Camphor

This popular spot hums with activity from eager diners and a bustling open kitchen. Headed by uber-talented Chefs Max Boonthanakit and Lijo George, Camphor plates seriously good French fare with a sprinkle of spicing from Southeast Asia. Creative cocktails, including the refreshing Saint-Germain, complete the experience.Bubbling hot rigatoni stuffed with artichokes, Swiss chard and Comte delivers one satisfying bite after the next, and steak au poivre arrives resting in a pool of perfect sauce. Expertly seared with a caramelized exterior, it is buttery and tender, but it is the Cognac cream infused with peppercorn that will have you sopping up every last bit. The seasonal fruit tart, whimsically deconstructed, is a stunner.

• French bistro cooking with Southeast Asian spicing: Classical technique and butter-sauce structure, with aromatic heat and seasoning layered in.
• A small room that feels like an open-kitchen workshop: The pace and energy come from the line, not a formal dining script.
• A menu built around a few anchor dishes: Pasta, steak, and pastry are treated as the core signatures, with seasonal variation around them.

• Comté and Swiss chard: Built into the restaurant’s rich, bubbling stuffed rigatoni.
• Artichoke: A recurring flavour note, including in pasta fillings.
• Peppercorn and cognac: The spine of the steak au poivre, finishing in a glossy cream sauce.
• Seasonal fruit: Used for the restaurant’s closing tart, treated as a composed, pastry-led dessert.

One-star restaurant in the Arts District pairing classic French bistro instincts with Southeast Asian seasoning. The cooking is confident and sauce-forward, with signatures that have included rigatoni stuffed with artichokes, Swiss chard and Comté, a peppercorn steak au poivre finished with cognac cream, and a seasonal fruit tart served as a deconstructed finale.