Bar-Roque Grill Singapore: A French Brasserie we misjudged for eleven years

Bar-Roque Grill has been around since 2013. And yet, a close friend of mine, who has lived directly opposite for the past eleven years, has never once stepped inside this French restaurant.

“Why haven’t you gone in?” I asked, even though she had passed by the place thousands of times.

Turns out she shared the same assumptions as me. The outer brick façade and signage made it feel like they served Tomahawk steaks and heavy American-style grills... the kind that centres big cuts of meat slathered with barbecue sauce and chunks of corn.

Neither of us are big fans of that.

That erroneous thought carried through the years, and we never thought to clarify it until today.

---

To be fair, Bar-Roque Grill does serve steaks, and great ones too. They simply sit alongside French classics rather than define the entire experience.

A chandelier hung from the ceiling by a rope, immediately reminding me of the opening scene of The Phantom of the Opera. A cherub, drunk on wine and mid-pee, greeted us.

Reminiscent of Phantom of the Opera's opening scene

Since it's lunch time, we both decided to go for the 2-course lunch set ($38) and 3-course lunch set ($48).

We were served complimentary sourdough bread with butter. I found the crust slightly too tough for my liking, but I loved the chewy interior.

My friend went for the 2-course lunch set, picking the Spinach Salad (served with goat cheese, tomato confit, hazelnut dressing) and the Sautéed Beef Steak “Stroganoff” (served with mash potatoes & mushrooms).

At this point, my friend mentioned that she has another friend who regards Bar-Roque Grill as their favourite restaurant.

High praise, indeed. But I was starting to see why. A Michelin-recognised restaurant with staff so enthusiastic and warm, it is difficult to leave in a bad mood.

For my 3-course set, I chose the Duck Terrine with ginger mustard and pickles, owing much to my initiation into it at Mdm Flod’s. It is unmistakably French charcuterie tradition, and I loved it. For my main, I went with the Grilled Tuna Steak, and ended with the Cheese Platter for dessert.

The duck terrine was absolutely delicious. As someone who enjoys the occasional pâté, this one felt like a treat. The grilled tuna steak came “medium rare”, as far as tuna steaks go, with an incredible dressing and olives that worked beautifully together.

The cheese platter was listed for one, but it felt perfectly comfortable for two to share, which we did. We would have preferred stronger cheeses, as these leaned milder by comparison. Still, we loved the caramelised pecans and the water wafers served with a spiced puréed apple sauce of sorts.

Before we started on any of these dishes, though, we ordered their French No. 4 oysters at $2 each, sold in a set of six. The oyster festival ran for just one weekend, from 26 February to 1 March 2026. It might have been the shortest festival I have ever been to, but it was worth it.

We ended up ordering two rounds of those briny French No. 4 oysters.

And somewhere between the duck terrine, the second plate of oysters, and then the cheese platter, it became clear that we had been wrong for eleven years.

Still, better late than never.

We enjoyed ourselves immensely. If you have walked past thinking it is simply a heavy-duty steakhouse, it is worth stepping in and seeing the fuller picture for yourself.

📍 Bar-Roque Grill, Beside Amara Hotel (not inside)