Satisfy Your (Food) Lust with Cocotte

13th June 2011. Written by Xin Li and Vinleon.
Cocotte (koh-Cot or "Koh koh Ti" as Vin calls it) has been around Little India for quite some time but I can’t stop myself popping by Black Sheep Café instead when it comes to French food in Little India. Hence, when groupon offered a 25 for 50 SGD voucher online, I decided to try out this French restaurant located in the former Hong Wen School Building, which has been transformed into a chic and modern hotel for people with a lust for travel.

Lunch was made interesting by introducing a communal set menu besides the usual individual set menu. However for budget constraints, we decided to go for the individual menu. Service was top notch here: “The service staff were all very attentive, and recommends without us asking. Our glasses were never empty. They were patient and courteous, and their product knowledge was excellent.” - Vinleon

The ambience was excellent. It has a kind of farm house atmosphere with a tinge of rustic warmth, complemented by the use of fresh flowers and vintage objects for décor. A dash of contemporary style can be observed in the choice of lights and the use of whimsical and pop-art style daily objects as part of the décor as well.

We were served warm mini baguette and butter as soon as we settled down, and though it was just baguette and I don’t know if it’s home-made, it was worth mentioning. Crusty on the outside, soft yet chewy on the inside.

I had a Pear, Bleu d’Auvergne Salad, Served with arugula and lemon, hazelnut dressing which was recommended by the waiter. The blue cheese was mildly pungent and went pretty well with the nuts, pear and arugula. However, it does get a bit too much half way through. The portion was rather big and there were generous amounts of blue cheese. Vinleon felt that the cheese is competing with the arugula in terms of flavor.

Vinleon had the Rosette, French cured pork sausage. He enjoyed the mustard together with the cured sausage. As expected from cured meat, it was exceedingly salty and Vinleon felt that more salad would have been better.

Rosette with some condiments.

Moments after we finished out the appetizers, our mains arrived. Vinleon was appalled by the high sodium chloride content of his Pan Seared Chicken with Pine Nut, Mushroom and Port Cream – Served with crushed potatoes and haricot vert. Apparently certain parts was very salty (or perhaps it was the cured sausage). I personally found slightly salty only and the sauce was rather tasty.

I adore my Pan Seared Chilean Sea Bass, served with roast fennel, tomato provencal and zucchini gratin. The meat was succulent, fresh and the seasoning was just right for. The skin tasted a little salty though.

Desserts were next. The Chocolate Royal, Valrhona Araguani mousse on layers of crispy praline and almond sponge with crème Anglaise was ordinary and too dry. It was probably the weakest item we had.

The Vanilla Crème Brulee on the other hand, was great. It was more aromatic than the crème brulee I had before. It was very fragrant, almost like perfume. The custard was quite rich and creamy.

An individual set lunch cost 29.00++ SGD and 35.00++ SGD for a 2-person communal set lunch. For an individual set lunch you would have to top up $12 dollars for the Beef Bourguignon or Roast Pork Collar.

Personally, I still prefer Black Sheep Café even though the service and ambience at Cocotte was top-notch and the food was good save for the a few misses. The price however, is rather steep.

Cocotte

Address:
No. 2 Dickson Road
Singapore 209494

Opening Hours:
Lunch:
1200hrs – 1430hrs
(Last order 1400hrs)

Dinner:
Mondays to Thursdays
1830hrs – 2230hrs
(Last order 2200hrs)
Fridays to Saturdays
1830hrs – 2300hrs
(Last order 2230hrs)

Bar Hours:
Mondays to Thursdays
1200hrs – 2300hrs
Fridays to Saturdays
1200hrs – 0000hrs

Restaurant & Bar close
on Sundays