Cocotte

This restaurant reminds me of a rustic French countryside kitchen.  One of my friends suggested the place and I thought why not?

I was very late for my lunch appointment as traffic was a nightmare on that Saturday afternoon.  I hate to be late.  As soon as I arrived, we quickly placed our orders.

Fried Tripe

The Fried Tripe was coated with bread crumbs.  Taste wise was ok as it was a pretty straight forward appetiser.  It reminds me more of tapas where you pick and snack.

Chicken Liver Mousse

 The Chicken Liver Mousse was done well.  It was creamy and smooth in consistency.   It was served with mesclun, cornichons and tomato coulis.  The portion was decent and tastewise, it was good.

Escargots Gougeres

The Escargot Gougeres was also rather interesting as the escargot was served in a pastry, instead of the usual style.  The parsley cream gave it some extra flavour to the escargots.  The tomato coulis was served again with this dish.

Navarin D' Agneau Printanier $37

 The stewed grass fed lamb shoulder was extremely tasty and tender.  It was served with baby carrots, pearl onions, fava beans, peas and new potatoes.  We all agreed that this dish was done well.  The sauce was not overpowering and it has just enough flavours and seasoning.

Sole Meuniere

One simply must try the sole meuniere when in a french restaurant as well.  This was done very well, cooked to perfection.  The fish was tender and juicy on the inside and the skin lightly crisp.  The brown butter sauce was good too.  Again, it was well seasoned without being heavy handed.  I really enjoyed this dish very much and even more so when I had a whole row of roe in my sole :)

Basque Cake

This is a traditional cake from the Basque region, we thought we should try this to share as we were stuffed.  I must say the cake was excellent...  each morsel was delightful, moist, creamy, not too sweet and taste like how a cake should be.  We thought it was good too.

Ratings:

Fried tripe:  6.5/10
Chicken Liver Mousse: 8/10
Escargots Gougeres: 7.5/10
Navarin: 8.5/10
Sole Meuniere: 9/10
Basque Cake: 8.5/10


No. 2 Dickson Road
Singapore 209494

Opening Hours:

Lunch:
Mondays to Saturdays
1200hrs – 1430hrs
(Last order 1400hrs)
Sundays
1200hrs – 1500hrs
(Last order 1430hrs)
Dinner:
Mondays to Thursdays
1830hrs – 2230hrs
(Last order 2200hrs)
Fridays to Saturdays
1830hrs – 2300hrs
(Last order 2230hrs)
Closed on Sundays

Bar Hours:

Mondays to Thursdays
1200hrs – 2300hrs
Fridays to Saturdays
1200hrs – 0000hrs
Sundays
1200hrs – 1500hrs

http://restaurantcocotte.com/

Garibaldi Italian Restaurant and Bar

I've always like this restaurant.  My friends and I decided to go there for lunch and I have not been here for quite a while.  It was Restaurant Week when we were there and they had a set menu.  As usual, the staff was very polite and service was good.  We were greeted and our orders were taken promptly.

The first course was a veal tongue salad.  One of my friends did not quite like it as he did not like the texture as he said it was slightly slimy.  My girlfriend and I thought taste wise it was ok but not outstanding.

For the main, I picked the Seafood Soup dish and my friends ordered the duck pasta dish.  One of them thought the pasta was fine while the other one said it was disappointing.  So I had a taste and I must say while it was not bad but it was not exceptional.  It could have been tastier but we all agreed that the texture of the pasta was good.

 

Fortunately, I ordered the Seafood Soup.  It looked good and tasted good.  It had just the right seasoning and the flavours are from the natural juices of the seafood.  With such dishes, it is best to season ligthtly to enhance the natural juices without overpowering the dish, which they did.  So I was rather happy with mine.  The only thing is that the toasts that came with it could be a tad crispier.

My two friends were very happy with their choice of dessert.  Actually, they mentioned it was their best course! Lol!  It was basically a chocolate cake but I could not remember it's fancy name.  It was super tasty without being too sweet.  Even I thought it was good...

I picked the white chocolate dessert.  The outer layer texture reminded me of jelly but once you cut into it, it is soft and creamy.  It's delicious and the fruit pieces in it cuts the richness of the dessert.  The pastry at the bottom adds the necessary crunchiness to this sweet delight.

I somehow feel that the food was not as good as the few previous times I was there.  Perhaps, they were full but I don't see that as a good reason.  Service is always good here.  The staff are helpful and friendly without being intrusive.  I will just go back there one more time to try their food again to confirm whether I should still include Garibaldi as one of my favourite restaurants...  but then again, who cares what I think.. :D

Veal tongue salad:  7/10
Duck pasta dish:  7/10
Seafood Soup: 8.5/10
Chocolate cake: 9/10
White chocolate dessert: 9/10

Service:  9/10

Garibaldi Italian Restaurant & Bar

36 Purvis Street #01-02
Singapore 188613
Tel: (65) 6837 1468 Fax: (65) 6337 3770
Email: garibaldi@garibaldi.com.sg

Ling Zhi Vegetarian Restaurant by Tung Lok

A very good friend suggested Ling Zhi for lunch as she had not been there for ages.  As for me, I have never been there at all so it was a good idea.

My girlfriend was the one who ordered the dishes and she mentioned luckily we like mushrooms as there's mushrooms in every dish :)


The first course was the salad.  The staff came with salad in a bottle, shaking it to coat the dressing evenly.  There was a bit of a showmanship there...

I had forgotten to take a shot of the salad as I was hungry.  The next course is supposed to be shark fin soup, only that it is from a melon, according to my friend.  It gives almost the same texture as the real thing.  It looks similar too and it was tasty.  Nowadays, I avoid having the real shark fin soup after finding out how they were treated...

Vegetarian shark fin soup

The next dish was spinach with truffles.  I thought the mushrooms on top look slightly like abalone.  Again, it's tasty with just the right seasoning.

 

Ah, the next dish is one of my favourite dish, though I had never had the vegetarian version, Kung Pao Chicken.  It looks similar to the real thing with the cashews and all.  The sauce was good.  Couldn't remember though what the "chicken" was made from but it was good.

The fried rice came and by now we were full.  It was ok but not outstanding.  I also had forgotten to take a shot of the ultra thin pancakes made to look like duck skin.  I guess we were too busy eating and talking :D

Generally, I think it was all very good and I may visit this restaurant again.  My only concern is that I suspect that there's some MSG as my body could feel when there's any.  However, I think it's an excellent choice for vegetarians.

"Kung Pao Chicken"   8/10
Spinach dish                8.5/10
"Sharkfin Soup"          8.5/10
Fried Rice                    7/10

Service:                       8.5/10

Lingzhi Vegetarian Restaurant
541 Orchard Road
#05-01 Liat Towers
Tel: (65) 6734 3788
Opening hours daily: 11.30am-3pm, 6pm -10pm