We went to Chaleur for one of my birthday dinners and I decided to go with this in the end cos I thought the menu looked interesting. Located along the shophouses at Neil road, it’s an intimate space with limited seatings and also, we were in time for their last of Winter menu before it changed to Spring. Priced at $278++, it serves Japanese-French cuisine by Chef Masahiko Kawano

We were surprised there were only 3 staffs for the evening but it felt like a clockwork routine for them, making sure dinner service was running in proper

Mascarpone Sayori and Seaweed Cracker

Welcome snacks to start. I liked the mascarpone sayori. It was savoury yet sweet and it had an overall good balance with the texture as well

Milk Bread (front), Rice Bun with French Butter, Seaweed Roasted Kombu

I liked how they served in petite sizes so you don’t need to worry about not enough stomach space for the entire meal. I thought the rice bun had a touch more flavour than the milk bread and it had a good chewy texture. The milk bread on the other hand went better with the butter

Tuna, Kurodaikon, Wasabina

The chutoro was good. With a touch of chimichurri sauce, it made the whole dish really fresh and fragrant and I loved how the fish went really well with the pine nuts. I thought the overall texture on this dish is well thought of

Saint Jacques, Kabu, Parnigiano

I really liked the scallops. Well-cooked and well-flavoured, you will happily have another slice of the dish

Amadai, Katsuona, Sansai

Served with deep fried bamboo shoot, I never thought I would say bamboo shoot is delicious. The portions of the celeric puree and Japanese mountain vegetables were well-thought of and it goes well with the nicely executed fish. Overall, a rather balance dish

Rye Bread

There was a random serving of bread in between courses. Not that I’m complaining cos this bread is delicious. Like out of the 3 being served, I personally preferred the rye bread the most

Quail Pithivier, Foie Gras, Maitake

And it’s time for main course!

The quail was cooked so well, like wow. The foie gras was chosen carefully so that it doesn’t overpower the quail and I liked how you can taste the chap of the foie gras on the vegetables. Pastry was crisp on the outside and a touch soft inside but generally a pretty good main dish

Chef’s Signature: Duck Consomme | Wholegrain Noodle

The somen was so comforting we had another bowl of the broth

The said broth. lol

That being said, the somen broth was cooked with duck and chicken bones, shoyu and shiso leaf so you get a rich, flavourful and hearty broth

Strawberry, Kombucha, Cherfeuille Root

Surprisingly good. I felt like the dish went well together and it was a good ending to the meal

Petite 4

And not forgetting petite 4 which was pretty decent as well. But we were so full at this point and so glad we didn’t order the extra supplements

I love it when my friends let me choose the place I want to go cos I know they mostly just indulge in my decisions. Ha. But I really felt that Chaleur felt like a good decision. Personally I felt fusion dishes can go either direction and some people are not quite acceptable to it. But personally I felt there were alot of thoughts in creating the dishes here and incorporating the various elements such that they work together. It’s a place worth a visit if you wanna try something different though for a 6 course menu at this price, it might be a little on the steeper side

Chaleur

77A Neil Rd, Level 2, Singapore 088903