La Petite - Serene Centre

La Petite – What a brilliant name for a French Restaurant! Well I think it actually sounds pretty cool. In English, it means “the small”. That actually made a lot of sense. La Petite is/was a very small French restaurant. The outlet at Serene Centre is actually much bigger now that they’ve moved to a bigger outlet within the same compound. The other outlet, along Thomson Road, is actually pretty small. I’ve visited both outlets before, but we’re going to talk about the outlet at Serene Centre today.

Ah, before I continue, Tummy Tyrant 1 here. I have to admit – I’m not a foodie (yet). I have yet to understand and grasp the full concept of what food is truly about. I do enjoy eating though! My primary aim of contributing to Tummy Tyrants is through photography. I took the photos for the last post (which I’m really proud of haha). However, I didn’t take the photos for this post. Tummy Tyrant L took the photos this time! That’s really embarrassing though. Tummy Tyrant 2 encouraged me to write this post, so here goes!

La Petite is one of the places which both of us frequent a lot. We usually order the spaghetti with ham in crème sauce, or spaghetti carbonara, which is what I will be talking about today. I will also attempt to give my take on the spaghetti with cepes in olive oil, or “Aglio Olio” they have here too. Next, we will give our take on the fillet of chicken with cepes and rice. Lastly, we tried a dessert, crème brulee. 

When you are at La Petite, you will be met with a menu as shown above in the picture. A long laminated card. They actually have a second menu, which is written on a chalkboard near the entrance facing the main road as shown below. Don’t forget about that.

Water is on a self-service basis here. Head to the water stations next to the counter, and fill up your water from their tanks into the plastic cups which can be found in the semi-opened drawer.

Every main course is served with a small piece of crispy, toasted bread coupled with a little small slab of butter pre-packed nicely. I honestly enjoyed the bread quite a fair bit. You can hear a very brilliant crisp which will satisfy your ears the moment you break the bread. I’m actually very pleased with what La Petite has done. Even for a little starter like a small and simple piece of bread, they have taken such consideration to try and make it taste good. 

Looks brilliant, doesn’t it? I’d eat 5 more if I could!

The Spaghetti Carbonara, or “Spaghetti with ham in crème sauce” which costs $15 is worth most of its bites. I’ll explain why the term “most” later. It tastes good. No doubt about that. Whether it’s worth every bite? Now that’s debatable. I remember the first time I tried this dish, my eyes lit, my brain became active and there was this general sense of “feeling better” the moment I ate it. The flavours were balanced, the dish looks simple stunning and I loved the cream sauce! There was perhaps a very polite way of presenting this dish by letting the herbs run free along the plate. The next few times I tried it however, well, not so much. The consistency of this dish sold by La Petite must be questioned and debated about.

Look wonderful, doesn’t it? Tummy Tyrant 2 took the picture. I remember the first time we tried this dish, we were literally fighting over the dish! Now that was really quite fun.

The crème sauce was neither too thick nor too thin. Just nice. It tasted great. The garlic which resounds throughout the sauce wasn’t too strong. It was wonderful. The ham which was sliced up blended very well into this plate of art. It was fantastic.

The cheese which they provide is excellent. I have no doubt about that, hands down. The best cheese around? Nope. But it is a lot above average, I must say. The cheese has a very faint yellow colour and is very fine. Unlike cheese of poorer quality which coagulates, this doesn’t. It is worth asking the staff for extra cheese, though!

In the light of being French, this dish is Recherché.

Give this dish a try. It is worth it. Every single time we go to La Petite, this dish is first in our heads.

Spaghetti with ham in crème sauce: 4/5

Another dish we tried, is their “spaghetti with cepes in olive oil” which costs $15.50.

We tried this dish twice, and we will give 2 recounts of the dish.

The first time we tried this dish, our first impressions – is this a “black pepper crab” spaghetti? There was a very intoxicating scent of black pepper in this dish. A very different form of cooking indeed. About a third of the plate was filled with Olive Oil. So, so much black pepper in this dish. Our judgement on this dish? Mixed. 

The second time we went there, the strong tastes and smells of black pepper was not as strong as before. However, the texture of the Spaghetti noodle stayed the same. The noodle seemed like it needed 1 minute more before it would be well cooked. It had a slight crunch to it when you lay your bites onto the noodles. However, if you don’t like your noodles slightly undercooked, do not get this dish. 

