So France Singapore Bistro – a new unpretentious French restaurant at Bugis

Our regular readers will know that we made an unsuccessful attempt to dine at So France Singapore Bistro a month ago. We were there when they just opened but at that time only snacks and drinks were served. This time, we did not fail. Armed with a confirmed reservation, we made our way to So France Bistro and Epicerie at Duo Galleria (connected to Bugis MRT Station) for lunch. You can read more about the bistro and gourmet store in our post about our unsuccessful visit here.

The dining area of So France Singapore is comfortable but not ostentatious. Which just about sums up our impressions of this new bistro. Service was friendly and attentive but not over-bearing. The food was pleasantly presented but with no attempt to over-decorate the dishes with little flowers and fancy plates. The well brewed cups of coffee were served with a generic sachet of brown sugar. In other words – it felt like a nice, unpretentious French restaurant.

So France Singapore Menu

According to the So France website, their concept is stated as follows:  “Start living a true French experience in the heart of Singapore!”. As to why the “So France” name, we were told that it reflects their concept of presenting a fully French experience. “So” also sounds like sud in French. The cuisine and products offered at the bistro and epicerie are mainly from the Sud-ouest (south-western part of France). Here are pictures of the So France Singapore Menu.

We started our lunch with an oven baked camembert ($18 for a half portion). The melted cheese was wonderful. The half portion did not look big but was certainly enough to be shared by two or three in order to save space for other dishes.

Our other dishes were all from the Bistro Stews section of the menu. We had the grilled squid stew ($27). the beef cheek stew ($26) and the chicken mushroom stew ($24).

I do not need to give a separate description for each of the stews. They were all very good. The beef cheek stew (above picture) was our favourite. The meat was so soft we could eat this dish with just a spoon. The wine marinade and veal jus provided a very tasty gravy to go with the mashed potato.

The chicken and squid stews came in joint runner-up. The chicken stew contained poached chicken in creamy mushroom sauce.

The squid stew had a more flavourful sauce. It was mildly spicy and contained capsicum, garlic and onion. This dish would have been better if not for some pieces of squid which were too tough and chewy.

Although we ended up all ordering stews, each stew was so different. The sauce in each of them was delicious.

We ended lunch with some coffee ($4 and $5 for black and cappuccino respectively). They were served in simple cups but tasted good.

Ratings:
Food: 4
Service: 5
Value: 4
Atmosphere: 3
Overall : 4 TOPs  

So France
7 Fraser Street
Duo Galleria #01-51/56
Singapore 189356

Tel: +65 6909 6449

Bistro Opening Hours
Monday to Thursday:
11:30am – 3pm, 6pm – 9:30pm (closed on Tuesdays)
Friday & Saturday:
11:30am – 3pm, 6pm – 10:30pm
Sunday: 9am – 9:30pm

Nearby MRT Station: Bugis

Website

For more dining options at Duo Galleria, read our post : Restaurants and places to eat at Duo Galleria Singapore

The Ordinary Patrons | Real Dining Experience of Ordinary People
an independent Singapore food blog