Cocotte is a 2 months old French restaurant at The Wanderlust Hotel. More & more restaurants have been opening up in ulu places , waiting for us to discover them. With the presence of Cocotte, ”The Black Sheep Cafe” would certainly face a tough competitor!
Cocotte has 2 meanings to it:

1. Small casserole in which individual portions can be cooked and served.
2 .A prostitute or promiscuous woman.
I’m sure it does not refer to the latter. Anyway, Cocotte serves Rustic French cuisine by Chef Anthony Yeoh & his team.

The restaurant is located at the ground level of The Wanderlust Hotel. It has a colonial feel to it and the casual layout makes the dining experience comfortable & relaxing. The chairs were smaller than usual & the lighting would change automatically according to the ambience.

The Set Lunch Menu
Cocotte offers a 3 course set lunch menu priced at $28++. The tart of the day and soup change weekly while the menu changes monthly.
The Signature dishes: Fried Tripe, Escargot Gougeres , Roast Pork Collar
( Tart of the day : Ratatouille tart with goat’s cheese)

Pear & Rocket Salad
The rocket leaves salad has blue cheese and sweet pear. I didn’t like the blue cheese due to the pungent & salty flavour. The pears were sweet & goes well with Sherry mustard vinaigrette.

Seabass with shaved fennel, tomato provencal & baby potatoes
The seabass was well-executed, without much seasoning and marinates , it has it’s natural sweet flavour. I enjoyed the tomato provencal in particular, it has an influence of Indian cuisine – tangy and sweet.


Apple tartin
The dessert is a disappointment. While the caramelised apples were soft & sweet , the tart base was too soggy. The tart base just failed miserably….
Verdict: I like the ”colonial” feel of this restaurant, the casual & laid-back ambience makes the dining experience very relaxed. The staff were well-trained & courteous.

I’m sure ”burger lovers” would have been to Relish thus no further introduction needed.
If you fancy something interesting and are adventurous enough, give their burgers a try ! Their burgers have interesting names and have different combinations e.g Chicken Masak Merah burger and Ram-lee beef burger which you cannot find it elsewhere except at Relish. If burgers are not your cup of tea, try the pastas instead — Spicy conpoy & Hae Bee spaghetti , a fusion pasta dish with Asian influence.
There is a 2/ 3 course set lunch priced at $20++ and $22++ respectively. You can opt for either the burger or the pasta dish of the day.


Black cod burger ($15++)
*All burgers comes with either side salad/ fries
The Black cod burger is a new item to the menu. The black cod fillet is battered and deep-fried till golden brown. It was crispy on the outside & juicy on the inside. I just felt that the cod fillet was a little bland. The battered black cod fillet is sandwiched between the sesame buns ( warm and crusty ) , top with shredded lettuce and gherkins spread. You can ask for some dipping sauces ( chilli, mustard, mayo or tomato ) for your fries or eat it with the burger.
Battered cod fish with gherkins
*Crsipy skin + yummy gherkins spread…. delicious!!!*

Verdict: The buns were good , warm and crusty , patty is unique ( depends on what you order) the ambience is great and the service is fantastic! Worth a visit if you don’t mind paying $15 over bucks for a burger.

Pasta Stylo

From the name, you would have guessed that this place serves pasta. Well, the cafe is located at the corner and the gloomy and dark interior made the cafe mysterious.

Fowl of Arabia ($9.90++)
Original price ( $14.90++)
Whole chicken breast marinated withMoroccan spice and BBQ till the meat fully absorbed the flavour. The flavour is pretty strong and despite being BBQ-ed, the meat was tender and juicy. Personally, I like the strong flavour of herbs being used in the chicken breast , some of us might find it a little strong and taste weird. A light sesame mustard dressing is drizzled on the chicken breast ( not mayonnaise !)The salad served alongside has pasta too! Fafalle, fusilli and different shapes of pastas.


