HENRI

The bakery section which opens from 8am to 4pm, features an assortment of French artisanal bakes that I could hardly resist. Pricing was pretty reasonable. Exhilarated to see them offering Palmier Biscuit. I can’t remember when was the last time I had an impressionable Palmier apart from the famous one by Shanghai Park Hotel’s bakery. Despite reheating it back home, the pastry retained its crisp and butteriness! Easily broken apart for sharing. The house was filled with an aromatic butteriness the moment I opened the oven door. Perfect balance of butteriness and sweetness that I will surely return for.

@henri.com.sg, newly opened French wine bistro on Pekin street by the same owner of Bread & Hearth whose croissant I enjoy too! A splendid place to catch up over coffee and pastries (just like our girls date), that has a vintage French interior, evidently by the floral wallpapers and its wooden furnishings.

While I am not a French cuisine lover, I do have an extremely soft spot for French pastries. The Mille Feuilles Cacahuète Vanille Et Caramel on the dessert menu caught my eye immediately simply because I really love pastries with many layers of puff pastry. Indeed it didn’t disappoint although some might find it pricey for its size, but in addition to the flaky pastry, the vanilla light cream was also the highlight; fragrant, delicate, slightly airy with vanilla beans. Served with peanuts and salted caramel. The taste was, no doubt, an exposition of the use of fine quality ingredients.

That said, the 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗻𝘁 ($3.50) wasn't to my exacting standards when it came to the iconic classic. While there was ample butteriness and a decent amount of flake, the dough was too chewy. However, I was told they're looking into increasing the number of folds — possibly yielding flakier batches in the future.

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French pastries galore at the bakery section of this new French bistro. You're in for a world of Pain with viennoiseries, baguettes, and all the carbs you'd need to satiate your lust for dough.

There are still some kinks since they're in their soft launch phase but the treats were decently enjoyable for the most part. For example, the 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲 ($7.50) was a solid rendition that provided rich creamy bites, peppered with bacon and caramelized onions.

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Visited the much talked about Henri at Pekin Street — the establishment is a more formal, French bistro concept that is opened by the folks behind Bread & Hearth which has outlets at Katong V and at Keong Saik Road which operates as a cafe serving up pastries and bakes. Taking up the former space which Dean & Deluca had previously occupied at Far East Square, the entire space is decked out in wooden furnishing and fittings; all that with floral wallpapers for the walls with a slight Victorian touch. Whilst operating as a bistro with a boulangerie operation, the bistro menu offers patrons light bites, soup, entrées, main dishes and dessert, while the boulangerie retails pastries such as danishes and even entire bread loaves for dine-in and takeaway. Payment for bistro menu items will be billed at the end of the meal, and comprises of served charge, while the same for boulangerie items will be charged upon order at the counter, and does not include service charge.

The Échine de Porc En Chevreuil is an item off the mains section of the menu, and features elements such as marinated pork collar, red wine berry sauce and mashed celery root. The marinated pork collar is done pink for the desired doneness by the chef — the result is a tender and moist slab of meat that comes with some slightly fatter parts; quite balanced and doesn’t require too much of an effort to chew; all that with a clean taste that did not carry any undesirable porky stench. The accompanying red wine berry sauce gave much of a tang that attempts to cut through the slight meatiness that made the entire dish pretty appetising, while the use of mashed celery root over mashed potato was a clever move — provided for a similar savoury note yet with a smoother texture (you know, missing of the usual graininess of mashed potato); also kept the dish pretty light considering how mashed potato is a little denser given it’s starch content. A pretty decent item where one as a meat lover could have alone, or as an item to be shared at the table.

Henri is pretty much an extension to what Bread & Hearth has to offer — whilst the boulangerie does carry some of the items that Bread & Hearth serves up, the bistro menu seems to showcase classic French cooking at its best; all that in an environment that is fitting to its theme. There isn’t quite anything that seems pretentious here — from the vibes to the food, though we did wish that several aspects to the service can be looked into more considering how this is more of a bistro than a cafe; things such as changing of a napkin and cutlery for a single diner but not for the other accompanying one, just to list one particular detail that was missed. Nonetheless, Henri is a great spot for dates as much as it is for a girl’s day out for a catch-up over pastries and coffee; a spot that is undeniably French in its character and soul — worth checking out at least once for what the vibes and the food they have to offer.

Artisan bakes and French dining. HENRI, a new dining restaurant with bakery by Bread & Hearth has opened at Far East Square.

Select from a wide range of viennoiseries and bakes such as signature Croissant, Almond Chocolat, Butterhorn, Cheese Danish and Foccacia. These artisan breads are made with French lactic butter and wheat imported from a French miller to authenticate taste and texture.

So grab a Almond Croissant or Apple Turnover ($4.50 each) with a cup of coffee and have them in the terrace just like in Paris.