PAUL review: Boulangerie Patisserie at Ngee Ann City

Dec 23, 2020 | Food, Restaurants / Cafes

PAUL review

Note: this PAUL review is a combination of THREE separate visits with a friend, to the flagship store at Ngee Ann City, Singapore. 

(Update! As of December 2022, I have written a second review on PAUL – check that out over here!)

PAUL Review: Entertainer App by HSBC

Who doesn’t like dining with a discount?

It’s no secret that my family and I love eating in restaurants from the Love Dining programme – I’ve said many times that mostly had positive Love Dining Experiences. However, on occasion we do eat at places outside of Love Dining itself.

Here’s where another amazing dining programme comes in – the Entertainer App’s 1-for-1 mains by HSBC credit card. It has a huge variety in terms of participating dining establishments – from Japanese buffet at Shin Minori, to cafe options such as Coffee Academics and Hoshino Coffee, and a celebrity chef restaurant by Jamie’s Italian.

I have written a whole post about it on this blog as well:

Entertainer App with HSBC: 1-for-1 dining deals

Entertainer App featuring 1-for-1 mains at Paul for dining-in, and 25% off for takeaway

When I saw that Paul, the French bakery and restaurant partakes in this deal – having heard others rave about their desserts – it was something a close friend and I couldn’t say no to.

French Bakery and Restaurant

Located on Level 3 of Ngee Ann City, this place is pretty crowded most of the time. 
Given that it’s a cafe that specializes in French desserts, however, ANYTIME is literally meal time.

Array of Desserts on display at the store’s entrance

A tip – do try and request for a seat in the inner parts of the restaurant, rather than the mallside.
If you’re lucky you might get a seat with a view of Orchard road.

That’s Paragon on the opposite side of Orchard Road

Menu

PAUL however isn’t just a bread store. It serves all day breakfasts, sandwiches, salads, mains, and of course, desserts. For this PAUL review, the restaurant chain’s meme is that they are bakers at heart.

According to the restaurant, it “With more than 130 years of history, we are truly happy to continue sharing our most important values with you, those which have been passed down through 5 generations: love for bread, the French ‘art de vivre’ and the constant monitoring of the quality of our products. We still make every loaf by hand, from scractch, every day, using specially imported flour. Don’t forget to grab out freshly baked breads!” 

(Or desserts… because who can say no to a good bit of sweet pastry?)

Check out their menu online right here.
Note: All food items listed here come from THREE separate visits with the husband to PAUL, however for organization’s sake, they will be presented in the following categories: All-Day Breakfasts, Main Course and Salads, and Dessert Takeaways

ALL-Day breakfast

If there was ONE dish I had to recommend, it would be the Smoked Salmon on Potato Pancake. It reminds me of a richer version of Eggs Royale (Eggs benedict with smoked salmon). Here, rich salty smoked salmon, made richer and more flavourful by a poached egg, rests on a crunchy potato base. Plus, though the potato base is described as ‘baked’ in the menu, this PAUL review classifies it more as ‘fried’. Among all the things I’ve eaten, this was my clear favourite.

Smoked salmon on Potato Pancake

For someone hankering after a more traditional eggs-and-toast kind of breakfast, the Omelette Complete is a great choice. A large fluffy omelette (made with 3 fresh eggs) with turkey ham, spinach and cheese filling. It is served with toasts, turkey bacon, chicken sausage, potato pancake (it’s underneath the egg – look carefully!), grilled tomato and sauteed button mushrooms.

Omelette Complete

If a heavy, protein-laden breakfast (or whatever meal, it’s all-day breakfast anyway) makes your heart sing, try the Breakfast Steak. 100g of Beef sirloin steak is served with turkey bacon, fried egg, grilled tomato and sauteed button mushrooms. In the menu, the dish comes with fries – however it can be swapped with salad (exactly what we did); just ask the servers nicely and they will be happy to oblige.

Breakfast Steak

The steak wasn’t particularly soft or tender – it was on the harder and more chewy side. So while it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t exactly spectacular. 

My friend’s favourite, is the Ham and Cheese Crepe.

Ham and Cheese Crepe

Here, turkey ham and cheese are folded together in a thin French pancake that’s topped with a fried egg. Served with grilled tomatoes and mixed greens. The cheese had melted over the ham, creating a beautiful layered effect with the pancake. Savoury as hell, and downright satisfying.
Of course, breakfast is always accompanied by coffee. I’ve tried a number of coffees at PAUL’s – the cafe latte, cappucino, and mocha – and so far they have been average. Nevertheless it’s always nice to have them with breakfasty stuff.

Cappucino (Left) and Mocha (Right)

Overall, the All-day breakfasts tend to be risk-free and idiot-proof, so when in doubt of what to order, this section makes it hard to go wrong. Nothing is really bad, and there are good options – so give it a shot, you may even be pleasantly surprised.

Main Course and Salads

Of course, there will be times that we don’t want breakfast for dinner, so a traditional main course might be the way to go.

Take the Beef Hamburger for instance. A homemade burger filled with beef patty, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, gherkins, cheddar cheese and topped with a sunny side up egg. In the menu, this is served with French fries but it can be swapped with salad (which we did!).

