La Cuisson - La French Fine Dining Restaurant [Closed]

La Cuisson Bistro & Wine Bar
44 Prinsep Street, Singapore 188673
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaCuisson
Opening Hours: 
Tue - Fri: 5:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Sat: 10:00 am - 2:30 pm, 5:30 pm - 11:00 pm
Sun: 10:00 am - 2:30 pm, 5:30 pm - 10:30 pm
Contact: +65 8332 0302

In the midst of finding a restaurant for our monthsary + pre-xmas celebration on a Friday night, I chanced upon La Cuisson's introduction in Hungrygowhere's newsletter. Rated 84% on HGW with several good reviews, we hence decided to give it a try.

For people who don't drive, I'd suggest you to alight at Dhoby Ghaut MRT station and walk over to La Cuisson, directly opposite PoMo and literally right next to the famous Strictly Pancakes restaurant. However, for people who drive, please do NOT follow your GPS. Your GPS/google map is correct. Sadly, there's a construction (see the map below) going on in the middle of Prinsep Street which splits the road into half and you will not be able to reach La Cuisson using your GPS (we came from ECP's Exit 15, Rocher Rd). Drive in from Middle Road into Princep Street to be safe. :) The outdoor coupon-parking spaces along Princep Street is very limited. Fortunately, there are 2 other carparks nearby and we parked at the Mosque's carpark at 51 Bencoolen Street, $2 per entry after 6pm on Mon-Sat and $2 per entry on Sunday.

La Cuisson's exact location, credits to gothere.sg

We finally found the restaurant after 30min of re-routing + finding carpark with heavy traffic. We saw a stretch of restaurants along Princep Street upon turning right from Rendezvous Hotel. La Cuisson stands at the very right end of the stretch, with Strictly Pancakes on her left.

La Cuisson Signboard

La Cuisson on the most right

La Cuisson has two levels of seating. First level with only 5 tables, including kitchen and counter; second level with more tables and single toilet cubicle (don't worry, it's clean). We chose a table at the most corner on the first level. It was only nearly 50% full on a Friday evening, while there's a long queue outside Strictly Pancakes, quite a big contrast.

La Cuisson Level 1

Table Setting with Menu

We ordered Beef Carpaccio (SGD 16) as our appetizer, Shoulder Tender 200g (SGD 28) as my main dish, Pan Seared Salmon (SGD 26) as BF's main dish and Poached Pear (SGD 10) as our dessert. The drinks menu contains the usual beverages with tea and coffee. However, there's no hot chocolate in the menu. Thankfully, they were able to prepare hot chocolate (SGD 5) for me, out of the menu. =)

Hot Chocolate - SGD 5

The hot chocolate was nice and foamy - even to the last drip! They should seriously consider inserting this drink to their menu.

Beef Carpaccio (SGD 16) - Thinly sliced raw beef with a shiitake vinaigrette, shaved onion and micro cress

I love their Beef Carpaccio! Good quality beef, so fresh and sweet! I'd recommend beef lovers to try! Please don't eat too much if you have a weak stomach, cause the beef isn't cooked. =P

Pan Seared Salmon (SGD 26) - Crispy skin, lentils, raisin caper pesto with fennel endive salad

The mains were served at the same time - good job, I don't favor restaurants that serve one by one such that everyone has to wait for everyone else's food to be served before they can start eating. Pan seared salmon lived up to it's description. The skin was indeed crispy! My BF commented that this was the best Pan Seared Salmon he has eaten. The sauce complements well with the salmon too. Yummy yum yum.

Shoulder Tender 200 grams (SGD 28) - 200day Grain Fed Australian Angus served with mashed potatoes, confit shallots, roasted celeriac and garlic

Close up of Shoulder Tender

Sliced by the chef

The shoulder tender looked so good. Rest assured, the red liquid flowing out from the beef wasn't blood, it's red wine. No doubt, the quality of the medium-rare beef was fantastic. However, I'm not a fan of red wine. (I prefer White Wine.) The red wine added made the beef tasted slightly sour and it wasn't very much to my liking. Nevertheless, I still managed to finish the entire plate as the beef itself was superb.

Poached Pear (SGD 10) - Poached pear served with vanilla ice cream and beetroot

The dessert was special. It was my first time trying poached pear so I found it quite interesting. The vanilla ice cream tasted good - ice cream can hardly be bad! The taste of combining a slice of poached pear stained with beetroot and ice cream tasted alright, not fantastic but unique.

I think that La Cuisson deserves appreciation from more people as the quality of their food is excellent, with generous portion (not big big plate and little little food kind, yea Singlish saying), service is good and ambiance is great too. It's a good place for couples to celebrate their anniversaries, also a suitable venue for group gatherings. Also, they have a wine list, I didn't look at it as we seldom consume alcohol. Furthermore, they only charge 10% service charge, no 7% GST. Well, the 7% will soon be added in if they manage to have a turnover of more than 1 million SGD for a year.

