I love French food, but sometimes I do find that French food looks to be like serious business, with all the formalities and such. I do love formal settings when I’m in the mood to be pampered. But that is more of once in a while thing, which is not enough to satisfy my cravings for French food. And Taratata Brasserie fills in this spot nicely with its affordable French cuisine and cozy, rustic setting. Now I can see enjoy French food often!
Enjoying fresh French Baguette with fluffy centre that is slathered with creamy French butter is a good way to start the meal.
French Onion Soup may look messy, but this is seriously awesome comfort food. Rich, thick and flavourful.
For a bit of indulgence, I ordered Pan-seared Duck Foie Gras with Dark Cherries. Perfectly seared to have thin crispy exterior that wraps around luxurious fatty juicy core. With the dark cherries added for that variety in taste.
Pan-seared Scallops with a Petite Ratatouille & Potato Grenaille. Every component of this dish is delicious. Ratatouille a la cooked veggies in sauce is very flavourful.
Pan-roasted Sea Bass with Mediterranean Vegetables features fresh fish with pliable, moist yet firm flesh. I personally think that it is not easy to roast or pan-sear fish to perfection, but the chef at Taratata manages to nail it just right. Thumbs-up.
Pan-roasted Eggplant with Parmesan Cheese truly surprises me with how good it is. I never like eggplants, but this dish is one exception for me. Hot eggplant soaked with vegetable sauce works so well with the melted cheese drizzled above.
Chocolate Lava Cake with Vanilla Ice-cream. Premium creamy ice-cream and quality chocolate cake with molten centre is pure indulgence.
The interior is classic with hints of nostalgia, exuding a homely feel. I immediately get comfortable and feel super cozy when there. The service is good and friendly. This is really one French restaurant without the frills, aimed at providing authentic and affordable French food at cozy setting. I can truly go back as often as I like without any special reason or occasion, other than the simple decision to enjoy rustic good French food.
Thoughts: C’est Bon!
The dark and praline chocolate tart was incredibly rich and thick with a crumbly and firm cookie-like tart base. Accompanied by tangy raspberry sorbet that helps to balance out the richness of the chocolate. Special thanks for decorating the plate for a birthday sweet treat 😍
\\ Part of the 3 Course Seasonal Specials Menu ($86++)
3 kinds of cheese platter
The types of cheese provided came with rich, salty and creamy textures that range from mild to strong, soft to hard. I’m not a cheese person to appreciate this but my dining companion did finish everything 😅
\\ Part of the 3 Course Seasonal Specials Menu ($86++)
Duck confit, sarladaise potatoes, duck jus
The duck meat was tender and fall off the bone easily with a delightfully crispy exterior while the sauce added a full-bodied flavour to the dish.
\\ Part of the 3 Course Seasonal Specials Menu ($86++)
The saffron and herb risotto pairs really well with the scallops and the crispy pancetta adds a natural saltiness and subtle umami-ness to the dish.
\\ Part of the 3 Course Seasonal Specials Menu ($86++)
Citrus dressing, basil, capers and rocket arugula turn slices of melt-in-the-mouth tuna into something spectacular. This tuna carpaccio makes a great starter.
\\ Part of the 3 Course Seasonal Specials Menu ($86++)
Home-made lobster bisque with cream and flamed cognac.
A rich hearty crustacean soup that came highly seasoned, velvety smooth and creamy with a nice contrast of flavours. I thought it was a tad salty but my dining partner prefers it as it is.
\\ Part of the 3 Course Seasonal Specials Menu ($86++)
Each set course includes a complimentary slice of sourdough French baguette accompanied by French white salted butter.
I would love to say that I ended my meal off on a sweet note, but it was more of a sour note. I know, I know that it’s a lemon tart, but a good lemon tart would be a good balance of sweet and sour. This was starkly sour. Meringue was torched to a melty texture — which was honestly pretty interesting, but it did not do much in balancing out the tartness of the lemon curd. Honestly, not the worst but not the best either.
