I hadn’t expected La Cuisson to be fancy. Started as a stall at Queen St, selling affordable French food, the move into a 2-storey shophouse means the restaurant has gone upmarket. A couple can spend about $120, but the quality and taste of the food justify the price hike. In fact, this is my favorite restaurant this year so far.

I almost never order charcuterie on my own volition–my friends may order and I go with the flow–because I think it’s boliao, not filling, not delicious, expensive and act atas only. But this charcuterie platter ($22, pictured below) was the best I had. Must order. Everything on the platter, consisting 3 homemade terrines, chorizo and saucisson, was perfect. Each item had its distinct bold flavors that didn’t overshadow each other, kinda like the Spice Girls.

It is better value to order the platter but if you can’t handle so much awesomeness at once, the items do come individually. And if you do order individually, go for either the pork head terrine ($8) or foie gras terrine ($20). I always think it’s sacrilegious to turn good foie gras into terrine. Show some respect to gavaged battery geese, man. But this terrine was fantastic, smooth, rich, buttery without the stench of inferior foie gras. Delicious in a different way was the pork head terrine which perked me out of my ennui, something so appetizing, tangy and creamy about it. If you want orgasmic bliss like in exaggerated Japanese food shows, choose foie gras terrine. If you value originality and want a pick-me-up after a terrible day at work, get the pork head.

For the mains, skip the beef steaks (from $26 on, above) which were decent and would normally be a star, but in this case, couldn’t compare to the pork pot au feu ($29, below) and lamb duo (for 2 persons, $68). The rustic pork pot was tender sous vide pork shoulder (but still had a bite) and pork sausage in pork jus, without any greasiness or porky stench. The dish had a lightness of touch and the lentils added a nice spice to the dish. Never liked lentils but this one was addictive.

But the showstopper was the lamb duo (below) for 2 persons, consisting braised lamb shank and pan seared lamb rump in a gorgeous wine reduction lamb jus. The rump was ok but the braised lamb shank was one of the better I had. Like the pork, it was subtle but the sauce permeated into the meat, making the appearance orh lu lu.

For desserts, Ms Atas, who wanted to change her nick to Ms Fitness, said she approved of and would finish by herself the dark chocolate ganache ($13, below) with white chocolate-sesame crisp, chili pistachio brittle, pomelo pieces and earl grey mousse. Don’t believe her fitness tips but the ganache was intense and sexy, definitely worth the calories. Actually, I preferred the sous vide poached pear ($10) with beetroot puree and vanilla ice cream, a lighter finish to a heavy meal. The pear was fragrant as perfume.

The reason why La Cuisson is my favorite restaurant this year is because this review is packed with sentences like ‘one of the best [name of dish] I had’ and ‘never liked [name of dish] but La Cuisson’s version rocks.’ You can tell the ingredients are quality and honest.

La Cuisson Bistro and Wine Bar

44 Prinsep Street Prinsep Place Singapore 188673
T: 83320302
T-Sun: 5-11pm, weekend brunch: 10am-2.30pm
La Cuisson Menu
Rating: 3.218/5 stars 

Thanks, Jean, for the invite.

Written by A. Nathanael Ho.