Today we decided to go to this restaurant called L’atelier by Cilantro. Now, now, I know what you’re thinking. Chu-mama / Chuletz posted about this restaurant 11 years ago, and here I am, apparently writing about the exact same thing. But this time, things will be different. Cilantro is a fine-dining restaurant that is typically very expensive. In 2023, Cilantro introduced L’atelier to serve typical French bistro food. Anyway, let me tell you about my time there.

When you walk in, you will be greeted by the friendly staff who will show you where to be seated and will also provide you the menu. You can choose from either a 2-course meal (Appetiser and Main) or a 3-course meal (Appetiser, Main, and Dessert). We went for the 3-course meal. There was a huge variety of food to eat in the menu! Foods such as the Moules Marinière (Mussels stewed in white wine) caught my interest. Here are some of the appetisers you can choose from:

We ordered the Tartare the Boef, Os à moèlle au four, Moules Marinière, and Terrine de foie gras. My favourite was the Moules Marinère. It had a satisfactory smell. When I bit into the mussel, it was very tender and flavourful. The mussel was a pleasing light orange colour. It was also very easy to peel open the mussel shell. Unfortunately, I do not have a photo of the dish as it was so good we forgot to take a photo of it. Oops 😅. The staff also give everyone complimentary 2 slices of bread and piece of butter that I liked as well . I had also went exploring and found out L’atelier has it’s own little drinking area / bar.

It was then the Tartare the boef was served. I ate it with some small crackers. The tatare was pink in colour and had a chewy texture. Raw Beef !!! The only bad thing about it is that the mustard is bit too overpowering. Besides that, it was a pretty good tartare.

The bone marrow as very… squishy. I personally didn’t really like it, but mama loved it. She especially liked dipping the bread into it and eating it. It has a rich flavour, no doubt, but I also find most bone marrow a bit too squishy for my taste.

The foie gras finally arrived. It was mushy (not my kind of food-texture), but when eaten with the jelly, it started to taste a little better. Overall, it was pretty decent with the crackers. The foie gras was a light brown beige colour. One of the things I liked about it is that it’s soft, so you can mash it with your tongue inside your mouth.

Main dish time!

For some reason I decided to order a cheese sandwich. Mama ordered fish. We also ordered some steak and mash potatoes. The cheese sandwich was warm and crispy. To my delight, there were slices of turkey ham inside, which were very tasty. The fish was a bit overcooked and the sauce was a too overpowering, but it was okay. The steak was good at first, juicy, warm red center, tender texture, but I got a bit bored of the taste and resumed devouring the cheese sandwich. The mash potatoes were really good though 😋. They were creamy and tasted very potatoe-y.

Finally! Dessert time: Chocolate mousse, Crème Brûlée, Brioche with apples (I did not try this), and Crepe Suzette with Grand Marnier & vanilla ice cream on the side (I did not eat this as mama told me that Grand Marnier is a type of alcohol). I was in dessert haven. Chocolate mousse had silky chocolate cream inside and little crunchy chocolate balls. Yum 🤤. Crème Brûlée was crispy and creamy at the same time and for some reason tasted a bit like chocolate.

I really enjoyed my time here at L’atelier. I would definitely come back here again. The food is decent and the ambience is rather peaceful. The staff are friendly and the views from the window are amazing.