It's a bit of a pilgrimage to head to Cocotte, located as it is in Little India, but all things considered, it's a small price to pay for an authentic taste of France. As you step into Wanderlust, the quirky, hip boutique hotel that Cocotte is found in, you can't help but feel like you're in a different world with the various curios that populate the lobby. While the lobby is an eclectic blend of 60s Singapore, urban Eastern Europe, and artsy Bohemian, the food that Cocotte serves however, is quintessentially French.
One of the key reasons that Cocotte's cuisine is so authentic is that it serves French food as how you'd find it on a dinner table in a French home. Hearty dishes like braised beef cheek, roast pork collar, or roast veal rack, will absolutely warm the soul. Don't overlook the starters though, there's a good mix for both palates safe and adventurous. Notable highlights include the fried tripe, chicken liver mousse, and escargots gourgeres. (Yes, our palates tend to the more adventurous side.)
Whatever you order though, know that the portions are generous, the tastes robust, and the meal convivial.
"50 Best Restaurants 2011" -S.Pellegrino World
"Recommended New Hot Spots" -Academy Chairwoman
"Located at the lobby of the newly opened Wanderlust hotel, the restaurant's centerpiece - a jet black
Moooi Dear Ingo lamp - may be a head-turner but it is the wallet-friendly hearty French classics made for
sharing that are the biggest draw." -CNNGo.com
"Though the ambiance is playful, the kitchen takes their job extremely seriously." -I-S Asia-City
"With the spot-on savoury flavours of the meal, you couldn’t help but think the chefs could be native French." -Time Out Singapore
We love how Cocotte serves a blend of well-executed French classics with some slightly less common but no less delicious gems.
We salivate at the thought of the poulet roti, a roast chicken that has been marinated for 2 days, smothered in herb butter, and then roasted to perfection. Served with a generous pour of thick gravy, this chicken is to die for. We don’t want you to be disappointed though, so do note that this delicious dish is only available for dinner daily except Tuesday! Other classics include the moules a la normande, live Normandy mussels steamed in an apple cider cream sauce or the roast pork collar, which is cooked in a creamy Dijon mustard sauce and served with brussel sprouts amandine, garlic potatoes, and forest mushrooms.
For something a little less common, try the fried tripe. Tripe isn't usually our thing, but Cocotte has us won over. Slow cooked and then fried in breadcrumbs, it's flavourful, light, and definitely something different. For those of you who don't know what tripe is, well we won't spoil the surprise.
What really brings everything together though is how Cocotte makes the meal so... comfortable. Large groups can sit at the round communal table, food comes in solid crockery or on wooden boards. There is nothing pretentious about a meal at Cocotte, and that really allows the dining experience to shine.
"You wouldn’t think it from the traditional, colourfully tiled shophouse exterior, but this Little India newbie – located behind the lobby of boutique hotel Wanderlust – is a French thoroughbred. Its allegiances are displayed not only in the oversized vintage posters hanging faded on the wall and Le Creuset kitchen utensil holders on every table, but also in its wine list and unmistakeably traditional campagne-inspired cuisine.
The fried tripe ($12) arrived in a mini cocotte filled with tender pieces of said innards that had been breaded and deep-fried to a golden crisp; while the escargots gougères ($19) were succulent snails dolloped with herb butter then sandwiched in a crunchy, almost crumbly gruyère cheese pastry served with a side of light tomato coulis.
We didn’t care so much for the stiff, dry fries that accompanied the steak ($24), but had no beef with the meat itself: the skirt steak cut from a grassfed vache, cooked to a medium rare, was soft, rosy and oozing with juices. The dessert – a raspberry and cream cheese mousse ($12) – doubled as a palate cleanser and visual teaser with its topping of lacy, fragile fragments of tuile. While the plain-vanilla Philadelphia cream cheese with berry jam is not something we’d write home about, the tuile-making technique used here was clearly masterly.
Pair this skill with the spot-on savoury flavours of the meal, and you couldn’t help but think the chefs could be native French. But this is actually a story of three Sunrice Culinary Academy graduates done good. Real good."
-Time Out Singapore
