Cocotte, Singapore – finding French in Little India
Cocotte describes itself as a ‘communal’ restaurant serving French classics. Greedy Girl and gluttonous husband wended their way to Little India to try out chef Anthony Yeoh’s approach to cooking which the restaurant’s website describes as rustic and unpretentious.
Despite visiting Singapore countless times, we’d never visited Little India before. Emerging from the local MRT station early on a Sunday evening, we headed for Buffalo Road and nothing short of chaos. The markets were still in full force and given the time of year, with various festivals running, the streets were jam-packed with predominantly young Indian men. Indeed, the ratio of men to women was at least 100-1. It was an extraordinary sight.
Navigating our way to the Wanderlust boutique hotel, we found Cocotte quite easily and sighed with relief at finding a relatively peaceful, cool spot. While the restaurant is communal, that seems to refer to the more Asian style of sharing from large dishes rather than the Australian take – that being sharing large tables. Not that there was any shortage of those.
Cepe mushroom and duck confit tart
The red snapper and shellfish was the dish of the night
Greedy Girl took the streak frites. This was a large serving – 300 grams of Cape Grim flat iron steak (from Tasmania) served with an onion confit, side salad and the fries.
French sensibilities when it comes to cooking meat
Ordered medium, the steak came out more on the rare side – obviously the chef has French sensibilities when it comes to cooking meat. It was, however, soft and tender perfection with a beautiful flavour. The onion confit was a delightful addition and the fries were cooked perfectly – crisp and not at all greasy. The salad was a nice touch but the dressing was very strong. Greedy Girl ate half and handed over the rest of the plate to gluttonous husband – he who likes his steak served ‘blue’ was very pleased with the taste and texture of the meat.
Golden delights
We decided to share a dessert.While tempted momentarily by a tarte au citron, we opted for the bitter chocolate tart made from Valrhona Araguani 72% couverture. This chocolate is apparently made from ‘rare’ Venezuelan cocoa beans. According to the Valrhona Professionals website, this chocolate can be compared to fine wines with ‘high tannins and a long lasting finish on the palate’. The chocolate was undoubtedly very good but some of the power of the flavour was a bit diminished because it was served straight from a refrigerated cabinet. It needed to warm a fraction. The pastry on this also left a bit to be desired; it was a tad flabby, unlike the very crispy pastry we’d enjoyed with the mushroom tart.
Serious chocolate pedigree
Cocotte is certainly accomplished French cooking. It’s not a particularly inexpensive night out but a pleasant enough spot and certainly a beacon if you’re looking for western cuisine in this neighbourhood.
Cocotte
2 Dickson Road, Singapore
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