Poulet, and What Makes Food Good

Simply Poulet. It means chicken in French.

If you are a chicken lover, you would probably have tried Poulet. If you are not, like me, it took me a long while before I decided to try and see what the rave is all about.

In Singapore, we get way too many choices when it comes to food. So, inadvertently, most of us become “foodies” in our own right. Sometimes, I despair that I can’t actually try all the food there is in Singapore, much less my favorite foodie spot: Malaysia. Yes. I do love to eat, don’t you?

In Singapore, we are often bombarded with dining choices, from a myriad of countries, flavors, ingredients, style and atmosphere. What really defines good food? For example, I do prefer to eat at my local neighborhood hawker centre six days out of seven, and to me, that is really good food (especially the humble duck porridge). Because one of the criteria of good food is affordability and accessibility. However, if I ask a friend to come all the way from Tampines to try my favorite duck porridge, she would say hers is better because it is more accessible to her. Probably, that is why I have never felt the need to review the duck porridge next door. And perhaps, that is why I had read that “blog foodies” are always a hit or miss. So, don’t take my word for it when I say something is delicious!

So, back to Poulet. How was my dining experience? I finally decided to walk into the restaurant at 4pm on a weekday. Naturally, there were only a few people, as this is not their typical meal time. Poulet is founded in Singapore, and claims to follow the tenets of French cooking, and yet make it casual and affordable to everyone. Looking at the menu, it does seem much cheaper than certain restaurants out there. For example, I ordered their signature Poulet with wine sauce and it is only $11.80 for half a chicken. Not that expensive, considering the portion and the restaurant setting.

Not disappointingly, the chicken was cooked to almost perfection. It is super tender and soft. The cranberry sauce that goes with it was delicious. I have always maintained that cranberry is the best sauce to go with meats, because it is tart, sweet and slightly bitter. I prefer my meats to be fruity! That aside, although I enjoyed the chicken, I do think that is may be a tad too soft and chewy. It is certainly marinated and cooked to the point that it does not really feels like chicken, or at least, what you think may be chicken. Perhaps I may be comparing this roast chicken too much to chicken rice chicken.

The next item we ordered to go with the chicken was Chestnut rice. (I have to make a note to try to take note of the prices in future. You think?) It was slightly buttery and you can taste chunks of chestnuts in the rice. Generally not too bad!

We had also ordered Sauté Wild Mushroom ($7.80). As expected, the mushrooms were well-flavored and had a nice crunchy texture. The cherry on the cake, was actually a soft boiled egg placed gently on top. Break it and gold simply pours out and makes the dish rich and creamy, and it also added a touch of what is reminiscent of home-cooking.

Last but not least, we ordered Ratatouille. Strangely, in all the reviews I have read, it seemed that very few have ever tried this dish. Perhaps because it is a vegetable dish, and one of the main ingredients is the feared and despised Aubergine aka Brinjal. Granted, the looks are not very palatable but you’ll have to trust me when I say, it is absolutely delicious. It is tasty, with a hint of smokiness and sweet and sour. There are even some crispy bits which god knows what they are. My husband, who absolutely dislikes the mushy brinjal, could not stop eating it. It simply shows, certain foods when done right, are delicious!

All in all, perhaps the chicken is not living up to the standards of a restaurant that names itself after it, you can still get pretty good food at Poulet.