I was so happy to find this hidden Gem! As I like French food, I have been looking for affordable ones where I can dine regularly. The added bonus it is in the East.

This stall hidden inside a coffee shop at the junction of East Coast and Joo Chiat Road. It has taken over the Casa Bom Vento stall which used to sell Eurasian food.You get cheap French food serve in an unromantic environment. You really can't complain as the prices start at $3 for Starters like Angel Hair Pasta and main course at $8.90 for Duck Confit. The most expensive item is 60g Foie Gras at $14.00. Do not expect high end French food at this kind of price.Our total bill for 2 persons came to $20.80 for 2 main courses and 1 shared starter. We ordered Duck Confit, Chicken Roulade with Foie Gras & Angel Hair Pasta with Komba. Check out the other items in the online menu: http://www.saveur.sg/

We went there early at just after 12 noon and put in our order. The chef told me there will be a 20mins wait. Ahead of us there were a group of 12 people who had ordered. The Angel Hair Pasta came just after 20mins.The presentation as seen in the photo looks very neat and beautifully composed. A neatly arranged bundle of thin noodle topped with small dried prawn & chopped herb. The pasta is cooked al dente, but some part was a little hard, it would be perfect if it was slightly softer.After finishing eating the starter, the main course arrived. Chicken Roulade with Foie Gras is chicken fillet wrapped around small amount of Foie Gras and the skin is slightly pan-fried. It would have been better if the chicken skin was crispier. You get a light liver taste from the Foie Gras but not over powering. You get about 6 slices of chicken on top of lightly butter rice with some foams. Not sure what the foam is?The pan-fried duck drumstick was served sitting on top of pomme purée. The potatoes were smooth & nicely done. The duck was lightly salted and I would like the skin to be more crispy. You get taty sauté chopped mushroom and tangy sweet mandarin on the side.

Overall I will give 5 out of 5 for food presentation. Taste I will gave a 4 as there can be further improvement. Generally the flavour is very subtle, not too salty and uncomplicated. Portion was good for the cheap price and was very filling for lunch. Service is not too bad as there were only 2 guys manning the stall acting as waiter cum chef. There is room for improvement, as they forgot to bring knife for my duck confit. I just help myself.

Environment I do not like as this is not one of the better coffee shop and can be a bit stuffy inside. To me sitting outside the corridor is too risky as it is too near the road junction with a narrow pavement & can get dusty.

If you like French Food, do give it a try and support the 2 young guys. I really hope they survive and so that we can all enjoy French cuisine at affordable prices.

They are closed on Wed night and Sun lunch. Do note they are close between 2pm-6pm.

This is one of the many branches under the Paradise Inn brand. It was crowded with a short queue on the Mother’s Day weekend. Prices are more expensive than Zhi Char but affordable in air-con setting.

One thing is consistent is the yummy and nuritious double-boiled soup which comes in earthen pot and serve on top a warmer. One pot is enough for 4-5 persons. Price is either $13.80 or $16.80. We wanted to try their signature double-boiled water goby soup with apple, but it was not available. We settled for double-boiled spare rib with watercress soup.

We ordered some of their signature dishes such as Stewed Pork Belly served with lotus bun at $2.20 each. Crisp-fried Crystal Prawn with Wasabi Mayo Sauce which is quite nice with a fruity sauce. The Fried Cod Fish with Supreme Sauce was nicely done and not too salty. The sauce goes well with piping hot rice. Another of their Signature dish is Fried Vermicelli with Pork Leg, which was fragrant and yummy despite the high calories.

The place is good for a family meal in air-con comfort. It serves familiar dishes with a home cooked feel.

This is a branch of the Thai Cafe in Liang Siang Street owned by local celebrity host Pornsark. The cheeky name with a logo showing the bum of the elephant is a play on his name. Inside the cafe is a description of the meaning of the Thai word Porn. The place is air-con with painting of boats like the floating markets in Thailand. See photos below. Service was excellent and very attentive by the young crew. They bring extra serviettes even though we did not ask for it. They even ask if you would like water when they see you have finished your drink. I hope they will maintain their service even when they are crowded.

We arrived early for dinner at 6.30pm; there was 1 other table ahead of us. Maybe because they only open recently (about 2 weeks), so there was not much crowd on a weekday. We order a hot lemongrass tea $4.50 and a Thai Ice Tea $3. I find the drinks are rather expensive for a normal size glass. The Thai Ice Tea is not bad but it would have tasted better with stronger tea and more milk. It taste diluted once the ice melt. My companion finds the lemongrass drink ok. As there were only 2 of us we ordered small portion of Tom Yum Prawn and Green Curry with Chicken to go with white rice. Both of us love the authentic taste of the food. Tom Yum was not too sour and the spiciness was just right. The recommended Green Curry Chicken did not disappoint as the gravy goes well with steaming white rice.

At the end the meal we shared a rather pricey Sticky Rice with Mango. The texture of the rice is just right with not too much coconut milk and the mango was ripe unlike some place they serve sour mango. Overall I like the food and attentive service. We will be back to try the other dishes with more people. Only complaint is that I find some items rather expensive. For example sides dishes such as Thai fish cake, and prawn cake at $10.90 and $11.90 respectively. Dessert range from red ruby at $8.90 and Sticky Rice with Durian/ Mango at $9.90 rather expensive for individual serving. The cost of dessert is the same price as some of the main dish. I recommend sharing dessert if you really want to try it. There are only 3 choices of dessert.

This La Mian (noodle) stall actually does a very good Xiao Long Bao. and Guo Tie.The Xiao Long Bao is handmade by the lady boss. It takes about 7 minutes to steam the little morsel in the bamboo basket.
For $4 you get 6 very thin skin baos. Pick up the little bao in a spoon and bit into it , pipping hot soup will flow out. The minced pork is soft and you can finish it in 2 mouthfuls. The dumplings are also handmade by the lady boss. You can have the boiled version or the fried version know as Guo Tie. You will get 10 dumplings for the price of $4. I normally order the fried ones and the skin is fried till golden brown. The skin is crispy but the pork filling is still moist. If you love her dumpling, you can order the frozen ones for $10 a packet It has 30 pieces.

She also serves La Mian with different toppings from about $3.80 per bowl.

She starts selling for lunch till dinner time. If you are in this area, do try her version of Xiao Long Bao and Guo Tie.

This stall has opened for more than 1 year taking over the previous Malay stall and the food is tasty but more expensive than the previous stall.The Lontong is popular here, and it cost only $2.50 a bowl. It has a piece of fried beancurd and 1 hard boiled egg and mixed vegetable. It is not very spicy and the curry gravy is light yellow but when you stir in the sambal chili it will turn into bright orange colour. The unique part of the vegetable mix is that it contains nangka (Jackfruit) added to the gravy. The Nangka is cooked until soft.It also sells Fried Black Promfet fish with sweet Sambal. The fish cost around $5-$6 depending on sizes. The fish is marinated with salt and tumeric and fried until very crispy. Then topped with a sweet chili sauce.

On weekend the lady boss has Rendang (dried curry) which is beef or chicken. The chicken rendang is very yummy with all the spices and it is cheaper to opt for the set. The set consists of chicken, potato cutlets, sambal goreng and cost $4.50.
The Black Sotong dish is very good too but it cost at least $4 for 1 serving.

The prices of the Malay food here is pricey than most Malay stall but it is very tasty.