Crimson Sea ( $6.80++)
Original Price ( $9.80++)
Fancy some salmon sashimi? The presentation looks lovely but I was deceived by it’s looks …
The Salmon sashimi was icy cold, I guess they just took out from the fridge and was not thawed. The crimson sea was supposed to be served right after the side salad but they have forgotten the order when I reminded them, they quickly prepare this within 5mins! Thus, the standard was ….
The salmon sashimi was wrapped with a small stick of cucumber and avocado. Dip it with the wasabi dressing with caviar and it taste rather ok, just that it was icy cold.

Verdict : The fowl of Arabia was delicious and I would go back again for this dish. One of their signature pasta dish was the Chilli crab pasta which they served the whole mud crab with the Chilli crab sauce. I would try the next visit.

North Border Bar & grill is ”housed” in a colonial style and lush bungalow, serving Southwest American Cuisine. Expect foods like jalapeno peppers, pico de gallo in your food… you get what I mean?
Sitting are alfresco, you get to choose smoking/ non-smoking area. The place gets pretty packed especially on friday and Saturday nights. Thus, a reservation is highly recommended, even for lunch!

The Set lunch menu

I had the 3 course set lunch ( 2 appetitzer and 1 mains )- $24 .90++. Skipped desserts as I am having a bad cold the past week.
Mixed green salad, marinated choyte, pecan chile dressing

Due to my allergy, they changed the pecan chile dressing to Balsamic dressing. The only special thing about this mixed salad is the Stuffed Jalapeno peppers with cream cheese which is slightly pungent and the cream cheese is not too heavy.


Achiote coated Ahi Tuna Salad

Did a goggle search and found out that Achiote refers to the seed of the Aploppas ( tree found in America). The seeds are extracted and made in a dye for colouring food. As you can see from the picture, the slices of tuna are coloured red.
When the Ahi tuna is served to me, I thought that the portion of the tuna was sort of miserable…. merely a few slices of tuna. But, the is well- coated with the Achiote dye, which leaves a very slight hint of spiciness. The tangy margarita dressing goes very well with the tuna. Well, they were generous with the spinach leaves though.


Bacon wrapped spring chicken, mashed potatoes, sauteed veg & pico de gallo

The ribeye steak and Salmon was recommended by the waitress but I had the spring chicken instead. Well, it depends what you crave that day. For me, since I had a salad and fish as starters, I would have the poultry as my mains.Drumsticks were served and they were wrapped around a thin slice of bacon. I would prefer the chicken to be roasted ( the bacon would be crispy then). The drumsticks were served cool and not warm. Perhaps it is the Western style of the Bai zhan zi ( chilled chicken). The meat was tender but a little dry .The corn looks sort of unfresh . Pico de Gallo added a tangy finish to the meal.

Verdict: Cool and relaxing ambience. The set lunch is priced reasonably and no wonder it was 90% full even on a weekday afternoon! The service is attentive even when the restaurant gets busy.

Some new dishes offered in the ''updated'' menu


Quick seared Tuna salad ($13++)


The tuna is served middle rare. The fish was fresh and melts in my mouth. Tangy mustard sauce and bits of chives to go along with the tuna. The mesclun salad was sprinkled with some crispy ” keropok” (the chinese version of the indian mee keropok). I enjoyed nibbling the keropok and I think it adds a nice crunch to the mesclun salad leaves.


Vegetable Tian ( $17.80++)

What is a ”Tian”? Did a goggle search and found out it was a dish layered with different ingredients, topped with chinese and baked in the oven. In this case, it was Vegetable Tian and the ingredients were vegetables. It looks very much like a gratin (French style).
The Vegetable Tian resembles a gratin(French style) and a Lasagne ( Italian style). It consists of several layers of vegetables:

Top layer: King Oyster mushrooms and Asparagus
Middle: Sweet pieces of pumpkin, Slices of potatoes, cheese
Base: Tofu ( but I felt it taste more like fried soy bean cake)
If you are looking for a healthy vegetarian ”lasagne”, give this Vegetable Tian a try.


Strawberry Shortcake ($5.60++)
A light dessert to finish off my lunch…. the strawberry shortcake is pretty light in texture and has custard cream in between layers. I wished there were more strawberries…..