La Petite Cuisine (Serene Centre)

I believe in the principles of this book - eat the best in moderation and do not deprive oneself as long term weight management strategies. However, it was lunch at LPC which literally brought out the essence of these principles.

Firstly, the portions at LPC were not exactly petite but really not sizeable. The panfried foie gras with orange confit ($17) was about the size of a child's palm and pan-fried to perfection. Crisp with a slight caramelised exterior, the tender and almost creamy interior can just send one's taste buds to heaven. The richness of the liver was just right for me. For the rest of the world, the tangy orange confit served as a good foil to the oily liver. Sauce for this dish was a bit too salty for my liking but it did served its good purpose as I could mop it up with the accompanying salad. Rockets were liberally used in the salad so the saltiness of the sauce went very well with the bitter and musky taste of rockets. In all, this foie gras was much more enjoyable than the last one I had in Gunthers (G's was very tender too but slightly bitter. There was no hint of bitterness for the LPC's at all).

Confit de Canard with gratin ($15) was only good in parts, really. Some parts of the duck were tender and oily while others rather dry and tough. I only had duck confit once and hence not sure if I can consider this good or bad. However, the accompanying gratin was so great that I kept thinking about it since yesterday. The sliced potatoes were very sweet and soft. The taste of cream for the gratin was simply gratifying.


My friend and I split both dishes. We aren't exactly full even though strangely satisfied. It felt kind of good and happy to have a delicious meal without stuffing our faces and burning a hole in our pockets. Strangely, this satisfied and pleasant feeling lasted all the way till dinner. I did not crave for tea nor ate more than I should. Now, no wonder french women don't get fat for they eat small and satisfying meals which happiness and pleasure can last the whole day. But I will be even happier if I can have the whole foie gras to myself on the next visit!

My brother and I wanted to take away food from La Petite Cuisine as we had always liked the food there. We decided to ring ahead to order as we expected there to be quite a long wait, especially on a Saturday evening.

I was shocked when the staff answered my first phone call with an unintelligible mutter before slamming down the phone. Not sure why they had hung up the first time, I rang a second time. This time, the staff said curtly, "We are using the phone. Call back later." and hung up abruptly again.

This was a very disappointing and frustrating incident - I don't think the quality of food makes up for the poor service and is probably not worth future take -aways. If you want to enjoy La Petite Cuisine, you probably have to be there where the staff will actually take your order. 

Tucked in the corner of Serene Centre lies La Petite Cuisine, an eatery that serves simple French fare with a delicate touch. For a no-frills, tiny establishment estimated not more than 20 tables (they have since expanded outside just next to the pavement), their menu is pretty extensive.

Although one needs to make their way to the cashier to place their orders, the good news is they do not charge GST. Also do not expect fanciful plateware and cutlery set as the complimentary bread came serve in plastic plate. Bread was warm but otherwise nothing extraordinary.

The Ravioli of Prawns Foie Gras in Light Lemon Crème ($14.00) was pretty interesting - the ingredients within the ravioli was generous, and the sauce was nice, but despondently, one could see the foie gras but not taste it - the prawns simply overwhelmed the former. In fact, it tasted more like prawn dumplings served French style.

The Foie Gras Panfried with Orange Confit Served with Salad ($17.00) was of decent portion. At such a size, HFB thought it was pretty good value for money. Nicely panfried on the surface, yet quiver when cut, it was done pleasingly. The orange sauce that came along with it goes really well also. Love it!

You must definitely give the Confit de Canard with Gratin ($15.00) a try if you pay them a visit. The duck skin is slow-cooked to a perfect crisp, and fully flavoured. The mash that came with it was smooth and delightful too. This dish was way better than the lousy version served at The French Stall along Serangoon Road.

The dessert though was very disappointing - HFB could understand the 20 minutes wait for a hot dessert, but the Tarte Tatin, or Apple Tarte ($6.50) was just unpleasant in many ways. Serving was measly, and the whole puff pastry stacked above two slices of apple arrangement just failed miserably. HFB end up eating the puff pastry separately from the apples, which was still slightly unyielding for consumption.

He reckon one would be better off having ice cream at Island Creamery next door!

You can view all the photos here.

