Cocotte in Wanderlust ....... sincerest communal French cuisine

Cocotte is a fortnight old French restaurant that resides inside Wanderlust, a boutique hotel, tastefully transformed from an old conservation building in classic Loh Lik Peng's style, trying to mimic the Majestic Hotel’s success story. 

The lobby is the hotel's showcase depicting a raw industrial style floor and walls. Like Majestic hotel’s lobby, only in this case smaller in magnitude, Wanderlust’s lobby was strewn with a few artsy stools, a couple of barber chairs and a modern plastic sofa. The impressive lobby and the cool bar counter fronts the restaurant.

The restaurant is laid with rustic timber strips and had homey French country style white wooden tables but the colorful metal chairs was rather uncomfortable.

Cocotte, in French, means cast iron pots and some of the dishes here was served directly out of cast iron pots. Cocotte provides communal dining that is great for the family or a gathering of friends. The mains come in small, medium and large portions to cater for different party sizes.

Appetizers

Moules a la Normande

Air flown live French Bouchot mussels. Cooked in light apple cider cream sauce. (Subject to Availability) - The mussels had good texture and went well with the sauce. The sauce was quite appetizing. Ade tried to ‘sell’ us non-mussels fans the mussels so as to get at the sauce to use as dip sauce for the baguette.

Breaded Pig’s Trotters

Boneless medallions of crispy pig trotters. Served with arugula and pistachio dressing -

The pig’s trotters is a mixture of the fatty and lean portion of the trotters minced up and then reconstructed into these medallions and then fried. The fats from the trotters provided that appetizing savoriness that made me desire for the second and third helping.

Fried Tripe

Slow cooked in a court bouillon till tender. Breaded and deep fried. - The tripe was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. A tomato based dip sauce was provided to go with this dish bringing a refreshing twist to this appetizer.

Mains

Poulet Roti

Whole organic, hormone free chicken, marinated for 2 days and roasted with fresh herb butter. Served with gravy, roast baby potatoes and haricot verts.

This is one of the signature dish from Cocotte. It was well marinated with herbs and then baked till a point where the bird was still tender and juicy.

Roast Pork Collar

Cooked in creamy Dijon mustard sauce. Served with brussel sprouts and crushed potatoes.

With this dish, I though pork and Dijon mustard must have been a marriage made in heaven. The pork collar was stewed in heavy cast iron Le Creuset till it was so soft that it melt in your mouth. 

The sauce was evident of Dijon mustard but without any excess spiciness. It was so good that it became my turn to swipe it clean off the pot with the mini baguettes. This dish won my vote for the best dish of the night.

Pork Fillet in Puff Pastry

With mushrooms stuffing, cepe cream and wilted rocket. - The pork fillet nestled nicely within the layer of minced mushroom and then encrusted in a fluffy layer of rich tasting puff pastry.

A cross section of this pork fillet shows the 3 reasons that I liked about this dish. First, the pastry was light and fluffy, exuberating of butter rich fragrance. Next, the mushroom minced and peppered. I just love the taste and fragrance peppered minced mushrooms. Finally, the pork fillet was baked till perfect tenderness. All these were made perfect with a drizzle of cepe cream.

Desserts

Citron tart

Lemon cream and candied lemon peel.

Apple Tart Tartin

Upside-down caramelized apple tart with vanilla ice-cream.

The lemon cream in the lemon tart was nicely balanced but the tart crust was too hard. Apple Tart Tartin wasn’t too bad but the savory food was just too impressive that they over-shadowed the desserts.

My Birthday 'Cake' from Cocotte

I was presented with a birthday 'cake' that came in a form of a heap of mini balls of puff pastry with choux cream. Thanks Cocotte!

For a restaurant that is barely a month old, I don't really see any lapse in their service. In fact they scored extra points for preparing soft toys for the little ones at our table.
This Saturday’s dinner venue was suggested by Ade who got her inspiration out from a fortnight old’s 8 day's magazine. I was always teasing her about her being ‘auntie’ for reading the magazine and this dinner was itself a big slap on my big mouth. 8 Day’s content is definitely not ‘auntie’. The Cocotte review in the magazine was a great recommendation. Great choice Ade!



2 Dickson Road
Singapore
Tel : 65 6396 3322
Cocotte Website