Located on the bustling stretch of Telok Ayer is a new and charming bistro that will delight every Francophile. Step into the intimate space and immediately find yourself greeted by the charismatic manager, Michael, as he warmly invites you into La Fête. Oh, and you'll soon be acquainted with its 400 labels of wine to pair.
Helming the kitchen is Chef Zulkefle, who showcases his French kitchen background and culinary chops with a curation of modern French dishes. His menu is versatile, offering only the finest seasonal ingredients packaged into tasty quick bites. Perfect for an evening of light and joyful imbibement or a full-blown meal.
Touted as the crowd-favourite, the White Anchovy Toast ($12) sees whole anchovies and Asian pesto crowning bite-sized slices of rye bread then lightly dusted with gochugaru. Best savoured in one bite, it eats bright and clean but with a tinge of brininess. It was a rather delicious starter but we found some bites to be a tad too acidic, leaving us puckering our lips occasionally. The house bubbly pairing did do wonders with its crisp and dry nature to help soothe the otherwise undesirable sensation.
To our surprise, a classic British pub fare of Scotch egg ($16) can be found here. But we soon found that it's not quite the real McCoy but rather a twist on the icon with an influence from Chesapeake crab cakes. La Fête’s version replaces the sausage with crabmeat and is paired with a piquant horseradish cream which has come to delight its regulars. Our thoughts? It’s definitely one of those love it or hate it dishes but if you’re a staunch Scotch egg fan, you might want to skip this.
Inspired by surf and turf, the hand-cut beef tartare ($26) was a textural medley sporting a rough cut of tender beef topped with a delicate breath of sea from the Avruga and crunch from the crispy daikon ribbons. The result was a well-finessed dish that showcased clean-tasting bites with subtle hints of tang and pepper. Hands down a must-order.
The star staple of Chef Zulkefle’s repertoire is the blue swimmer crabmeat pasta ($32). A dangerously addictive yet delicate lobster and red prawn reduction moats around linguine with sweet crab claw meat and finished with briney globules of ikura. Meanwhile, the Provenance Lamb Rack ($42) features herb-crusted tender lamb alongside smoky baba ganoush mash and robust strands of garlic leaves to deliver an overall meat-lovers delight.
