HENRI Wine Bistro & Bakery

HENRI Wine Bistro & Bakery is a French bakery and wine bistro at 39 Kreta Ayer Road, in a conservation building on the edge of Chinatown. Mornings are for bread, pastries and coffee. Lunch centres on set menus, and dinner is a relaxed French bistro meal with wine.

HENRI comes from the team behind Bread & Hearth, a bakery café that started on Keong Saik Road in 2013. The group later set up a wholesale sourdough bakery and opened HENRI in 2022. Most things are made in-house, including the bread, the roasted coffee beans and the dry-aged beef.

What to order

Breakfast and bakery

The signature loaf is the pain de campagne, a country sourdough made with French flour and the bakery's own starter. Pastries and cakes are on display at the counter. The coffee uses beans roasted in-house, a blend from El Salvador and Colombia.

Lunch

Lunch is built around two- and three-course set menus. Main courses include steak au poivre, boeuf bourguignon and confit de canard (duck confit). To finish, there is crème brûlée, a strawberry roll cake or an apple tart.

Dinner

Dinner offers a three-course set menu alongside bistro dishes. Starters include duck rillette, salmon tartare and scallops. For mains, look for soupe de poisson (French fish soup), crab linguine or chicken cordon bleu. The kitchen dry-ages its own beef for the steaks. Desserts include a soufflé and the house crème brûlée.

Wine and high tea

As the name suggests, wine matters here. The cellar holds around 50 labels with a focus on French wines, including Rhône reds that go well with the dry-aged steaks. In the afternoon, HENRI also serves high tea with savoury bites, sweets and scones. High tea is by booking only.

Good to know before you go

• Booking: reserve lunch or dinner online through TableCheck or by phone. For breakfast or high tea, call or send a WhatsApp message.
• Groups: a deposit is needed for parties of six or more. For private events, there is an indoor space for up to 40 guests; ask by email.
• Children: there is a short kids' menu, with dishes such as roast chicken.
• Dietary needs: the menu marks vegetarian dishes and those that contain nuts.
• To take home: the bakery sells bread and roasted coffee beans, and wine can be ordered from the online shop.

Getting there

The restaurant lists Maxwell and Outram Park as its closest MRT stations, both a short walk away. If you drive, the restaurant suggests parking at Kreta Ayer Community Centre. Keong Saik Road is just around the corner.

Nearby

On Keong Saik Road you will find A Hotel Chinatown, a boutique hotel. In the wider Chinatown area, the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple is worth a visit. For modern Asian food, try Burma Social on Tras Street. Browse more cafés and bakeries, European and Italian restaurants or all restaurants in Chinatown and Tanjong Pagar. Current menus are on the HENRI website.