Blowing the French Horn at Toots Brasserie

This is an overdue post. Sorry for withholding the best-kept set lunch gem of a secret in the city for too long. The lion and his colleagues, who work in the vicinity, have graced the cosy archways of this restaurant in a hotel a couple of times for team lunches. But let's start off with breakfast, shall we? Yes siree, the lions were planning to sleep in late on a weekday public holiday morning when Mr Business Times called to summon them to Toots Brasserie for a sunrise fuel up.

The Sultan Hotel, spanning 10 conservation shophouses,
is a glorious tribute to Singapore's colourful colonial
past with wide arcs, tall columns and beautiful
shuttered windows.

A part of the fabric of Singapore's rich heritage.

Natural Curtains

Heading past the narrow wood-panelled walkway to... ... 

Toots Brasserie. Veteran Chef Jason Wong is at the helm
and has cut his teeth in the kitchens of restaurants
like Au Petit Salute. He promises an authentic,
good old-fashioned delivery of French cuisine.

Love the wood-carved monogram.

Look out for the decorative steel cast horns on the wall representing
the name of the establishment. The love of jazz certainly runs deep
in the veins of one of the investors who also owns Sultan Jazz Club
that sits above the restaurant.

Lovely fresh flowers.

Sitting under an arch - stately but cosy interior with rustic dark teak
furniture, earth-toned banquettes and carpeted mosaic tiled flooring.

Breakfast at Toot Brasserie is rather straight forward.
You get to choose how your eggs are done,
along with some sides and the rest are a buffet spread. 

The flaky and buttery croissants are a must-try at the breakfast
buffet spread apart from the the other french rolls.
When the lions were there, the in-house pastry chef
was previously from Joel Robuchon Singapore.

Parma Ham and Cheese.

Sunny side up eggs done with runny centres. Good for
dipping bread in!

Poached Eggs.

Cuchi's Egg Benedict came out a little weird that day though.
The egg itself had the consistency and look of a chwee kueh!

Scrambled Eggs.

Coffee was decent; don't expect your gourmet-style cuppa.

The semi-buffet breakfast spread was good value at $13.80++ given that there were other items like breakfast cereals (didn't manage to get pictures of that) and you get to start your day in a colonial setting. The lion also had a chat with Chef Jason and he encouraged them to try their dinner and lunch menus. Being supportive of home-grown chefs, the lion returned with colleagues for lunch.

Freshly baked baguette made in-house.

In the afternoon, Toots offers an a la carte menu on top of 2 types of set lunches: the (normal) 3-course lunch set menu priced at $18++ and a 3-course executive set lunch for $28 nett. Thank goodness that he came with a rowdy bunch of colleagues so that he could see some of the decadent spread of choices.

Executive Set Appetiser: Oven-baked Burgundy snails in
homemade garlic butter and herb sauce.

Normal Set Lunch Appetiser: Farrner's Soup (soup of the day).

Executive Set Appetiser: Smoked ham on melon served with fresh fig salad and
walnut dressing. The play on sweet and salty was evident here.

Executive Set: Provencale-style Braised Spanish Pork Ribs in
white wine. Hearty and tender.

Executive Set: Toots Beef Minute with garden vegetables and mash potatoes.
The beef minute was well done and slightly chewy.
Mash potatoes complemented it well by being the creamy neutral base
to the beef's savoury saltiness.

Set Lunch: Coq Au Vin aka braised chicken in red wine.
Ordered by the big boss of the group, he gave it a thumbs up
for being juicy and succulent.

Executive Set Lunch: Warm dark chocolate Valrhona cake with mix berries.
Normal Set Lunch Desset comes with a delectable Creme Brulee with a
scoop of citrus sorbet. Not too shabby as well!

This has got to be one of the most inexpensive set lunches in town for French cuisine in such a fine setting, bar none. We would recommend that you pay a little more for the executive set lunch. No regrets.

Here is our review for Toots Brasserie:

Food Quality: 8.0 pawprints out of 10

Ambience: 8.0 pawprints out of 10

Toots Brasserie

101 Jalan Sultan,
The Sultan Hotel

Singapore 199002