The burger itself was alright, average – just a simple goodness but not outstanding. I very much prefer the burger at Jamie’s Italian or the Drunken Poet (both these places are on Entertainer App too!), as they are more juicy and tender in comparison.

Beef Hamburger

Folks with a more refined palette may delight more in their seafood options. For example, the Scallop and Mussels are pan-friend and drowned slightly in a tomato sauce, and accompanied by asparagus. Definitely more sophisticated than the burger.

Scallop and Mussels

Another worthy seafood item is the Codfish with Lemon Capers. A filet of pan-fried codfish rests atop a bed of roasted baby potatoes. All its taste sharpened with a lemon butter capers sauce. This was great – the fish was light and refreshing but the slight heaviess of potato ensures that you won’t be hungry again in two hours. 

Codfish with Lemon Capers

For the health-conscious, this PAUL review is proud to affirm that there are several salad options for diners to choose from. The salads aren’t an afterthought either – they feel carefully planned to cater to salad lovers. On this occassion we had the Chickpeas and Avocado Salad. This was awesome – a medley of chickpeas with kale, avocado, red onions and cherry tomatoes all tossed in a creamy basil dressing. Dressing can alternatively be requested on the side.

Chickpeas and Avocado Salad

For the health-conscious, this PAUL review is proud to affirm that there are several salad options for diners to choose from. The salads aren’t an afterthought either – they feel carefully planned to cater to salad lovers. On this occassion we had the Chickpeas and Avocado Salad. This was awesome – a medley of chickpeas with kale, avocado, red onions and cherry tomatoes all tossed in a creamy basil dressing. Dressing can alternatively be requested on the side.

Dessert Takeaways

Each time after dining at PAUL’s, I am so stuffed there’s no room for dessert. Since I’m already at PAUL, I opted to take home a few items someday, so here they are!

Array of desserts. Yums.

The fruit tarts are so pretty and fresh. One of my favourites is the Raspberry Tart. While it looks simple with only Raspberries, custard cream sauce, sweet pastry, the combination is divine.

Tartelette Framboises (Raspberry Tart)

The freshness of fruit married with smoothness of cream alone is a match made in heaven. Throw in a slight flakey texture from the tart shell and dessert heaven explodes.
The Strawberry Tart is practically identical in concept to the Raspberry tart, except that it’s a different fruit on top.

Tartelette aux Fraise (Strawberry Tart)

Yup, it’s the interplay of strawberries, custard cream tartlet, and sweet pastry.

Tartelette aux Fraises (Strawberry Tart)

For something less conventionally fruity but still holding something like the sourness found in berries, try the Rhubarb tart. 

Tarte a la Rhubarbe (Rhubarb Tart)

Alternatively, forget all fruits, and go for Tiramisu. I couldn’t get a good picture as the husband devoured this waaaay too impatiently. But he repoted that the layers of sponge dipped in coffee alternating with mascaporne cheese felt good enough. Granted, we have had better tiramisu at Prego (at Fairmont hotel) or Burlamacco, but for a takeaway Tiramisu this really ain’t bad.

Tiramisu

Entertainer App Discounts

As mentioned earlier, for this PAUL review – the food featured here is a combination of three separate trips to the restaurant. For all visits, thanks to the Entertainer App, I received discounts if more than one main dish is ordered. All-day breakfasts and Main dishes are considered a ‘Main’ item that qualifies for a 1-for-1 discount. 

PAUL review – First visitation

  • Omelette Complete – $17.90
  • Breakfast Steak – $23.90
  • Cappucino – $6.40
  • Mocha – $7.20

– Sub-total: $55.40

– Entertainer app 1-for-1 mains waived the cheaper Main item, so $55.40 -$17.90 = $37.50

– 10% service charge: $3.75

– 7% GST: $2.89

FINAL BILL: $44.14

 

PAUL review – Second visitation

  • Iced Latte – $6.40
  • Scallops and Mussels – $26.90
  • Codfish with Lemon Capers – $32.90
  • Smoked salmon on Potato pancake – $19.90

– Sub-total: $86.10

– Entertainer app 1-for-1 mains waived the cheaper Main item, so $86.10 -$19.90 = $66.20

– 10% service charge: $6.62

– 7% GST: $5.10

FINAL BILL: $77.92

PAUL review – Third visitation

  • Chickpea and Avocado Salad – $15.90 
  • Ham and Cheese Crepe – $19.90
  • Beef Burger – $22.90

– Sub-total: $58.70

– Entertainer app 1-for-1 mains waived the cheaper Main item, so $58.70 -$19.90 = $38.80

– 10% service charge: $3.88

– 7% GST: $2.99

FINAL BILL: $45.67

PAUL review – Takeaway items

  • Tartelette aux Fraise (Strawberry Tart) – $7.20
  • Tartelette Framboises (Raspberry Tart) – $7.20
  • Tarte a la Rhubarbe (Rhubarb Tart) – $7.90
  • Tiramisu – $11.50

Note: No discount was applied for takeaway items.
(Update: I have written a second review on PAUL in December 2022 – click on this link to read it here!)

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Tags: Credit Card (HSBC) Entertainer app 1-for-1 Food (Cafe) Food (French) Food (Western)

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