Steak and Fries: Great ones at Suntec City

Steak and fries. A pretty standard meal in Paris. A simple meal, one might say, but to do a simple meal right, takes courage, and a great chef.

I waxed lyrical about La Bourse au la vie in Paris a while ago. A revisit earlier this year was not so exciting. But from the first visit, the imprint of the magnificent hot fries, crisp on the outside, creamy and smooth on the inside is permanently stored in my mind. Where else can I find such marvellous fries?

Situated in a rather large, cheerfully decorated restaurant just by the giant fountain at Suntec, the restaurant is rather unpretentious. It serves a nice set lunch, of either $19.90++ for salad, steak and fries and a glass of soft drink or $29.90 for the same but slightly larger steak and either a glass of kir or soft drink. Unlimited servings of the marvellous fries.

The steak is sliced, and smothered with a "secret" pepper sauce. The meat is reasonably good. Not the most tender like the US styled dry aged beef, but rather similar to what one gets in Continental Europe. A rather leaner, tougher, more sinewy cut. But nonetheless still quite tender and juicy. The sauce, and a bit of French Dijon mustard is quite delicious.

But as I mentioned in the begining of the review, it is the fries which is outstanding. Crispy golden fries. Really, really good. And they cheerfully give you refills. One one lunch, we went several times before writing this review, we had 4 servings of the fries. Each time, made to order, served piping hot and crisp. Magnificent.

Not the best steak in town, but certainly quite acceptable in taste and portion. But definitely one of the best fries in the city. I highly recommend this restaurant. They have other outlets in Duxton Hill and Pacific Plaza (where they share the premises with &Made).

Photonote: Experimental photography on iPhone 5s. Full sized jpeg exported, tweaked on Photoshop CS4. I must say, quite pleasing. But due to the small sensor size, no selective focussing is possible, and as a result, no bokeh.

L'Entrecôte
Suntec City
#B1-128/129
6690 7569
info@deliciae.sg
Reservations available for large groups only.
Daily 11.30AM to 9.30PM

Where do you go for the best burger in Singapore: I recommend &Made

Burgers. Simple meal. Meat, bun, a bit of cheese. What could be more simple. But a good burger is hard to find. A great burger is worth a trip just to eat.

I have chronicled my burger adventures in Singapore for a while. From the high brow Daniel Bolud's wagyu and foie gras creation, to my favourite from Fullerton Bay. But this one at &Made by Bruno Menard beats them all!

Best burger I have eaten.

Beautiful. The meat is dry aged angus. Not wagyu, which I feel is probably wasted on burger. The meat is hand chopped, and grilled to perfection. A small of melted cheese, slap on the bun and viola, ready to go!

Shown above is their B-Burger, just a plain burger...and boy what a burger. I also tried the equally amazing bacon burger:

Glorious! Same beautifully made and cooked patty. But with some lettuce, tomato, and gorgeous crisp bacon! Delicious does not begin to describe this! Truly magnificent.

But that is not all, their fries are also fabulous. Reminded me of the fries I had in Paris. Beautifully thin shoestring fries. Crispy on the outside, and creamy on the inside. Shiok!

Their dessert is also superb. We had the molten caramel cake.

Superb. The cake was made just right...if I was forced to criticize, then perhaps a bit more moist would be perfect. But cut open, revealing the molten caramel. Gorgeous! Went perfectly with the vanilla ice cream coated with what I think is sliced toasted almonds.

Very highly recommended. I will be back for more. Their menu also offers pork and lamb burgers, and steak and fries...like one gets in Paris. I tried the steak and fries at their sister restaurant L'Entrecot. The steak is good, but not totally spectacular, but the fries, the same as you get with your &Made burger is absolutely wonderful.

&Made
9 Scotts Road
Pacific Plaza
#01-04-06
Singapore 228210
6690 7566
http://andmade.sg

Gastronomy in Paris: Revisiting La Bourse ou la Vie

Another revisit post...La Bourse ou la Vie...your money or your life.

I had a great experience last time I visited...the steaks were good, and the fries magnificent...click here for earlier review.

We visited on a quiet Friday evening...one other table was occupied when we arrived, so the place was very quiet.

Edward was adventurous and decided to try the steak tatare...

I took a taste, certain not the best steak tatare I have eaten. The meat was nicely minced...light tasting, but the spices were a bit lacking, in my view. Having said this, steak tatare is not my favourite dish, and I am certainly no expert in judging. Edward didn't quite like it as well, but Kin was ok with the dish.

I oredered a glass of red wine, and the waiter opened a whole bottle and left it on the table...later when I checked the bill, he did charge me for one glass. Nice of him to trust me to just pour a glass. The wine was good, but not exceptional. Went very well with the steaks.

We ordered the steaks "a point", which is medium...in French...

As I remarked the last review, the beef in France is a bit leaner than those offered by American or Japanese steakhouses. A bit more chewy. But tasty, and with very intense flavour.

I glowed about the fries the last visit. This time round, perhaps it was a quiet evening, but certainly no excuse...the fries were not as wonderful as the last time. I think they are still fried in tallow (beef fat), and have some of the robust, wonderful flavour, but somehow they were not crisp. Nevertheless, they were still good fries, just not as fantastic as in my last experience.

A bit duller than the last visit, where the steak was very good, and the fries spectacular. This time round, still deserves a recommendation, but not as glowing.

La Bourse ou la Vie
12 rue Viviene
Paris 75002
01.42.60.08.83
Open noon-10pm Mon-Fri.
Closed 1wk Aug & 1wk Dec