The Singapore Restaurant Week started on 24 Oct and will end today on 01 Nov. This campaign has been so successful, this week marks the 11th edition. During this week, many fine restaurants offer lunches and dinners starting from $25 (excl tax and service charge).

Bookings must be done early for the popular restaurants. We were a little late but still got to try two restaurants.

Bistrot Taratata

A French bistro located on 33 Keong Saik Road owned by 2 French chefs. We chose this restaurant as we had wanted to try for sometime and the menu looked decent for this week. 

    
 
Bread was served very slightly warmed, almost negligible. The appetizers arrived shortly. The escargots were pretty decent but could do better with just a pinch of salt. The egg casserole was overall a little strange. It was almost like soup with some stewed veges, lamb sausage and topped with an egg. I did not quite like it. 

    
    
 
The mains were pork cheek and sirloin steak. The pork cheek was actually really delicious and tender but a tad too salty. The steak was presented so simply, almost felt like I was at Hans! Anyway the steak was just average. We ordered a rosé which was quite dry and a red which was more easy drinking and went well with the mains.

   
Dessert was chocolate lava tart which was again average. We ordered flat white for an additional $5 per cup and we were served coffee with a very tiny bit of milk with some foam. It was quite disappointing that the flat whites were not served how they should taste. The consolation was that the staff were really friendly and food was served promptly. We finished dinner in an hour. 

Violet herbs

Located at 81 Tras Street, it’s convenient to get to from Tanjong Pagar Mrt station. Led by an Asian chef, they serve modern European cuisines with Asian influences. 

    
   
Homemade focaccia bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar was served together with an amuse bouche of cantaloupe and caviar. 

 Appetizers were scallop and foie gras. Well from the menu, it said scallops but it was really just 1 small scallop and a tiny bit of salmon belly. It was however delicious and doneness was perfect. Though not sure I could taste the yuzu truffle sauce. The foie gras was prepared the usual way, pan fried with raspberry balsamic like reduction which was good. 

   
Main courses – miso cod and chicken roulade. Cod dish was actually quite good if not for the huge bone and some hard bits at one end of the piece of fish. The same pumpkin purée used for the scallop was repeated. Chicken roulade could do with an extra pinch of salt. The chicken unfortunately was quite dry and the potato was hard on the outside.

    
   
Desserts – lavender creme brûlée and lemon tart. My taste buds dos not agree with  both desserts though I like lavender. I’d much prefer a normal creme brûlée. The sugar crisp was not evenly distributed. The custard wasn’t smooth, like it was not set well. The lemon tart filling was just like cream while I was expecting it to be firmer. It was quite messy to eat and the lavender ice cream did not complement it. 

   
Overall, the dinner at Taratata and lunch at violet herbs were average. We might not try Taratata again but perhaps may give violet herbs another shot. Perhaps it’s due to the high number of patrons this week that food quality may not be at its best. The staff at these 2 restaurants also seemed to be really busy and overworked due to the overwhelming turnover of diners.