Olivia Cassivelaun Fancourt | Lunch at the Arts House

21st March 2014.
Named after Sir Stamford Raffles’ first wife, Olivia Cassivelaun Fancourt (1771-1814), OCF is a modern French restaurant located within the Arts House at Old Parliament Lane, the former Parliament House before the move to the current Parliament House along North Bridge Road in 1999.



The interior design of OCF was done by local architecture firm, Formwerkz Architects, who also did the interiors for Par Andre. Helming the restaurant is executive chef Jonathan Koh, who had spent his time training in restaurants in France before working at the Raffles Grill and heading the Boathouse before his stint at the Olivia Cassivelaun Fancourt.

Our Restaurant Week Lunch (25++ SGD) started off with some crusty warm bread served with cone shaped butter. For starters, I had the OCF signature dish, the L’ouef sur Les L’ouefs described as "Eggs on Eggs with Cured Salmon". Served with a thin slice of brioche to scoop up the egg yolk and scrambled egg, this is pure comfort food. The addition of cured salmon gives a nice contrast in both flavour and texture by lending its saltiness to the whole dish.

For mains, my friend has the Les Pâtés which is a dish of Orecchiette Pasta, Seafood Fricassee and Leek Emulsion which was really fragrant.

I had the Le Cochon, Iberian Pork Cheeks, Carrot Puree and Roasting Jus. While certain parts of the pork cheeks were a little sinewy, it was generally tender and juicy with crispy skin. The lightly glazed pork cheekswith savoury roasting jus also went very well with the sweet carrot puree.



The meal ended with a very rich chocolate dessert, the Les Chocolats, Textures of Valrhona Chocolate, *P125 Sorbet, a presentation of chocolate in brownie, mousse and ice cream with varying textures as well as highlights the variations in the flavours of chocolates between the bitter and the sweet.

*The P125 refers to family of chocolate by Valrhona distinguished by its thicker texture due its higher percentage of dry extract. (Source : InsideCuisine)

Overall, my friends and I had an enjoyable lunch at OCF. The service here was really good too, the service was relaxed and professional not the kind of uptight atmosphere that I expected.

Olivia Cassivelaun Fancourt

The Arts House

1 Old Parliament Lane #02-02

Singapore 179429