Vis-à-Vis, 12 Chun Tin Road

Vis-à-Vis is a cosy French restaurant located along Bukit Timah Road near Beauty World. It's situated on Chun Tin Road, a little street which happens perpendicularly just before the Al Ameen. This French restaurant is run by some locals who evidently seem to have some idea of what they're doing. They also practice changing of the menu every 3 months in response to the fact that their customers like changes.

This dinner was arranged by Lynn so there was really little I needed to do except sit down and wait to be served. The service here is polite, with warmth from the very obliging lady boss. That was in comparison to the rest of the staff whom are more curt and less chatty.

We began with the presented menu and a basket of fresh warm baguette. The bread here is freshly baked in small batches. It was so nice that we asked for another two servings while I used them to wipe the sauce off my plate and then stuff them into my mouth. Apart from baguette, they also had a walnut and raisin loaf which were just short of awesome. Soft, dense and very warm.

Following the bread, came the appetizers. We went with half a dozen escargots baked with parsley and garlic butter sauce and the homemade duck liver pate stuffed with goose liver and roasted pine nuts complemented with some tangy tasting Cumberland sauce.

escargots

Duck Liver Pate stuffed with Goose Liver.

The escargots were served scalding hot. Didn't come with the shell containers which I was kinda expecting. And then, there was the "delicate" portions of the pate and liver. To the credit of whomever made it, it was delicious. The smooth texture of the goose liver contrasted with the course texture of the pate. This stuff would be fantastic with bread. I have no idea what is Cumberland sauce, but it is tangy as described.

Between the bread and the appetizers, it actually took a little time before we were served our mains. Usually it was short work, but I guess it was a little different tonight. We got ourselves the roasted confit of duck glazed with plum sauce crusted with mixed peppercorn & spices complemented by an Orange Marnier sauce paired with pan fried foie gras on a well....seared peach. And an Australian beef meltique steak.

roasted confit of duck.

meltique steak?

The duck confit came with fragrant roasted skin and fat that melted in your mouth. Meat was tasty but a little dry. The plum sauce wasn't special. The fragrance of plum didn't quite come through although it did have that citrus flavour. On the overall, it was pretty enjoyable

The steak was apparently pre-ordered on request. This place did a good job out of medium doneness if you can make out of it in the photo. I was initially dismayed by the small portions. But it was a succulent cut of meat. The restaurant also provided a freshly made mushroom cream sauce on request which was filled generously with wild mushrooms. It looked like a pretty normal looking mushroom cream sauce, but the taste was robust and mushroom-y. This sauce was also one of the reasons why we made our way into the third basket of their fresh bread.

Dessert followed suit. The what described as a decadent chocolate and vanilla ice cream terrine lightly drizzled with chocolate ganache sprinkled with roasted nuts turned out to be just a rather ordinary looking chocolate and vanilla ice cream. No particular fragrance from the roasted nuts neither. The other dessert which was baked Alaska fared much better. I wonder how many places does Baked Alaska since the only other one I've had was from Shashlik.

Chocolate & Vanilla Ice Cream Terrine

Alaskan flames

This baked Alaska was a little different from the one served at Shashlik. There was strawberry ice cream at the middle. I also noticed a sprig of mint wilting under the flames. The surrounding meringue remained light and fluffy tinged with a slight burnt taste from the flaming Grand Marnier.

On the overall, the eating at Vis-à-Vis was pleasant. Not to mention also the fact that this dinner was considerately arranged by my most beautiful companion. The damage for this 3 course for 2 is about $145. Which was all things considered, very fair price to pay. The bill came with their home made truffles and roasted coconut coated white chocolate which I thought was pretty good. They're also for sale at the restaurant at 80 cents a piece.