So France @ Bugis

A gourmet friend recommended So France to me when I was asking where can I get Bordier butter in Singapore, never got myself to go until I got stuck in Singapore for extended period.

So France is made up of three parts – a mini gourmet food mart (l’épicerie), a café and a bistro.

L’Épicerie

I came to So France specially for the Bordier butter. While the Rolls-Royce of butter is not exclusively sold here, you can get other gourmet French food for your pantry or for that special gathering. Or you can order online.

I tried many times to pan fried my own foie gras. The maid complained (too oily), Princess complained (not nice). I gave up. But if you want to try, you can get the real stuff here.

It has long been a tradition in the West Indies and Réunion Island to flavour white rhum with aromatics producing the famous “rhum arrangé” whose exact ingredients vary according to where you are, the plants available and the “humeur du moment“. 

And of course, the cannery section featured some of the most colourful canned food I have seen. Not sure how they taste, but they sure looked pretty.

Le Cafe

While waiting for the bistro to start (there’s a break between lunch and dinner service, between 5-6 pm), we waited at the cafe and could not resist the donuts on the shelf. $5.50 for 6 or $1 for one, they are not the usual sized donut with a hole from Dunkins. They are little balls of delights. I would say skip the plain on, we had those that are filled with chocolate and strawberry. The chocolate filling tasted like Nutella, but Princess didn’t mind at all. Au contraire! She loved them! I preferred the strawberry filled ones – didn’t taste anything like the cheap watery filling from outside, you can taste the strawberry with every bite. Yes, get the filled ones.

And we shared a chocolate tart that was really good! There were only two pieces left in the chiller that were bidding us to order them. Dinner in an hour, so we just made do with one. It was a dense chocolate ganache with hints of dark and milk chocolate – it was bitter (in a good way) on the surface, but the deeper you go, the chocolate turned into this smooth, creamy milk chocolate. Loved it, should order one for the celebrations if only we have a big group. It was too much, even when shared by two.

Le Bistro

Behind the cafe and food mart is the bistro that serves French food – what else! The menu is made up bistro classics like duck confit, terrines and rillettes, among others, and one or two that are out of place, like a burger.

And if you in the mood, you may opt to seat along the curved pavement outside the bistro, with the blue and white garden chairs and hanging lights.

The national bird of France is featured everywhere (except the menu), and once you have placed the order, the baguette and butter are served. I would have preferred warm bread, but the baguette has retained the crusty outside and chewy inside, so we didn’t mind.

Tartare de Beouf

The classic French style steak tartare, with chopped beef, capers, onions and other aromatics, topped with a quail egg yolk. It would be perfect if they had chosen a less veiny cut.

Rillettes de Canard

Duck rillettes is one of the most amazing culinary magic tricks of all time. Even though most of the spread is made up of fairly lean duck meat, by emulsifying it in a little butter, duck fat, and duck gelatin, you’ll swear the final product has the fat content of the finest foie gras torchon.

I loved the way their duck rillette has been flavoured and that the duck has not be rendered to a mush. You can still taste the duck with every quenelle.

Salade Landaise

Mesclun salad, gizzard, duck breast, shaved foie gras terrine

A very hearty salad that a French grandmother would make. Salade Landaise is a traditional French salad originating from the Landes area, famous for its duck and walnuts. The salad is beloved for its contrast of temperatures of the ingredients. It’s made with duck breast, gizzards or confit, lettuce leaves, bacon, cherry tomatoes, walnuts, and croutons. Here it was all served cold.

Le Cassoulet

Duck confit, pork belly, sausage, beans

You have been warned, this is a really salty dish! Bits of duck confit was rendered with smoked bacon (not exactly pork belly) and sausage fillings, and then stewed with cannellini beans. Very hearty and smoky, not good for your arteries. The waitress said it was done in the traditional French style and they would mop it up with baguette and so it was made with the overdose of salt. We could not finished it.

Sides

Lucky for us, we ordered some sides to mop up the stew. The mashed potato was creamy and running, with just the right amount of butter and cheese. Everyone has been fooled by Disney and expected the ratatouille to come out like a tart. Well, this was the ratatouille that I was expecting, just a beautifully stewed pot of vegetables.

While I was impressed with the small but very well curated selection in the mini mart, I was not entire impressed with the bistro. It served good French food, but you know it lacks that wow factor. Still I would eat here every time I come to stock up my pantry, or perhaps I would just order online.

So France Bistro & Gourmet
7 Fraser Street Duo Galleria, #01-51/56 Bugis MRT, Singapore 189356
Tel : +65 6909 6449

Date Visited : Feb 2021