Words and photos by Chiobu.

Toots Brasserie is a 5-month old French restaurant in historic Sultan Hotel, helmed by Chef Jason Wong. Chef Wong was Head Chef at Bistro Petit Salut in Holland Village for over 7 years. I made a reservation online, and was late for almost half an hour because it was difficult to find a parking lot since parking is free after 5pm in that area. When I arrived at the restaurant, I was pleasantly surprised to find booth seats. Booth seats are great! They are cosy and private. The overall ambience of Toots was fantastic – soft music in the background with soft lighting. Great place to bring your date. Toots also has a bar, right in front of their restaurant so you can have some pre-dinner drinks while waiting for your friends or for food.

Once seated, the staff explained that they had been opened for only 4 months–we visited this restaurant a month ago–and none of the wait staff had prior experience in service. He hoped that we’d be forgiving if we did not like their service. Wah, so honest. It turned out that the service was excellent as they were very attentive and very polite.

For appetizers, we ordered half dozen Burgundy snails in garlic butter and herbs ($16), recommended by the staff as a popular dish. I couldn’t taste much garlic in the butter, but hey, it’s good for dates then. No bad breath!

We also ordered Pan Seared Foie-gras with Petit Salad, Seasonal Grapes, X’eres Vinaigrette ($24). The foie gras was overcooked, too firm inside out.

For mains, we ordered Poulet rôti au 40 gousses d’ail which translates to 40 garlic roasted whole chicken ($88, for 2-3 pax). A whole chicken that costs $88! Can buy 22 roasted chickens at Cold Storage. Chef Wong uses hormone-free whole chicken because it is less fatty and juicier than normal chicken. The chicken is roasted with 40 garlic cloves and it takes quite a while for them to cook. So enjoy your appetizers slowly. Chef Wong was very nice to serve us soup during the wait for the main course.  The chicken was very tender and juicy. The chicken skin was deliciously crispy. However, the meat was a tad salty and the price was steep for chicken even if it’s hormone-free. If you are here, maybe you can try their Sharing Steak – Côte de bœuf (Serves 3 – 4 pax) $138 or Châteaubriant de bœuf (Serves 2) $98, probably more worth the money.

For dessert, we ordered the special of the day which wasn’t in the menu ($10). We spent $162 for two or about $80 per pax.

Toots Brasserie Singapore

101 Jalan Sultan, The Sultan Hotel #01-01, Singapore 199002
T: 6292 0740
Breakfast (daily): 7.30-10.30am
Lunch: M-Sat: 12-2.30pm
Dinner: T-Sat: 6.30-10.30pm

Rating:
Ambience Excellent
Service Excellent
Food OK
Price A bit high