Thursday, November 18, 2010

Le Chasseur

Usually, it would take me almost a week before I put up a blog of a place that I have visited and fancied, but this new zhe char place was so good, I have to blog this the morning after we were there!

Quietly tucked in a corner along New Bridge road, this very humble cafe was almost too inconspicuous for its own good, and would have almost passed us by if the rather unique name had not stood out.

Pauline and I were actually nearby at Dynasty Travel settling our holiday plans, when around evening time, our tummies were beginning to grumble and had to look for something convenient in the vacinity.

What caught our eye were the bold signs in the place declaring no service charge, no MSG and no artificial coloring. We wondered what kind of food would they serve up? Well, we were all pleasantly surprised in the end. Luckily winekaki joined us to assist in finishing up the great food on offer.

Stir-fried celery and lily bulb

This was a very light and enjoyable vegetable dish. The crunchy texture of the lily bulb blended well with the familiar taste of celery and was very refreshing. The seasoning, even without MSG really felt flavorful and easy going on the palette.

Bitter Gourd and Slice Fish Bee Hoon

The bitter gourd slices were surprisingly not overly bitter and balanced the fish and bee hoon perfectly. In all, it was a very simple concocted dish that evoked memories of the days when one would take for granted the elegance and simplicity of a home cooked dish like this.

Oatmeal Tofu

The one disappointment we had was proabably the oatmeal tofu. Not that it was particularly bad, just that when compared to the quality of the other dishes, this tofu tasted quite pedestrian. But the tofu itself was well cooked and had that lovely crisp on the outside, absolutely tofu softness mush on the inside.

Claypot Rice

The claypot rice is their signature dish, and it was certainly gorgeous looking after the addition of black sauce. The chinese sausages, mushrooms, chicken and chinese greens all mixed well with the rice, and the rice was well infused with all these flavors and had that just enough of burnt taste without reaching the state of bitterness.

Chicken Curry

For us though, the ultimate highlight of this restaurant was the surprising chicken curry dish. Even without any artificial flavoring, the chicken curry really stood out in terms of tickling our palettes and exciting it even longer. Very tasty and lemak (coconuty) without being too overly thick.

The chicken pieces were really well stewed in the chicken curry broth to the point they were really soft and meltingly delicious to every bite. The potatoes were also so well cooked that they had the texture of thick mushrooms!

Tomato Omelette

The tomato omelette was beautifully cooked and looked as gorgeous as can be seen from the above photo. It was a tad salty but would otherwise go well with the claypot rice or any other rice dishes. The good thing about this egg dish was that the omelette was not overcooked as in most chinese eateries.

BBQ Prawns

One of their signatures was this plate of live barbecued prawns and it certainly did not disappoint. The prawns were very, very fresh and sweet tasting and outrageously succulent and we finished the shrimps in record time. And it was certainly not expensive at all considering the value provided.

winekaki taking his food photography very seriously

When we finished our last bite of the meal, we were totally flabbergasted at the wonderment of the food that we had consumed. And when we glanced around the walls, we were floored by the amount of dishes they had on offer.

Normally, I would be very adverse to a restaurant having too many menu items, as I tend to believe that quality triumphs over quantity any day, and an eatery should focus on their strengths and not be too diverse.

Le Chasseur is an exception, as every plate was of a very high quality, and in the curry chicken, it was one of the best chicken curry dishes the silverchef has ever had anywhere. And even without coloring, the food looked beautiful!

We enjoyed this place so much, our second visit should not be too far away. And the next time, I will be sure to bring some videos back for your viewing.

Le Chasseur
31 New Bridge Road

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