The White Label – French-Malayan Halal Cafe for brunch and unique fusion dishes like duck rillette kueh pie tee

The White Label seats at a quaint corner, not far from Golden Landmark Complex, in a row of eateries and traditional ware. Inside the bespoke halal cafe, I’m greeted by an array of floral, quirky lights, along with furniture that ooze elegance and timelessness. Modelled after Parisian cafes, The White Label is, from top to toe, undeniably quite french and fashionable in its decor.

What sets this cafe apart from other french eateries/restaurants, though, is that its a fusion cafe that serves French-Malayan food, combining the delicious and delightful charms of Parisian fare with the cultural treasures of Malayan food.

The menus were presented almost like placemats, and to my surprise, there were two menus: an All-Day Menu along with the Brunch Menu.

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For appetizers, we had the Lobster Bisque ($14), Mussels Mariniere ($16), and TWL Vol-Au-Vent ($14).

The lobster bisque is rich as I’d expected it to be, with bouncy chunks of lobster inside. What a treat! It borders on the sweeter side, but overall, it works like a charm, along with the slices of garlic bread (which literally have got garlic slides on them!). I made sure to finish the entire bowl. 

Next up was the mussels mariniere, which is sautéed black mussels in spicy “Singgang” broth. The texture of the mussels could be more succulent. Other than that, the broth was quite alright, but could surely do with more spices! 

Moving along, the presentation of the kueh pie tees was such a treat for the eyes! Five kueh pie tees were nestled on a beautiful platter, and each was filled to the brim with pulled beef, duck rillette and topped off with chili belado.

At first I was worried about how crunchy the kueh pie tee shells might be, but I needn’t have! When you take a huge bite off the top of the kueh pie tee as you would a corn dog, it separates nicely and neatly with a mere crunch! I like how the chili belado is the first thing I taste, then the savoury pulled beef, and it comes together quite nicely indeed.

For my mains, I’d ordered TWL Duck Confit ($32) and Eggs Royale ($18), which was from the brunch menu. The duck confit had a rather pretty presentation. It’s garlic duck confit, drenched in sesame brown sauce, and served with mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables.

I like how shredded the duck came off, but overall I found the duck slightly too tough for my liking. The seasonal vegetables were french beans and broccoli and those I really enjoyed! 

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Next up, the Eggs Royale! It’s grandiose-looking. The bed of fresh salad also looks equally appealing. And when I cut open the egg, the yolk oozed out effortlessly—perfection! Just the way I love these eggs. The eggs sit atop of smoked salmon slices, which are perched on croissant bread (how cute, it’s a parisian bread, and my first time seeing poached eggs on croissant). I enjoyed this very much, and by now I was stuffed! But there’s always room for dessert. 

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We chose the Tarte Earl Grey ($11), which is a tart that comes with a lovely side of fruity sorbet. This tart is made up of an earl grey whip, almond crumble, all encased within an almond tart and served with forest fruit sorbet. What a great ending to my parisian brunch/lunch here at The White Label! The almond tart is chocolatey and rich, and it worked well with the earl grey flavours and the forest fruit sorbet! Refreshing and unique. I definitely wish I had more room for another dessert but I’ll come down next time to try a different one, perhaps!

And this concludes my visit to The White Label, a halal French-Malayan cafe that serves creative and ambitious fusion food in a wonderfully parisian setting.

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The White Label

 734 North Bridge Road, #01-01, Singapore 198702

Tel: +65 8202 2358

Weekday: 11:30AM – 10PM

Weekend: 10AM – 10PM

Website: https://thewhitelabel.sg

Words by @chowbaccas