Food Review: Fleur De Sel At Tras Street | Charming French Restaurant In Tanjong Pagar

Posted on July 21, 2021 by theRantingPanda in Food

The Place Located in a shophouse unit on Tras Street, I visited Fleur De Sel (FDS) for lunch this year and revisited for dinner recently after its revamp. The space of the French restaurant has transformed significantly, spotting a much brighter dining ambience with floral prints, rattan boards and furniture, an open concept kitchen, all of which add to the pleasant dining ambience.

Fleur De Sel is helmed by Chef owner Alexandre Lozachmeur, who is no stranger to Singapore’s culinary scene with previous stints at Restaurant Dolce Vita in Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Harbour Grill in Hilton Hotel, Au Petit Salut and Brasserie Les Saveurs at St Regis Hotel. Prior to Singapore, the French chef was in restaurants such as the Spoon restaurants and Alain Ducasse Au Plaza Athénée, alongside world-acclaimed chef, Alain Ducasse.

The Food Apart from the space, there are also changes to the set menus post revamp. Set lunch and dinner menus are available, starting from S$78++ for Fleur De Sel Set Lunch or S$198++ for Degustation Set Lunch. Dinner is either the S$148++ Fleur De Sel Set Dinner, or the S$198++ Degustation Set Dinner.

I had the Degustation Set Dinner and it started with a lovely Amuse bouche of the day and complimentary bread with salted butter along with FDS salt with saffron and truffle.

The first course proper is the Le Thon, l’Oursin et le caviar; Flame seared Kyushu Chutoro, Hokkaido Sea Urchin and Kaviari Kristal caviar. Fresh myriad of seafood flavours here, it is almost like a taste of the ocean. There is some cauliflower purée beneath the sea urchin which adds to the creaminess of the dish. I am pleasantly surprised by how generous the sea urchin portion is, definitely not complaining!

The next course is another seafood dish, Le Crabe. You get Atlantic crab seasoned with tartar sauce, avocado purée, espelette croutons and balsamic sorbet. I love this dish, other than its size. Lovely crab flavour and the mix of the avo purée and balsamic sorbet is ingeniously crafted.

Le Foie Gras de Canard should please foie gras lovers next. Served on the table is a Pan seared duck liver with apple and fig tatin, maraschino cherry and duck jus vinaigrette.

There is definitely much Japanese elements on the menu and the La Saint-Jacques is the next dish which feature Seared Hokkaido Scallop, cauliflower in purée and raw, grated Kaviari pressed dehydrated caviar and chicken jus topped with crispy pork rind. The presentation is fancy as you get shaved caviar here, where I have only seen shaved truffles previously.

The next dish is the La Crevette Imperiale – Flamed seared Mediterranean Carabinero, finger lime, trumpet zucchini carpaccio, Kalamata olives and extra virgin olive oil. My only gripe is that the olive oil portion can be reduced so that it doesn’t overpower the carabinero.

For mains, I had the Le Pigeon, 2 Hours sous-vide and roasted French Pigeon breast, pigeon leg confit, braised daikon with Australian Manjimup black truffle. Personally, I’m not a very big pigeon lover but this version is not that gamy. The icing on the cake for me is the aromatic and lovely flavour of the Manjimup black truffle.

If you are having the S$148++ Fleur De Sel Set Dinner Menu, the choice for mains is the Le Boeuf, a 2 hour sous-vide and seared Toriyama Wagyu beef tenderloin A4 in Romanesco broccoli purée, poached yellow and green zucchini and red wine sauce. Another use of Japanese ingredient here, this medium-rare beef can’t go very wrong.

For dessert, it is a classic Le Baba, or rum baba. You get Rum soaked baba glazed in passionfruit juice and topped Tahitian vanilla whipped cream. The result is a soft cake texture, a sinful end to the meal. I was quite filled at this point and I think the portion of the dessert can be smaller.

Fancy some cheese? The cheese trolley looks amazing though I was too filled to try any.

Or if you fancy some old-fashioned rum after the meal, there is an interesting range as well.

Petit Four is the last leg of the meal served in an interesting character tray, where I had madeleine and macaron.

Rants An icing on the cake would be to offer diners an assortment of warm bread at the start of the meal.

Will I Return Again? Tras Street a a highly competitive spot for restaurants, with the likes of acclaimed restaurants like Terra and Restaurant Euphoria close by. Fleur De Sel refreshed its space at the right time, and this is where you can have a good value French meal if your budget allows as the portions are hearty. Service is polished, flavours of the dishes are strong and it is definitely one restaurant not to be neglected on this street.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 4/5
Hole in the pocket: 4/5
Ambience: 4/5
Overall Experience: 4/5