I was originally going to try the Da Paolo Il Giardino restaurant at Cluny Court with my three-year-old sister, but the walk from the bus stop had been pretty long and she clearly wasn't going to walk any more. When we passed La Petit Cuisine, I saw that the al fresco tables were all full except for one, so I figured it couldn't be too bad. As it turned out, the "petit cuisine" wasn't bad at all, especially for the reasonable price.

The menu is written on chalkboard outside the restaurant and inside as well. The place itself is tiny - I estimated the seating capacity to be about 30 people, maximum, probably less. Most of the seating is al fresco, and the tables inside are covered with dingy gingham plastic-ish cloth. Unusually, my sister didn't complain about seating outside, as there was a large fan which beat back the heat. We ordered the spinach ravioli and filet of salmon, though the foreign staff recommended the confit, as my sister doesn't really eat meat. They don't even have a till - the waitress punched up our order on a calculator, and yes, you have to go up to the counter to order, as no one is going to take your order for you. None of the dishes are priced over $16, even the foie gras and the escargot, which is obviously a huge draw. I paid $23.50 for the meal.

Water is self-service, which is surprising, but not such a big deal, as the food is cheap. Before the meal, you get a hot breadroll with butter, and the bread is nice and soft. If you bring children along or if you simply like to take an interest in the preparation of your food, you can easily watch the chef doing her thing in the kitchen through the clear glass wall and the foreign staff dishing your food out onto plastic plates. Again, a cutback, but not a big deal, as the food itself kinda makes everything else (and there's not much) forgivable.

My salmon was served some sort of rice pilaf and a pile of veggie leaves. Some other dishes are also served with rice, and if you are used to the normal Chinese way of preparing rice in a rice cooker, the rice served here will probably take some getting used to. The salmon itself was deliciously light and flaky, and I enjoyed the skin, which is rare for me. The veggies were a tad oily, but not under/overcooked, and they went well with the salmon and the sauce. The spinach ravioli was a very small serving of four pieces, but I had been told this by the staff before ordering it, so if you eat large portions, I'd advise against ordering the ravioli. However, the ravioli and the cream sauce is very filling, probably because it is very rich, richer than most ravioli I've tried. Perhaps a tad too rich, but I guess this depends on your own individual taste. My sister had to drink a lot of water, so again, if you've children who are not used to rich food, try to order lighter dishes that don't go so heavy on the cream sauce. The sauces complemented both dishes very well though.

Service was patchy from the female staff, but the chef herself was very friendly and even offered a ball of dough for my sister to play with, and the only guy working in the restaurant was very friendly as well.

Overall, I'd come back here. I don't understand the negative reviews for this restaurant, but I didn't try the dessert, which seems to be the main gripe, so I wouldn't know. The service was, as I said, not top notch, but the price and taste of the food makes up for most of the things this petit restaurant doesn't do so well at.

We wound up at LPC by default tonight, having originally wanted to try out Karma Kettle & Rhapsody (like, hello, which restaurant closes on a Tuesday?).

As it turns out, La Petite Cuisine more than made up for the initial disappointment.

To start the meal, we chose the perennial classic, Escargots. Served with a rich garlic gravy over a croissant - Fantastic for a low-key French joint, and even better than some of the more expensive versions out there.

We were on a mission to clog the arteries tonight so we ordered the Ravioli with Prawn and Foie Gras, and Confit Canard to share. At first glance the Ravioli portion looked sort of tiny, but on second thought, the 3 pieces drenched in a creamy white gravy were more than enough. The duck confit was a little bit of a letdown, the meat tender in some places but a little dry in others. The side of potatoes au gratin were awesome but we wound up leaving a third of the dry bits behind.

Overall La Petite Cuisine is a great choice on a night when you're down for something casual --- you could waltz up in shorts and take the al fresco seats. It's a very informal setting overall, but best of all, if you feel like dessert, Island Creamery is right next door. :)

The first time I went to La Petite, I had the spinach ravioli ($11) and it was yummy. What looked like dumplings stuffed with spinach turned out to be creamy and comforting food, but beware of the small portions.

Despite being a small eater, I was still left hungry after polishing my plate. They do take it literally when they mean "petite" portions.

At my second visit, I tried the beef steak ($11) and well, the portion isn't particularly big, which can be expected given the modest price. What would have been better, however, was to have some gravy of sorts to complement the rather tasteless meat. Purists might beg to differ, but a separate gravy dish would have  helped the food go down better.

