Petite French-Japanese fare at Bistrot Etroit

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Bistrot Etroit 150 Orchard Road #01-38 Orchard Plaza Singapore 238841 Tel: 8869 8477 Open for dinner only Tues to Sun: 6pm to 11pm

WHO'S afraid of the big bad wolf? We are. Which is why we're standing nervously outside Bistrot Etroit, unsure whether we're going to eat or be eaten alive by the notoriously temperamental Japanese chef behind one of the hottest restaurant tickets in town.

On a scale of omotenashi to get-out-of-my-face, chef Yasunori Doi is said to exceed the latter, serving equal portions of contempt and meticulous French cooking in his seven seater nugget of a restaurant in Orchard Plaza. It is so small, a rat would have to walk sideways to get to its living room should it decide to move in. It is so small, Doi has to blowtorch his fish at his sink - perched so precariously on the edge that one false move and we're getting kinmedai with sauce a la Mama Lemon.

But at least we do get to eat here. There is a tense moment when we arrive half an hour earlier than our 6.30pm booking, and a gruff Doi tells us to wait just a few minutes instead of packing us off to ruminate on the iniquity of disturbing a chef before the appointed time.

He's not friendly but neither is he evil. If anything, he is reassuringly civil - not engaging but he does respond willingly, to the point that we can almost swear that he's smiling behind his mask.

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But we get why he can be crabby. You would be too if you were a one- man show cooking, washing, baking and serving seven - now six with the two-person ruling - people a five- course meal with around 15 different options to pick from, all while regularly fobbing off hopeful passersby poking their heads in on the off chance of snagging a last-minute seat.

You can see the speech bubble going "what the fish" above their rejected heads when they see just two diners and a chef who tells them he's fully booked till the end of the month. But it turns out he only takes two people in his first seating and four in his second, as he can't cope with more, he explains.

It seems fruitless to suggest he get an assistant, when there's barely enough room just for him to manoeuvre in his spartan but incredibly organised kitchen. He works at an unhurried pace, offering you two set menu options at a very digestible S$110 and S$120, with the extra S$10 getting you both a fish and meat course instead of picking one. There are some supplements from S$8 to S$30 which won't add any pain should you add them to your bill.

His food is classic French, decluttered with a Japanese aesthetic. It's got a quiet finesse that can be mistaken as unchallenging; but on the palate there's a clean complexity that's less about technique and more about harmony.

He preps your palate with a refreshing cold cauliflower mousse with a hint of wasabi and briny richness of uni. It's followed up with a carpaccio of shima aji or horse mackerel, marinated in oil, citrus and an unidentified hint of spice, and pepper to wake you up. Add flaked almonds and edible flowers and it's an understated pleasure.

Toasted homemade brioche doesn't look it, but it's good stuff - with a more satisfying texture and depth than the usual lightweight varieties out there. The store-bought sourdough - the only thing that isn't made from scratch here - is pretty good too. Especially with the butter - whipped with uni and miso that tastes almost like foie gras.

The ayu confit is well worth the S$10 addition. Slow-cooked in oil till it's melting soft like canned sardines, it's a combination of meaty flesh and bitter stomach that's cleverly countered with a cucumber sauce. Meaty, slippery mushrooms make a good sidekick.

Alternatively, the aforementioned broiled kinmedai (S$10 supplement) holds its own too with a pleasing bounce to its flesh and crisp skin on watercress sauce, refreshed with a perky pomelo and celery salad on the side.

Again, the subtle composition of denseness lightened with acidity and the earthiness of watercress is seamless.

The main fish course is a sophisticated Japanese take on bouillabaisse, where very good quality amadei is aged for two days and then flash-roasted in a hot oven instead of deep-frying. Doi gets the same crispy scale effect with this method, laying the whole fillet on top of a shallow bowl of a saffron-scented seafood bisque, which itself gets added depth from a layer of creamy smooth potato puree.

Compared to the seafood, the meat dishes are a downer. Wagyu striploin (S$16 supplement) has been cooked sous vide but ends up on the rubbery side, paired with a classic red wine sauce and beetroot puree on the side. We prefer the melting soft, gelatinous texture of beef tongue stewed in red wine, even if the tongue itself is surprisingly bland.

A fitting end is homemade chestnut ice cream with a chewy, syrupy marron glace, followed by a passable pistachio creme brulee.

The question remains: is the food really worth the hassle of getting into Bistrot Etroit? It would be too simplistic to say you can get better French food elsewhere without the wait. It's not about being better but being different. It's more about the food, the chef, the cramped space and the overall experience. It's hard to get in not because the food is great - he just can't serve a lot of people at one time. We wouldn't kill ourselves to get in, but we would like to if we could. And we'd enjoy it for what it is, not for the bragging rights that seem to be driving the interest in it.

Rating: 7

WHAT OUR RATINGS MEAN

     10: The ultimate dining experience 9-9.5: Sublime 8-8.5: Excellent 7-7.5: Good to very good 6-6.5: Promising 5-5.5: Average

Our review policy: The Business Times pays for all meals at restaurants reviewed on this page. Unless specified, the writer does not accept hosted meals prior to the review's publication.