The Stamford Brasserie: review of Bistro dining @ Swissotel

Note: The information in this blogpost was gathered from TWO different visitations to The Stamford Brasserie.

As such, the items featured here may be slightly dated (apologies, busy working mom here) and may or may not reflect the most recent menu. Interested diners are advisesd to contact the restaurant directly or check out The Stamford Brasserie’s website for more information. 

Welcome to The Stamford Brasserie

The Stamford Brasserie

The Stamford Brasserie is located on the ground floor at Swissotel the Stamford.

Entrance to The Stamford Brasserie

Inside, the place is made to resemble a Parisian style Bistro.

Desserts are openly displayed at the entrance

The seating area also has an open kitchen concept, whereby one can see the chefs at work around a bar counter.

Seats inside

Open Kitchen

American Express Love Dining

My readers know this by now – I did get enticed to visit thanks to the American Express Love Dining benefits. The benefits come with ownership of the American Express Platinum Charge Card, and this makes dining in super worth it.

With two adults, the husband I consistently get a sweet, sweet deal of 50% off at participating dining establishments. With children – in my experience, as both my kids are still really young, they aren’t included as a headcount in the calculation of Love Dining benefits (this may change later, at some point my elder kid will enter primary school, so let’s see what happens then). For now, even when my family (2 adults, 2 small kids) dines out, it is typically still at 50% off.

Inspired by this post and want to apply for an American Express credit card? Apply through one of my referral links and receive either bonus Membership Rewards points or statement credit:

• The Platinum Charge Card: Use this referral link and receive up to S$900 statement credits and Samsonite Choca Spinner 68/25 (worth S$700) when you apply and minimum spend criteria is met.
• The American Express Platinum Card: Use this referral link and receive up to S$350 statement credits when you apply and minimum spend criteria is met.
• American Express Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Ascend Credit Card: Use this referral link and receive up to 38, 000 Krisflyer miles and S$50 statement credits when you apply and minimum spend criteria is met. 

Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed on this page are that of Happy High Life and may not necessarily reflect the position of American Express. Happy High Life is not responsible for any decisions made by readers. The terms and conditions for each credit card's application and usage may be subject to change by American Express. Therefore, readers are recommended to check any matters with American Express or its partners; the list of all benefits of the Platinum Charge Card can be found here.

Starters. Salads.

At The Stamford Brasserie, the menu is divided into starters, sides or small bites, mains, and desserts.

But I have to say, what counts as a “starter” here can look like a full meal in itself. For instance, the very massive Meat Board.

Meat Board

Served on a large platter, the combination of parma ham, salami, pork pate, duck rilette, onion jam and a toasted brioche – it just screams CARNIVORE PARADISE.

I strongly recommend ordering this to share – its A LOT of meat for one person, and it is only supposed to be an appetizer.

In our case, our kids happily munched on it throughout.

Parma Ham, Salami, Pork Pate, Duck Rillette, Onion Jam, Toasted Brioche

Fortunately, there are very decent salad options here at The Stamford Brasserie. 

And the serving sizes for the salads are just as huge.

Tomato and Fig

Once, we ordered the Tomato and Fig salad. This was a medley of aquaponics, salad leaves, heirloom tomatoes, fig, feta crumble, and salted maple dressing.

Bonus: There are loads of hidden figs underneath the leaves and tomatoes. 

Spot the Figs

I don’t always describe salad as “satisfying” but this one may be an exception.

It remained an exception until I tried the OTHER salad on their menu, the Super Food Salad.

Super Food Salad

It definitely lives up to its name – the Super Food Salad is a happy mix of kale, quinoa, beetroot hummus, avocado, berries (blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries!), pomegranate vinaigrette, yeast flakes, and pumpkin seeds.

Special shoutout to the beetroot hummus, which was so creamy and nutty and a hot PINK colour to boot.

One of the Best Salads I’ve ever had

Because our kids love soup, we once ordered the Seafood Potage for them to share.

Seafood Potage

More than just a creamy soup, the Seafood Potage is made of white crabmeat, shrimp, clam and fresh herbs. It went really well with the bun.

Crab and Shrimp pieces. Yum.

Those were JUST the appetizers. And we’re just getting started.

Snacks. Sides.

I suppose that “snacks” at The Stamford Brasserie refer to some kind of bar grub, or little bites for when one is feeling peckish. 

One of them is the TSB (The Stamford Brasserie) Chicken Wings.

TSB Chicken Wings

These were coated liberally in Ras El Hanout (Moroccan spice blend that has cumin, ginger, cinnamon, coriander, and allspice) and served with Chipotle Sauce. Overall, slightly spicy, with an equally spicy aftertaste, and just the right amount of kick. LOVE.

Just a little spicy

Or, if one just needs something idiot-proof – it is very hard to go wrong with Pork Sausage.

Pork Sausage

Push aside the toppings, and you’ll see that it is coated in an apple and onion gravy/jam slather. The slight sweetness and tart flavours from that sauce reduced the pork’s heaviness just a little, and everything was generally enjoyable.

