Balzac Brasserie & Bar

What could be better than a restaurant serving refined French cuisine created according to recipes handed down from generation to generation by an award-winning French chef? Establishing such a brasserie in beautiful Fort Canning Park and fitting it out in true Parisian style might help one reach a conclusion, but the more precise answer is Balzac Brasserie, a French restaurant that many consider the best in Singapore. Helmed by Jean-Charles Dubois and named for the French literary legend, Balzac is a destination for both casual diners and those looking to host a lavish celebration with peerless cuisine served in inimitable surrounds.

Just as famous literary figure Honore de Balzac presented a slice of French life in the post-Napoleonic era, as Singapore itself was undergoing the process of British colonisation, Balzac Brasserie offers a survey of fine French cuisine from menus curated by award-winning chef Jean-Charles Dubois and chic Parisian-themed premises in the middle of City Hall’s Fort Canning Park. Most come to Balzac’s Cox Terrace brasserie for the fine food, but the place is also renowned for its bespoke cocktails that resuscitate the best of French tippling traditions. Typical ingredients include liqueurs like the elderflower-based St. Germain, the famous green monastic drop Chartreuse, and the plummy Prucia. These line up alongside aperitif wines like Lillet and many a vintage from niche French vineyards. In fact, Balzac offers 14 fine wines by the glass – perfectly matched to your meal.

The star of the show at Balzac Brasserie, the food, is rustic by nature, and creatively presented both on the a la carte menu and when plated and brought to table. Dishes are given names that emphasise their main ingredient; each dish is properly simple in this fashion, centred on a given cut or vegetable, and prepared traditionally. Entrees include the Homard, the chef’s signature lobster bisque with summer truffle ravioli, and the Potiron, a vegetarian starter of organic pumpkin veloute. Larger parties are advised to share a couple of platters of Balzac’s charcuterie, a classic cold cut platter. Highlights of les plats principaux are the joue de boeuf, braised Wagyu beef with truffled mash, the New Zealand lamb, the Atlantic Saint Peter’s fish and turbot, and the Italian-tinged Agnolotti, Balzac’s house-made agnolotti pasta with spinach and vieux comte (also available as a vegetarian option). Situated in the very middle of the Singapore landmark of Fort Canning Park, close to City Hall, Dhoby Ghaut and Bras Basah, Balzac is an essential destination for any Gallophile gourmand in the city.