Do make a reservation/walk-in if you wanna give this French restaurant a try! :)

One Ocean Seafood Restaurant - Zhi Char Gem in Toa Payoh

*Click here to see update on One Ocean Seafood Restaurant in my new post!*

One Ocean Seafood Restaurant 天翼海鲜

New Location: 7 Mandai Link #01-06, Mandai Connection, Singapore 728653
Moved from Block 1002, Toa Payoh Industrial Park, #01-1407 Singapore 319074 (behind Toa Payoh Lorong 8)
Website: http://www.oneocean.sg/
Opening Hours: Daily 11:00 am -10:30 pm
Contact: +65 6256 3973
Email: one_ocean1002@hotmail.com
(Buffet Review for Ocean Treats' at the bottom)

Usually I will review about western-style cafes and restaurants, however for this post, I shall dedicate to Zhi Char (or Zi Char/Tze Char/Cze Char/煮炒) - Chinese cuisine with a touch of creativity and affordable at the same time.

Situated in an industrial park in Toa Payoh, a weird location I find, One Ocean Seafood Restaurant sits right at the corner of Block 1002 with indoor and outdoor seating. Despite it being located in such an 'ulu' (secluded) place, I was very surprised that the restaurant's quite full inside-out on a normal weekday evening! I've been to this place for quite a few times which then convinced me to write a review about it as I feel that more people need to know about this eatery. There're actually quite a number of regulars too.

How to get there? 
The easiest way is to punch their postal code '319074' into Google map/GPS and let your device do the job in guiding you if you drive. *Perk: Free parking!* Nevertheless, if you don't drive, you can take Bus 238 from Toa Payoh Interchange and alight just 5 stops later, opposite Toa Payoh Polyclinic. It's merely a short 3-5min walk from the bus stop and you'll find One Ocean (see picture below). I always use gothere.sg for guides on public transport. =)

Walking guide from bus stop opposite Toa Payoh Polyclinic to Block 1002 One Ocean Seafood Restaurant (Credits to gothere.sg)

At the entrance, they placed an advertisement for their daily $9 menu.
(I tried translating into English myself as the advertisement is in Chinese.)
Monday: Shark fin's with Crab Meat (usual price $18)
Tuesday: Nyonya Assam Red Fish (usual price $25)
Wednesday: Black Pepper Crab (usual price $30)
Thursday: Cereal Prawn (usual price $20)
Friday: Kampong Chicken (usual price $18)
Saturday: Pineapple Sweet and Sour Pork (usual price $15) or Classic Vegetables (usual price $12)
Sunday: New One Ocean Tofu (usual price $12) or Two Loose Kai-Lan (usual price $12)

Daily SGD 9 Promotion

Their setting of Indoor vs Outdoor is very different. Outdoor is like normal coffee shop, yet the air-conditioned indoor seating is in banquet-style, I would call it a high-class zhi char venue on the inside! Normally you will find Zhi Char in Hawker Centre or Coffeeshop but One Ocean is very different.

I find that most of their dishes are tasty, however I did not take pictures of the food I had over the several occasions except my last visit. =( Nevertheless, I still remember the names of the dishes and I'd strongly urge you to give them a try!

Some of my favourites: Blackcurrant Pork Chop, Pumpkin Crab, Black Pepper Crab, Ocean Platter Combination, Assam Fish Head, Salt & Pepper Beancurd and Roast Chicken.

I know some of you would think 'Huh?? Blackcurrant with pork chop??? Seriously???'. Yea, seriously nice combi in my opinion as well as my BF's; we like the creativity of the chef to come out with different delicious combinations of food.

Sharing some pictures of the restaurant, together with their food below:

Entrance of One Ocean Seafood Restaurant

Ocean Platter Combination

Kampong Chicken

Salted Egg Prawn

Curry Fish Head

Claypot Brinjal

Herbal Frog Claypot Soup

Qing Nong Cai

Beef Teriyaki Cubes (I like it)

Each person will only need to spend about $10-20 unless you order delicacies like Shark Fin's and stuff.

Anyway, one interesting fact about this restaurant is that they will host special events on traditional Chinese occasions like Qing Ming, Chong Yang, Mid-Autumn Festival, etc. Recently they even invited Chen Shucheng (陈澍城, Tan Soo Seng), a veteran Mediacorp artist who specializes in acting and hosting, to their restaurant to host and speak to their customers! Wow! There were door gifts and 3x $100 vouchers to be won as well.

If you missed the previous exciting events, then you should not miss the next event on 13 Dec 2013, celebrating Winter Solstice (冬至), 7.30pm-10.00pm. Priced at only SGD 39.90 NETT per pax and you will be treated to a full 9-course meal!

