Cocotte Roast Chicken

Cocotte, a very difficult place to get a seat.  The first time I tried was back in Dec, but the place was fully booked for event.  I tried again after a few months, finally got the table, but it was at the late second seating, which start from 830pm.  A bit irriating, but well, I think I had to reschedule my schedule to fit to Cocotte's schedule.

It is located in Wanderlust Hotel, 2 lanes away from Dunlop Street, and 1 lane away from Mayo Street, where the famous Black Sheep cafe is.  The overall mood was very relax and homely, not your classly fussy french restaurant.

Starter:  Pig's Trotters.  Not your typical german's style, but still yummy.  Fried til crispy on the outside, and soft in the inside. 

This is the famous organic chicken - Poulet Roti.  The selling point was that it was a hormone free chicken and marinated for 2 days.  It was served with roast baby potatoes and spring vegetables.  The chicken was roasted to perfection, crispy and fragant, yet the meat was still juicy and tender.  I thought that the portion for the baby potatoes was a big small to complement such a big chicken.  Other than that, it was a hearty meal, enough for 2-3 people to share.  I was so full that I did not even had dessert.  Highly recommended.

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)

Shanghai March 2011

I had not been to Shanghai since 2005.   This time, thanks to a workshop, I had the chance to visit Shanghai again.  It was also a good chance to catch up with my friend D, whom I had not met since 2005.  Gosh!  His son was already so big.  As i was there for a workshop, I did not have a chance to walk around, other than the Bund where we had our dinner.  The Bund looks different after the renovation for the World Expo.  The road seems to be wider.  I enjoyed Shanghai's weather in early March, cool in the day and a bit cooler in the night (about 2-9 degrees).  The only thing that i did not enjoy was my stomach.  I had stomach problem on the 2nd day and it was really painful.  Somehow when I went to Shanghai, I would return home sick.  Was it me or the water or the air??  Maybe I should not try again for the 3rd time. 

Team Photo:

Buffet Dinner @ Tiffany Cafe Furama Hotel Singapore

Another bad buffet experience.  So bad that though I had my camera with me, I did not feel like taking photo.  The food display was bad.  There was only 2 live station, one BBQ squids which have been cooked, and the other was a noodle station.

Sushi felt like those in Carrefour.  The cooked food were nothing fantastic too.

Place was quite empty, other than a big group of army boys.  The table and seating arrangement were bad too.  Tables were arranged in rows, it felt like a canteen.  To make it worse, it was very cramped.  If you are too fat, you probably cannot walk to your seat without distrubing your neighbour from the next table.

Please, if you have the money, save it up for better place.

Worst Buffet in Singapore?

I had one of my worst buffet experience when i went to Triple 3 in Mandarin Singapore.

On a Saturday night, it was priced at $98+++ per person (I did not know the price before I went there as the venue was chosen by my friend V, V did not know the price too!  V chose it because he had vouchers)  We only got to know the price when we saw the bill!

Like other 5 stars hotel buffet, there was a decent selection of food. 

Japanese:  Sushi and sashimi counter with the usual suspects.  I asked for some salmon belly, and the chef prepared a total of 6 slices for me.

Japanese II:  Tempura counter, freshly fried.  Prawns and vegetables tempura, and they have the japanese tapoica (the purple colour ones). 

Japanese III:  Teppanyaki.  Beef, Bean Sprouts, Prawns and Mushrooms.  Average, though I applauded the less use of MSG.

Italian:  Pasta, prepared freshly on the spot.  You can choose your ingredients, seafood or ham.  It was alright, though the pasta felt like the mass market, don't expect any homemade pasta.

Indian:  Currys, Naan, Briyani, Papadum.  I skipped most of the curries as they did not look appertising.

Chinese Roast:  Roast Duck and suckling pig.  Disappointing.  The skin of the roast duck and the suckling pig were more hard than crunchy.  The chilli lack lustre.  There was also noodle soup, though I skipped that too.

Seafood:  There was lobster with black pepper.  Actually I think that they were cray fish. 

Roast:  Beef and Ham.  Alright, edible.

Sweets:  Quite a big range including ice cream, but nothing striked home.

Overall:  3/10.  Highly not recommended, especially with such a hefty price tag!

Lleno @ NEX Singapore- Toothache experience

My colleague Banana was singing praises about this place, so I chose this place when meeting T and N since we were nearer to Northeast.

Lleno is derived from a Spanish phrase, means ‘to be full of praise / full house. It served quality modern culinary fare ‘European cooking techniques with an Asian twist’. I reached there at 7pm, surprised to find that there was only 1 table. T arrived on time, and we proceeded to order while waiting for N.

