Cuisine: French

Address: 80 Collyer Quay, Singapore 049326

Nearest MRT: Raffles Place (NS/ EW line)

Brunch: Saturdays and Sundays, 12.00 p.m. to 3.00 p.m.

La Brasserie serves classic French bistro favourites in a sleek modern setting alongside salubrious views of the Marina Bay waterfront. With two spacious salons and a private room, all with 10-metre-high windows, and an al fresco terrace, it is an ideal choice for business lunches, intimate dinners and family-friendly weekend brunches.

Weekends are made for leisurely brunching at La Brasserie. Apart from a splendid repast that features a carefully curated buffet line alongside brunch favourites and signatures cooked to order, there are also bubbly and delicious cocktails for those after celebratory weekend tipples. 

The main reason we went to La Brasserie was for the champagne brunch. For those who don’t drink, there are non-alcoholic options at $108++ per person. For $138++ per person, the package includes free flow of House Pour Red and White Wines, with access to Gin Parlour Station 
and Bloody Mary. And for $158++, it includes free flow of Veuve Clicquot NV Champagne, House Pour Red and White Wines, with access to Gin Parlour Station and Digestif Corner. Half of us went for the free flow champagne package.

In terms of the buffet spread, it was not as wide variety as I expected. There was a seafood section, roast meats, freshly baked breads, cheeses, salads and desserts. For other food items, there is a special a la carte menu where we can order as many as we want and the chefs would prepare it behind the kitchen. The cold seafood had a variety from mussels, prawns, crabs to scallops and sashimi. I enjoyed the sashimi with caviar sauce, but certain items like the crabs were not to my liking. I prefer having my crab cooked in chilli sauce or served warm.

The bakery station had an assortment of breads, from wholemeal to croissant and Danish pastries. You could toast your bread and have a slab of butter to go with the bread.

The layout of the restaurant was rectangular and had around 20 tables. The ceiling was high which made the place look spacious. The buffet spread was on one side while the other was used to house the diners.

Over at the roast meat station, there was a chef on duty who would slice the pieces of meat and serve it to the client. There was roasted crackling pork belly, slow roasted ribeye and garlic roasted lamb leg. The ribeye was a disappointment as the meat was too dry. The pork belly was good but the skin could have been more crispy. The lamb meat was cooked well and had a tinge of rosemary. Diners can help themselves to the sauces – mustard, mint jelly or horseradish, as an accompaniment to the roast meats.

This was the a la carte menu that we could order freely from. The dishes are prepared upon order. Since we were a big group, we ordered one of each so that everyone can try. Certain highlights include the braised ee fu noodle and egg benedict which we went for second helpings.

The Peranakan chicken curry dish was under the Asian delights. It was served with chicken and potato in the curry, with a serving of rice on the side. The curry was fragrant but not so nice because the flavour was not rich enough.

This is my favourite French dish and it can’t go wrong at a typical French restaurant. It was served with Beluga lentil stew and petite salad on the side. The duck meat was tender and the mashed potato creamy.

Unde the egg special, one of the options was braised wagyu cheeks. It was served with soft eggs and truffle hollandaise. The wagyu cheeks were tender and marinated well in the sauce. Using the soft egg yolk, we could dip the beef slices in the sauce and the yolk, slurping up the broth.

Stir fried using homemade XO sauce, with jumbo crab meat and silver sprouts, the ee fu noodle is the favourite dish of my wife. The XO sauce was not too overbearing, but the crab meat portions could have been more generous as I did not get to taste much of the crab meat. Other ingredients or seafood could have been added to this dish to make it more flavourful.

For those going for the alcoholic add-on buffet, we were given a wristband to be easily identified by the staff. One of the bonus is the whisky station, which had several kinds of flavoured whisky, from spice to bourbon. I did not try all of them because whisky is not really my favourite kind of drink. The chocolate bourbon tasted good, with a slight chocolaty aftertaste, but still the strong whisky overpowered my senses at the first sip.

If you prefer whites, do head over to the gin station. You can prepare your own concoction of gin, adding spices such as cinnamon, cardamon, dried chilli, cloves or bay leaves to your own cocktail. If you prefer the standard kind of gin, then just add tonic water to your drink. I really like the layout of the gin station with various add-ons that you could use to complement your drink of choice. Having downed several glasses of bubbly, I could only fathom one glass of gin.

Having tried all the kinds of food at the different stations, it was time to end off the meal on a sweet note. We headed to the desserts section, with a chef on duty making fresh crepes. There were lots of tarts, chocolates, meringue and biscuits.

At the other corner, there were more desserts to choose from, such as carrot cake, chocolate mousse, lemon meringue tart, chocolate eclairs etc.

At the crepe suzette station, you can add on toppings of your choice such as dried cranberries, chocolate balls, almond flakes, raspberry sauce or mango sauce. I enjoyed making my own crepe dessert.

Overall, the atmosphere at La Brasserie was laidback and comfortable. We had a nice view of the surrounding Marina Bay area. There were two big groups of around ten people, where everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves thoroughly and laughing heartily, probably after some glasses of champagne. It was also a day of celebration as there were three tables having their birthday celebration, including ours. The staff prepared a slice of rainbow cake for the birthday girl at our table.

Would I come back again? I find the selection of food to be so so, as there were only a few outstanding dishes. I was there more for the tipple, so if you are a good drinker and love some champagne on a Sunday brunch, do come down to try the brunch buffet at La Brasserie. If you bring your kids along, the adults can enjoy their day out and leave the staff at Fullerton Bay hotel to take care of the children in the play room, a service provided free of charge.

Have you been to La Brasserie Sunday brunch buffet before? Do share with me your thoughts in the comments.