Bistro du Vin opens at Zion Road

Napoleon Bonaparte would have laughed all the way to his grave had he witnessed the recent French culinary invasion of our little red dot.

Enough has been said about the ongoing flux of French bistros in Singapore. Even before we could digest the duck confit from our last bistro dinner, we were already making plans to check out the French-styled suckling pig at Bistro du Vin’s second outpost at Zion Road.

Sited across the road from Great World City and next to Pepperoni Pizzeria – also from the Les Amis Group stable – Bistro du Vin offers a real taste of Gallic fare in the heart of Zion Road. And judging by the packed space during our visit, the Les Amis group has proven, yet again, that great restaurant concepts with attractive price points lure crowds.

French onion soup

For her second outlet, Bistro du Vin has not departed far from its original outpost with an interior decked out with warm crimson walls, gold-rimmed gilt mirrors and wine bottles scattered about its premises.

French onion soup ($14) is served just as it should – in a lion’s head bowl blanketed with melted Emmental cheese and teeming with rings of melt-in-the-mouth caramelised onions.

The confit of suckling pig ($38), which is not unlike its oriental cousin, arrives in a generous brick of crackly crisp confection, golden-brown on the outside and all porky and savoury inside with a mound of choucroute (French sauerkraut) on the side.

Confit of suckling pig

The carnivores will endear themselves to the hefty hunk of braised beef cheek ($33) in a robust red wine with seasonal vegetables served in a cast iron pot. If you’re expecting a tarte tatin for dessert, Bistro du Vin does better with the sleek and crisp tarte au pommes ($10) with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Braised beef cheek

The bistro also serves a daily-changing menu of chalkboard-scribbled market specials, which, during our visit, included discs of beautifully grilled Hokkaido scallops ($18) in seaweed infused butter and plump Norwegian mussels ($20) on half shell basking in an addictive broth of garlic, shallots and white wine.

Drivers, be warned, expect to duke it out with the throngs of the Zion Road hawker crowd for parking space - this is perhaps a small price to pay for a slice of hearty, French fare by the Les Amis group.


Bistro du Vin @ Zion Road
56 Zion Road
Tel: 6836 6313

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