It spirals

Or one can throw all nutritional advice out the window, and go straight for the Seared Duck Foie Gras.

Seared Duck Foie Gras

This is where I may be slightly biased – personally, I LOVE foie gras, and the good places seem to prepare them so very well. The ones here are cooked with quince puree, plum, port wine, and sprinkled with granola bits. 

Worth every calorie

Rich. Creamy. Velvety. With this, I’m almost at the point of saying, screw all attempts to be healthy.

At least we had salad earlier. 🙂

Mains

My husband loves burgers. So on one of our visits, he got one. 

Wagyu Beef Burger

The Wagyu Beef Burger is as good as a burger can get. A Brioche bun here is filled with wagyu beef patty, tomato, gruyere cheese, lettuce, truffle mustard, and gherkin. Served with potato chips.

There is an option to add on an additional wagyu beef patty for $10. We didn’t think it was necessary, but hey, the possibility is there.

Served with paprika-spiced potato chips

We asked the server, if there was ONE signature dish that The Stamford Brasserie can boast about, what would that be? 

The answer: TSB (The Stamford Brasserie) Baked Pork Ribs.

TSB Baked Pork Ribs

The Glaze on this is really something: Grand Marnier Glaze. Topped with bits of candied orange.

It also comes with potato chips, but looking at the massive amount of meat, the potato chips looked insignificant at this point. 

With Thickly Glazed sauce

The pork does has its redeeming qualities, and the sauce did feel special and yummy overall. The meat’s texture itself was a BIT of a hit and miss – some parts can be very tender, and some parts a little more tough. Perhaps I’m being picky as I have higher expectations for a ‘signature’ dish, but when the smaller kid has some trouble chewing on the harder bits, the parents have to work harder to search and cut out the softer bits for him. 

Notice the tougher ends?

You’d think that we’d have had enough meat by now. But recall – this blogpost is made up of TWO visitations, so we had the above pork ribs on one, and the below Braised Angus Short Ribs on another.

Braised Angus Short Ribs

A very prettily done presentation of steak was served: potato puree, leek pickled mustard, and shallots.

Similar to the pork, the taste was good but the meat had both a combination of tender and not-so-tender / more chewy bits. Though everyone agreed that the potatoes were super well done.

It was A LOT of mashed potatoes

Dessert

We almost never say no to desserts, especially when everything just looks so good on the menu.

Like the Baked Cheese Tart.

Baked Cheese Tart

It looks like a normal tart – but folks, this is THE BOMB – Sable base, berry coulis, crispy nougat.

I don’t know what magic this thing has, but it was so fricking good. We ordered it for our first visitation, and loved it so much that we ordered it AGAIN the second time we visited.

More about the tart in my ‘Overall Thoughts’ section (see later below).

Baked Cheese Tart

If there are many of you, and one dessert is too few, try the Manjari 64% Chocolate Profiterole – these are good for sharing.

Manjari 64% Chocolate Profiterole

These are Profiterole (cream puffs) served with chocolate ice cream, praline, and hazelnut. It also comes with a small pitcher of either a butterscotch or caramel or nutty sauce of some kind – didn’t manage to catch what it was, but gosh it went damn well together.

Butterscotch or Caramel sauce. I think.

Overall Thoughts

First off, the serving sizes are HUGE. Even with the starters and sides – with the exception of the soup and asparagus, everything else we’ve had could literally have be a whole meal in themselves.

The portions of meat were also super generous. On both dining occassions, we’ve actually had to take home leftovers for later. So definitely, come near-starving, or at very minimal, hungry enough to eat a horse.

If I had to pick a favourite out of everything here, it would be the cheese tart. It was both simultaneously savoury and sweet, with a slight sourness from the fruits and sauce, and topped with the crunch of a nougart. My kindergarten-aged daughter, on one of the visits, ate a whole cheese tart by herself – it was THAT good. 

Overall a highly recommended experience, and 10/10 would definitely come back again, if time permits.

Want some Love Dining?

Apply for an American Express credit card and get bonus points!

American Express Platinum Charge Card (Image source: American Express)

Inspired by this post and want to apply for an American Express credit card? Apply through one of my referral links and receive either bonus Membership Rewards points or statement credit:

• The Platinum Charge Card: Use this referral link and receive up to S$900 statement credits and Samsonite Choca Spinner 68/25 (worth S$700) when you apply and minimum spend criteria is met.
• The American Express Platinum Card: Use this referral link and receive up to S$350 statement credits when you apply and minimum spend criteria is met.
• American Express Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Ascend Credit Card: Use this referral link and receive up to 38, 000 Krisflyer miles and S$50 statement credits when you apply and minimum spend criteria is met. 

Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed on this page are that of Happy High Life and may not necessarily reflect the position of American Express. Happy High Life is not responsible for any decisions made by readers. The terms and conditions for each credit card's application and usage may be subject to change by American Express. Therefore, readers are recommended to check any matters with American Express or its partners; the list of all benefits of the Platinum Charge Card can be found here.

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