We had the escargots with mushrooms as starters. A small appetizer, there were only 4 of them. They were de-shelled, and served on the mushroom. Quite good, though I still prefer those served in a shell.

The next dish was the Hake Fish, surprising small piece, probably the same size as my palm. (Minus the fingers).  Definitely not enough for a big eater.  The fish was fresh but a bit too salty.

The last challenge was the ribs.  It came in 4 big pieces, so it passed on the quantity.  However, it failed terribly on the quality.  It was too tough, and after chewing one piece, my gums ached.  I thought I was the only one, and upon asking, i realised that I was not alone.  Probably age is catching up.  Such ribs are only for the young only.

The sweet was Earl Grey Tiramisu.  Quite special, though I found it too sweet for me.

I ended the nights felling nostalgic with a bad toothache.

Highly recommended NOT to go.

Company Lo Hei at Asia Grand Odean Towers

We had our annual company dinner at Asian Grand Odean Towers, where Chef Chan used to be.  We were asked to gather at 630pm and dinner would commence at 7pm.  I wanted to go for a beer before the dinner but I had a meeting in Tuas that was rescheduled from 2pm to 4pm.  Due to bad traffic, I only reached Asian Grand at 7pm, almost 2 hours in the car...!!!

Well, it turned out that my boss and I were not the only ones who were delayed.  Dinner had not started when we reached, people were still mingling around. 

Dinner finally started, with the much anticipated Yu Sheng. 

I think R and A were not very happy with the mess that we have made.

Peking Duck.  Before it was cut.

 Nicely wrapped up.  The skin was crispy and not too oily.  However, I still think that it could not beat the Da Dong Roast Duch in Beijing.  Da Dong allowed you to DIY, and I could wrapped 3 pieces of skin in the roll!! I am greedy!

 Ah, my favourite dish of the night!  Abalone.  I had 2 portions.  The mystery of this dish was the gravy.  Somehow it made the abalone and the simple broccoli delicious.  No hint of MSG, so it must be the wonders of the rich ingredients.  Some said abalone tasted like rubber.  For me, I love the texture, chewy and full of texture

 Crispy Roast Chicken. 
A simple dish that you could find in most Chinese wedding dinner, but not all could meet the standard of crispy skin, and yet maintaining the tenderness of the meat.  Some places could get it both wrong, such that the skin was not crispy, and the meat was so tough that you felt that the chicken was a muscular one.

 Dessert - Nian Gao.  Not that sweet and did not stick to your teeth. 

Food were generally alright, though the glutinous rice was disappointing.  At the 7th dish, we started our game, A was the first person to throw.  A and Boss discussing what was the best method to use to throw the ping pong balls.

This was the game board.  The black ones were $2, silver were $5 and the gold were $10.  You were given 5 balls to throw, and the maximum amount that you could win was $30.

Some of the prizes for those people who could not get any of the ping pong balls in.  There was the second round for those who missed the first round, and the amount was doubled, though it was still capped at $30.

Guess what!  Banana and I were the last two person who just could not get the ball into the hole.  I was the last woman standing, and all of them who wanted to go home were trying different means to help me.  I wonder what happened to me since I was doing alright in the trial back in office.  Must be the wine :-)  Finally I got 2 balls in at the third rounds, and I could hear loud cheers (Finally can go home!! HAHAHA)

Laksa Pasta- Singaporean or Italian?

P and I went to Wild Rocket @ Mount Emily for dinner.  Had not seen P for a while, it was really nice to catch up with him.  I had the privilege of choosing the venue, so i chose Wild Rocket, known for Mod Sing - Modern Singaporean dishes.

It was tucked at Mount Emily, walking distance from Selegie Center or Little India Station.  Slow walk will take around 15 minutes.

I tried one of the signature dish, Laksa Pesto Spaghetti.   It was a fusion, between Singapore Laksa and Italian Pasta.

The dish was first seen in Singapore as early as in 2008.  It is essentially an Asian take on the Italian herb sauce called pesto, made with crushed basil, pine nuts and garlic, smoothed out with olive oil.   The pungent, aromatic laksa leaves, an important garnish for Peranakan laksa, are used as the main ingredient of laksa pesto sauce.  The Laksa Pesto Spaghetti was served with prawns.  The taste was strong, it felt like eating dried Laksa.

The dessert Strawberry Cheesecake was served in Martini glass.  Interesting concept, though i found it a bit too sweet.

Nice place to chill out on a friday night, will be back to try other dishes, and hope to see the chef whipping out more innovative dishes.  Maybe Chicken Rice Pasta?
10A Upper Wilkie Road GF Hangout @ Mount Emily Singapore
Tel: +65 6339 9448