overwhelming for one, so make sure you bring friends along to share.

Thanks @burpple for the invite and much appreciation to @bistroduvin for the great food and even more amazing hospitality.

Taste: 3/5

All you can ask from a chocolate lava cake is that it be rich, moist and molten in the middle when the knife goes through it. I'm happy to say this more than delivers on all fronts and is incredibly delish in its sinfulness.

Thanks @burpple for the invite and much appreciation to @bistroduvin for the great food and even more amazing hospitality.

Taste: 5/5

The tart is fantastically buttery, flaky and charred around the edges. Topped with a round of sweet caramelised apple slices, vanilla ice cream and lashings of butterscotch, this was a fine ending to a fabulous meal.

Thanks @burpple for the invite and much appreciation to @bistroduvin for the great food and even more amazing hospitality.

Taste: 5/5

With bon vivant aspirations firmly in mind, I insisted upon ordering the decadent beef wellington, a decision that proved most fruitious once we tasted this magnificent beast.

Encased by golden, buttery pastry shell, the mushroom duxelle, obscenely tender beef and luxurious addition of fatty foie combined in the mouth in an amalgamation of deeply savoury, unctuous, earthy flavours that elicited murmurs of unadulterated pleasure from my dinner companions. As it were, the heady black truffle sauce only served to heighten our enjoyment.

Tres magnifique. 10/10, would recommend.

Thanks @burpple for the invite and merci beaucoup to @bistroduvin, @merissagoh and @philippepau for the great food and even more amazing hospitality.

Taste: 5/5

I would swim in a pool of this -- fall-apart beef cheeks revelling in a bath of deep red wine sauce, mushrooms, carrots, shallots and all-important bacon, served with pommes puree so silky they must have chucked a whole block of butter in it. I need the chef's grandma's recipe for this.

Thanks @burpple for the invite and much appreciation to @bistroduvin for the great food and even more amazing hospitality.

Taste: 5/5

A salty, meaty slab of goodness, the terrine is rusticly chunky in places and studded with hazelnuts. In my opinion, perfect bedfellows with some crusty bread and a swab of butter.

Thanks @burpple for the invite and much appreciation to @bistroduvin for the great food and even more amazing hospitality.

Taste: 4/5

The Corsica Lonzo loin pork chop played it coy, brandishing a rough, char-grilled countenance which concealed just barely blushing pink flesh within. Those faint of heart and averse to any hint of rawness, best stay clear. For the rest of us, this is some of the most succulent pork you'll ever taste.

Don't overlook the pot of potato gratin in your carnivorous haste either, because the layered slivers of thinly sliced tuber are seductively soft and creamy.

Thanks @burpple for the invite and much appreciation to @bistroduvin for the great food and even more amazing hospitality.

Taste: 4.5/5

Those opposed to lamb might very well change their minds after sinking their teeth into this ludicrously well cooked piece of meat. Tender, juicy and lacking any hint of gaminess, the game changer is the bacon stuffed in its center that helps keep the meat moist and imparts a most pleasant porcine flavour. Sauce is paramount in French cuisine, and the jus poured liberally over the meat is fantastic. Elsewhere, the velvety mash and soft flavours of ratatouille complement the hero of the dish perfectly.

Thanks @burpple for the invite and much appreciation to @bistroduvin for the great food and even more amazing hospitality.

Taste: 4.5/5