The serving came with buttery potatoes which were warm and tasty, so that was a plus.

While on the whole there's not much to fault, there isn't much to praise either.  

Finally got a chance to try out this place with my parents.

Decided to go here, because we were feeling lazy on a nice Sunday evening, so the nearer the place to our house, the better.

I personally have nothing against places that try to provide a great, affordable meal at a cheap cost, and in the process cut corners here and there.

So when we were presented with plastic plates, water ala self service, and their desserts in their plastic containers, I was more than fine with it. But while trying to provide great food at great prices, shouldn't service not be compromised at all?

I was further confused, because I have heard rave reviews from people who have commended on how great the foreign hospital staff have been, and yet faced angry looking foreign staff who just didn't bother at all.

It really explains to me why they use plastic plates in the first place. If not, the way the service staff place their plates on the table, would create such a ruckus.

That said, I have to give credit to their reasonably priced food.

The soups are basic for their price. But what impresses is their mains. My dad had a pork chop like dish, together with linguini done ee-fu noodle style. I had a spinach ravioli done in lemon creme sauce, while my mum had the duck confit. Of course, we shared their foie gras specialty, and I have to say they were all rather tasty despite being placed on plastic plates.

Desserts were ordinary though.

Still overall, a nice cheap place to have some good upscale food, kind of reminds me of the French Stall at Serangoon Road, except the latter has much better service. 

after reading the review last sun, we find our way there but the food had runned out.....in vain

re-visit the place today with high expectation, but...............

"please order in 10 mins' time" was the remarks made & left me shocked. it might be better to take the order and then informed us that the food perhaps can only be served in xx mins' time. that will be a better statement.

french?? sirloin steak with no sauce?? spagatthi which is almost dried - resembles that of dry maggi noodle?? lime & orange juices served are obviously from some bottled stuff bought from nearby supermart.

lastly, expect a triangular cut of black-forest cake be served but turned out to be a thin slice of 'semi-hard' cake in a take-away box.

would not recommended to friends cos there are definitely better choice elsewhere........a pity as the location is pretty ideal

My friends and I were looking for some different places for lunch (other than the usual stalls around the Coronation Plaza area that we usually patronise) and we stumbled across this quaint little French establishment sitting in a corner of Serene Center. And so we went in.

I had the sirloin steak while my friend had something like a Mediterranean bread i think. With prices hovering around the $10 mark for a main i was expecting something good.

Out came the food. I was mortified. The portions were horribly petite! Bordering on minute even... Sigh.... Well the beef was decent. Tender and juicy, but 2 small pieces which i could finish in 2 bites each was wayyyyy too little. There was a side of Gratineed Potatoes which were quite well done, creamy and absolutely savoury, and a small pile of salad.

The Mediterranean bread was preddy nice. Fresh tangy tomato-based topping on crisp toasted pita.

To conclude, the food here is not bad. Except that the servings are WAYYYY to small. So if u want a little amuse bouche and are willing to pay, go for it. Otherwise, i'd suggest u head to Island Creamery and have some ice cream instead.

La Petite Cuisine, as its name suggests, is the "petite" version of La Cuisine which is just located 10-15 m away. It's essentially a cheaper, no-frills version of the latter, and certainly is the better place if you're looking for a noisier atmosphere.

As per norm, the lunch menu is displayed on a chalkboard outside the joint. There are about 15-20 items to choose from, prices ranging from $7.50 - 14.50. We picked the lamb fillet with potato gratin, as well as the Mediterranean bread with pork sausage and salad. You can add $1.50 if you want a soup, tea/coffee or dessert to go with it. We chose the creme caramel and broccoli soup.

As always before the food is served everyone gets a warm dinner roll and butter. The broccoli soup looked a little suspicious but thankfully it tasted good, albeit it was not of the creamy variety. The lamb fillet was tender and juicy, and the mustard sauce complemented the meat well. The bread and sausage was tasty and filling; the sausage being slightly spciy and not too salty. The olive oil and tomatoes in the salad added a nice texture to the bread. The dessert was okay, although the caramel sauce was a little burnt.

Overall, a simple and affordable lunch option if you're around the area. Photos to come.