Le Cuisson: French food made affordable

SINGAPORE SERIES

Food is normally more expensive in Singapore, that's a fact. The only food that I think is cheaper here would be Roast Duck Rice and Hainanese Chicken Rice because that's hawker fare.

But French food?  It seems impossible, right? Well, that's what I thought too. Until I read an article from the local paper featuring two hawker (or in the local lingo, it's coffee shop) stalls that served French food. It seems like a trend here, for trained chefs to make their specialties available to the masses at affordable prices. I thought at first that these stalls were located in far-flung heartland areas, where the cost of my taxi getting there would probably help pay for a meal in a nice place, so I ignored it.

A few months ago, as I was browsing the Singapore food blogs, I came across another reference to Le Cuisson. The only things that I remembered about that post was

1. they have Foie Gras Salad that they serve for SG$10
2. they were located in the Hawker Center at the back of iluma, in the Bugis area

Immediately, this place made it to the imaginary list of places to eat in Singapore that I had in my head. I just recently figured out that Bugis was actually just one straight bus ride away from where we live.

Having family over was the perfect reason to go and try it. I even told them that since it was a Hawker Center, those who did not like the food where I wanted to go, could order from elsewhere. Hahaha.

This stall had 3 chefs and no line.
The line is from the duck and chicken place beside it.

They have pictures of their dishes on the wall to help you decide

The menu for today. 

The reason why they have no line is because they're organized
They ask you to come back for your food after 15 minutes while they cook it 

The only thing you have to figure out is how to secure a table while waiting for your food to be ready.

Excited to eat now. All the food in the background is ours :)

We ordered a lot of things... to share.

We ordered the Mushroom Soup with Sea Salt Truffle Cream because we saw the chef making it.
It tasted really good, tell we had the other food, and by comparison, it was just okay.

Grilled AUS 150 Day Grain Fed Angus Steak SG$14
served with Mesclun salad, pomme puree and green peppercorn sauce 

Mushroom Pasta Penne SG$8
with roasted mushroom, parmesan cheese and poached egg

close-up of the poached egg

I'm normally not a pasta person, but this was good too.
I picked out the mushrooms. Hahaha.
Note to self: next time, top up SG$1 for Truffle Oil

Braised Beef Short Ribs SG$14
with herb, spices, red wine, pomme puree and roast vegetables
This was so tender, it  melts in your mouth 

Truffle Mash SG$5
This was clearly FTW!

This was the highlight of my meal.

Foie Gras Salad SG$10

Now, don't expect Foie Gras like the one from Je Suis Gourmand, or Champêtre... but then I've never met a Foie Gras I didn't like, so for this, I will come back again. Just Saying.

This was NOT for sharing.

Le Cuisson = Happiness

I HAD to go to Le Cuison again after a few days because I wanted my aunt who is visiting from the US to try it. We arrived around 1130am on a weekday, because I was afraid we will have problems securing a table if we went during the lunch hour rush. That was the perfect time to secure a table, however, the chefs are not quite ready to take our order yet, even if there sign says they open at 1100am. It was almost noon when they officially opened for business so it was a good thing we were really not hungry.

I ordered an Iced Kopi while waiting.
It came in a beer mug. Hahahaha.
Iced Kopi and bottled water was SG$2.50

I read the article on the chefs behind Le Cuison while waiting

They were still getting their act together...

...so we were still waiting.

They good thing about being first is that you don't have to wait as long for them to prepare your order. They told us to come back in 10mins for our food.

We ordered our favorites from the other day, to share.
Yes, I was willing to share the Foie Gras!

The foie gras looked like a smaller serving, but I preferred the salad greens that they used this time,
I guess they serve what's available.

The foie gras was cooked so much better, it was just as good as my fave place in Manila.

We ordered the Angus Steak again, to share.

This also tasted better, because the plating was more simple, so the steak wasn't swimming in the mash.

There are definite advantages to having an early lunch here on a weekday despite the wait. I think the food is cooked better because they are less busy. Maybe I should also try arriving for an early lunch on a weekend too.

Le Cuisson is at 269b Queen Street, #01-236, Singapore

It's almost directly behind iluma mall near Bugis Junction

Opening Hours: Tue - Sun:11:00 am-2:00 pm5:00 pm-8:00 pm