 I actually enjoyed this dish, but only on the first occasion. Call me weird but I actually enjoy black pepper. I found it extremely peculiar that a pasta smelled like black pepper crab when I ate it. The second time I ate it, I honestly did not enjoy it as much as I did with the spaghetti carbonara. The blend of the flavours on this plate did not seem to give a very decent punch like how the Carbonara gave us. I am honestly confused about how I should give a judgement about the spaghetti noodles in this dish. I will say that the slightly undercooked noodles caught me by surprise. I’m guessing that the chefs of this dish wanted to make this dish have a crunch, but it must be cooked so precisely to deliver this dish in a very delightful manner.

Tummy Tyrant 2 did not like the dish on both occasions. I think Tummy Tyrant 2 was expecting something else, not a dish drowned in a copious amount of black pepper and oil like a typical Chinese dish. The dish was slightly spicy on the first occasion because of the sheer amount of pepper. I know I am putting a lot of emphasis on the amount of black pepper there is. Well, it really did smell like Black Pepper Crabs. Not kidding about that. On the second occasion, she just mentioned that the dish was not as great as the spaghetti carbonara.

Is this dish worth a try? I personally would go for it if I was feeling adventurous yet again on the dish. Would I regret it? Well, maybe. Just maybe. This style of cooking their Aglio Olio is completely different from the conventional method. The conventional Aglio Olio uses chilli to give the dish a zesty feeling. The garlic taste in this dish is not very strong. The noodle is slightly hard. This dish uses black pepper. If you are a fan on black pepper and slightly uncooked noodles, by all means, go ahead! No one is stopping you guys from trying this dish. 

We are merely giving our opinion. My sister actually enjoyed her dish, so we’re happy that she enjoyed her food.

Spaghetti with cepes in Olive Oil: 2.5/5 Tummies

We also tried another dish, named “fillet of chicken with cepes & rice”, which costs $14. 

I tried this dish at the Thomson branch and I will attempt to give a comparison between both experiences which I had.

The dish consists of butter rice, served with a fillet of chicken breast topped with a cream sauce and mushrooms. At Serene Centre, the chicken was tenderer and the butter rice is softer. At the Thomson Branch the sauce served was better and they did give a lot more cream sauce.

The cream sauce served at Serene Centre felt dead. It was not alive. I could taste the sour feels across the sauce, but it wasn’t enough. It had to be intensified coupled with the balancing of the sour flavour with a salty flavour. The mushrooms were soft and flimsy, but acceptable.

Overall judgement on the dish? I think that generally, Asian people would rather meats which are tenderer such as those found in the chicken thigh, drumstick or wing. I’m not sure if we would pay that amount for a fillet of breast meat. If you do enjoy breast meat, this dish is really great for you!

Chicken Fillet with cepes & rice: 2.5/5 Tummies

Tummy Tyrant 2 said that this crème brulee is not worth the calories, the $5.50 we paid for it, and it wasn’t cold enough. The top caramel layer wasn’t thick or hard enough. However, it was decent. The flavours were there, just not worth the price. I personally did not enjoy it as much as I hope that I would have. The top layer seemed to be sweet at first, and then the flavours of burnt sugar started to overpower the flavours of the base as I proceeded eating it. Even though it is my second time trying crème brulee, I will say that a lot more could be done to make it taste better.

Crème Brulee - 2/5 Tummies

The restaurant has staff which are… inconsistent. The first time we stepped here, the staff were really, really nice! They all smiled at us and joked with us. But during the next few times we came here, the quality of service really did drop.

The main chef however, is extremely funny. A good man indeed. He was joking with us throughout the time we were there. The chef can be identified by being French. He greets all the customers by saying “Bon Appetit” in a thick French accent and would try to start a light conversation with you. He was actually mocking us when we took a fair bit of time to take the photos of the food, saying “ai ya ya!” Afterwards, he actually posed for us in a “model-like” pose with his bottom stuck out, one hand on his waist and the other behind his head, laughing it off immediately after that. Too bad we didn’t get a shot of him in that pose. A really nice guy who can cheer you up quite quickly on a bad day. Sounds like a really nice guy, eh?

A place to go? My question back to you would be, why not? Their main courses span from about $13 to about $20. Slightly pricey, but a place that would deserve much more credit than what we give it. Tummy Tyrant L and I have tried their Duck Confit, and I have tried many other dishes with my family such as the Sirloin Steak, prawn bisque and other dishes. They did taste really nice. We will definitely give a review on that. Stay tuned.

La Petite. The small. Give it a try. It’s worth it. 

Serene Centre

10 Jalan Serene

#01-02
Singapore 258748

Lunch: 1130 - 1430
Dinner: 1730 - 2130
Closed on Mondays