The 9-course meal includes abalone, shark's fins, red-spotted grouper fish (红斑鱼), prawn, crab, chicken, scallop with vegetables & mushrooms, fragrant rice cooked with sauce, black sesame tang yuan with mango pudding. (Correct me if I'm wrong as the brochure is in Chinese.) You may refer to the brochures below:

SGD 39.90 for 9-course meal at One Ocean Seafood Restaurant

9 Course Meal on Winter Solstice, 13 Dec 2013

If you are curious about how they fare in terms of food, you can give them a call (62563973) to book a table for the upcoming event. Otherwise, you may put this family-friendly restaurant in your list if you wanna hangout with your family or your group of friends after work. One negative part of this place is that the drink stall and One Ocean are separated. Thus you would have to pay separately and some times order separately if it's during peak hours. Nevertheless, if they restaurant's staffs aren't busy, they will help you to order at the drink stall. =)

Other Outlets (Based in Coffeeshop):
Ang Mo Kio: Blk 107 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4, S(560107)
Hougang: Blk 435A Hougang Ave 8, S(530435)
Serangoon: Blk 151 Serangoon North Ave 2, S(550151)
Tanjong Pagar: Blk 7 Tanjong Pagar Plaza, S(081007)
Woodlands: Blk 892C Woodlands Drive 50 #01-02, S(730892)


Update! 
Early Mother Day's Celebration on 08 May 2014

扬州炒饭 Yang Chew Fried Rice (Large size S$12) - Fragrant fried rice!

芋泥鸭 Roasted Duck with Yam (Special order, not in menu, S$22) - Creative and yummy combination!

红斑鱼 Red Spotted Grouper (S$ 63) - Very fresh and nice!

黑胡椒鹿肉 Black Pepper Venison (Medium size S$28) - So good that we ordered another dish with ginger onion but we agreed that black pepper's better

Teriyaki Beef Cube (Medium Size S$30) - Beef's very tender!

Sea Cucumber (Medium Size S$40)

辣椒螃蟹 Chilli Crab (x1 S$55) - BEST DISH of the day

Bun (S$5) - Awesome to dip into chilli crab's sauce!

My family were seated at the VIP section this time round. The service was great. We especially liked the long hair guy who's from Ipoh, he was very friendly and recommended dishes for us. Best thing was, my Grandma could communicate with him as he can speak Cantonese. Great dinner! :)


Ocean Treats Pte Ltd
Catering & Banquet
Website: http://www.oceantreats.sg/
Contact: +65 8666 3666 (Order at least 2 days in advance)
Email: customer@oceantreats.sg
(Updated on 21 Mar 2014)

Last Sunday, my mum ordered a buffet set for 30 pax from Ocean Treats, another business under Ocean Group that provides buffet catering & banquet. The overall buffet was great; we received many compliments from our guests. There were several commendable dishes, especially the Foie Gras Fried Rice with Crab!! As there were many leftover food, we took them home and had them over the next 2 days. I had the fried rice for 2 dinners on different day and never got sick of it. ^^

Buffet Menu
1. Xin Zhou Bee Hoon 星洲炒米粉 - My mum and aunt love this.
2. Claypot Goose Liver (Foie Gras) Fried Rice with Crab 沙锅蚧肉鹅肝炒饭 - Strongly Recommended!
3. Fragrant Marmite Pork Chop 香煎妈咪肉扒 - Very nice! Didn't take close up pic though.
4. Sweet and Sour Fish 酸甜鱼片
5. Broccoli with Scallops 带子西兰花
6. Shrimp Paste Chicken Wing 虾酱鸡 - My bro & cousins' favorite.
7. Hand-made Prawn Roll 手工虾枣
8. Salted Fish Skin 咸蛋鱼皮 - Crispy and tasty!
9. Longan Sea Coconut 龙眼海底椰
10. Ice Lemon Tea 柠檬茶

Pardon the pictures below as I took it with my phone under dark lighting; I forgot to bring my camera to the event my mum hosted. =(

Middle tray - 4. Sweet and Sour Fish 酸甜鱼片 (left) and 3. Fragrant Marmite Pork Chop 香煎妈咪肉扒 (right) 

1. Xin Zhou Bee Hoon 星洲炒米粉

2. Claypot Goose Liver (Foie Gras) Fried Rice with Crab 沙锅蚧肉鹅肝炒饭 - RECOMMENDED (I took this picture after I took away the pincer)

5. Broccoli with Scallops 带子西兰花, 7. Hand-made Prawn Roll 手工虾枣, 8. Salted Fish Skin 咸蛋鱼皮

8. Salted Fish Skin 咸蛋鱼皮, 6. Shrimp Paste Chicken Wing 虾酱鸡

9. Longan Sea Coconut 龙眼海底椰

When the lights were on for awhile..

10. Ice Lemon Tea in the brown dispenser

Table Setting

The buffet arrived 15min before our scheduled time as they had to set up the table and bring in all the different dishes. Everything was done before 6.30pm. At the end of the buffet, they provided us with plastic boxes for us to take away our food. This was very thoughtful as not all buffet caterers will do it. I ordered buffet from Yeh Lai Siang Catering for my 21st birthday party and they didn't provide us anything for us to take away the remaining food. From now onwards I will support Ocean Treats whenever I want to order buffet as they serve good food at reasonable price! =)