Rate:🌟🌟🌟
Beef Ribeye requested to be cooked till medium. Overall, pretty average quality beef ribeye, nothing mind-blowing. The bernaise sauce had a mashed up texture that was on the buttery side, as well as a slight herbaceous taste. A pretty decent pairing with the beef ribeye, though not what I personally enjoy the most. Nonetheless, I thought the price point for the whole 3 course set was pretty worth it, considering the excellent ambience and service.
Rate:🌟🌟
A simple but seemingly luxurious appetiser that was so delicious. Crab rilettes was light and creamy, comprising a generous amount of crab meat. Both crab toilettes and garlic bread complemented one another interestingly well.
Rate:🌟🌟🌟🌟
Have been craving escargots for a while, not even kidding when I say that the last time I had it was in France itself. This did enough to suffice the cravings, although it definitely could have afforded to have been more garlicky.
Rate:🌟🌟🌟
Based on the reviews and recommendations on restaurant week’s platform, I booked a dinner slot at Taratata Bistro for my family.
Having gone with the 3 course set, we ordered the following dishes:
Appetiser - foie gras, tuna tartar
Main - beef stew, duck confit
Dessert - choc mousse, cheese platter
When placing our order, we were told that their signature dish were beef stew and duck confit so we decided to try. Not sure if it was just that day or the food is not suited to our tastebuds but we struggled to finish the beef stew. It was too salty and the meat was too hard. Duck confit was better but nothing to scream about. Their dessert turned out to be a pleasant surprise though.
All in all, was an interesting experience with restaurant week but wouldn’t revisit.
Classic bistrot décor (with French music in the background) and classic bistrot food - nothing particularly innovative (so, for instance, no sweetbread or rabbit), just well-executed traditional brasserie dishes. We had the escargots, foie gras poêlé, salade de crabe, entrecôte grillée, confit de canard, and tarte fine aux poires, and they’re all yummy. Reasonable pricing; the set lunch represents great value. Decent wine list, friendly service, so we will certainly go back.
Classic bistrot décor (with French music in the background) and classic bistrot food - nothing particularly innovative (so, for instance, no sweetbread or rabbit), just well-executed traditional brasserie dishes. We had the escargots, foie gras poêlé, salade de crabe, entrecôte grillée, confit de canard, and tarte fine aux poires, and they’re all yummy. Reasonable pricing; the set lunch represents great value. Decent wine list, friendly service, so we will certainly go back.
Classic bistrot décor (with French music in the background) and classic bistrot food - nothing particularly innovative (so, for instance, no sweetbread or rabbit), just well-executed traditional brasserie dishes. We had the escargots, foie gras poêlé, salade de crabe, entrecôte grillée, confit de canard, and tarte fine aux poires, and they’re all yummy. Reasonable pricing; the set lunch represents great value. Decent wine list, friendly service, so we will certainly go back.
Classic bistrot décor (with French music in the background) and classic bistrot food - nothing particularly innovative (so, for instance, no sweetbread or rabbit), just well-executed traditional brasserie dishes. We had the escargots, foie gras poêlé, salade de crabe, entrecôte grillée, confit de canard, and tarte fine aux poires, and they’re all yummy. Reasonable pricing; the set lunch represents great value. Decent wine list, friendly service, so we will certainly go back.
Classic bistrot décor (with French music in the background) and classic bistrot food - nothing particularly innovative (so, for instance, no sweetbread or rabbit), just well-executed traditional brasserie dishes. We had the escargots, foie gras poêlé, salade de crabe, entrecôte grillée, confit de canard, and tarte fine aux poires, and they’re all yummy. Reasonable pricing; the set lunch represents great value. Decent wine list, friendly service, so we will certainly go back.
Classic bistrot décor (with French music in the background) and classic bistrot food - nothing particularly innovative (so, for instance, no sweetbread or rabbit), just well-executed traditional brasserie dishes. We had the escargots, foie gras poêlé, salade de crabe, entrecôte grillée, confit de canard, and tarte fine aux poires, and they’re all yummy. Reasonable pricing; the set lunch represents great value. Decent wine list, friendly service, so we will certainly go back.
