Picotin

Picotin on a Sunday evening!!

Picotin" means "horse ration of oats". I must say the food tasted no where near oats. This new restaurant is the latest addition to St Pierre Group. It consists of a bar, gourmet shop and a bistro that serves European food.

Upon arriving, we were presented withe the choice of 3 seating areas. Firstly, the al fresco area facing the old stables (now shops) which was full of Ang Moh families, secondly, the air con indoor seating and lastly, a patioed al fresco area on teh other side of the indoor seating. We picked the latter.


Now on to the food. The Menu was tastefully done up horsy style! Nice touch and good overall them with name of restaurant and setting. For starters we had Assiette de canard: Smoked duck, duck rillette, duck confit spring roll, walnut salad ($18) and Moules à la Parisienne Mussels: garlic butter, emmental cheese ($14). The selection of duck was pretty tasty and interesting. The mussels was just of an expected standard.








For mains, we had a Pizza ($21), Cuisse de canard confite; Duck leg confit, potato, mixed leaf salad, raspberry vinegar dressing ($29), Fillet de fletan au vin rouge; Halibut, potato, spinach, red wine reduction ($30), Tagine d’agneau; Braised lamb shoulder, braised organic vegetable, moroccan spices, harizza ($24).

Out of the 4 dishes, we would strongly recommend the pizza. Thin, crisp, flavourful with the right proportions of cheese. One of the better ones in SG! The fish and duck was as per taste of its same league of restaurants, good, but nothing to scream about. The lamb was somewhat not to my taste. It could be due to the moroccan spices which did not go down too well with me.













On to the dessert. The desserts were pretty good! We had Nougat glace, coulis a la framboise Iced nougat, raspberry coulis ($10), Gateau aux dattes Sticky date pudding, toffee sauce, ice cream ($10) and a complimentary birthday cake for my little sister. =)

The iced nougat was a little on the sweet side but however really good. A mixture of ice cream and nougat, it was very light and refreshing on the palette. The warm sticky date pudding was also pretty good. The dessert definitely ended the dinner on a good note!






I would return to Picotin again for the appetisers, pizzas, desserts and perhaps attempt some other mains again. This restaurant set amidst the old stables makes it feel far away from the hustle and bustle of the crowd. I like the concept and the relaxed feel it gives. Will be back again!

Food: 7/10
Ambience: 7.5/10
Service: 7.5/10

Overall: 7/10

Picotin
100 Turf Club Road,
Singapore 287992.
Tel: +65 6877 1191

Olive Restorante

It was a lazy, casual weekday dinner and Boogie, as usual, is out for a nice comforting meal to ease the pain of a mundane work week. The plan was for Boogie to have a easy meal at Villa Bali(80% drink, 20% food). Down ECP we went and we exited via Telok Blangah. Minutes later, inches away from our destination, right before the junction of Labrabor Park, a supposedly renowned restaurant, Olive Restorante, came to mind.

We had read and heard about it and yet, in our prowl around the island, we had never ever came close to it. Probably due to its location, at one corner of the island, out of the way from town, there was also not much of a reason to be anywhere near this place, except for romantic(sleazy) make-outs, WWII monuments(barracks and underground tunnel) and the occasional ghost-hunters. Not kidding. I actually know of someone who has actually been there to try to capture shots of the “Other World”.

Olive, is more of an Italian bistro, tucked slightly up a slope from a round-about at the bottom of the hill. A short stroll, about 200 metres, is necessary from the nearest carpark. There are a few distinctive signboards that should lead you to this bistro without much difficulty and once there, you will be surprised how a pleasant and cozy restaurant fits nicely in this no-man’s site. This would be a very nice place for a quiet dinner away from the crowd.

Fare is mainly Italian. After some pondering, we decided upon the following:

1) Portobello Mushroom Salad (As appetizer)

2) Tenderloin Steak

3) Spaghetti vongolle in white-wine sauce

4) Hot chocolate cake (As dessert)

Overall, the meal was satisfying and it went down pretty well on us.

The Portobello wasn’t too bad as a palate cleanser. It was mildly sweet, I suppose that’s how it should be and it seems like a good way to start-off your meal, especially when you are really hungry. You know how everything taste good when you are really hungry and when your food arrives, you’ll just woof everything down. The Portobello serves to prevent starvation from deluding your taste bud and by not leaving too much after-taste, it keeps your taste bud in the “neutral state”. Ok ok, I know this is not some wine-tasting session, but its something that just came to mind.

From Olive Restorante

Carrying on, the spaghetti vongolle! According to the waitress, I vaguely recall that this is one of their house specials. It was good and we dare say that it was the one of the best that we tried. We had a similar dish at Prego and by comparison, we felt Olive had a better version. At Olive, the white-wine sauce’s presence was strong and the dish was definitely much more tasteful, with bigger serving as well. Not to mention, more affordable.

For the tenderloin steak, well since this is not a steak house, we should not be overly critical. We noticed that most restaurants tend to be very inconsistent when it comes to steak. We’ll usually ask for it to be medium-done, yet half the time, it would turn out as medium rare or well-done. Given that this is just a typical Italian bistro, as long as they do not screw this up, we’ll just pass it. The steak actually turns up pretty juicy and nicely done.

For the dessert, well, its tough to go wrong with a warm chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream by the side. Overall, we felt that this was a good meal and though not on the cheap side, it was affordable still and value for money. A place with some good dishes and an unusual location nestled in Labrador Park tucked away from the town. However, Olive is fully al fresco and can get a little stuffy. The above meal cost us SGD 80 for 2. We’ll definitely be back.

Food: 7/10

Ambience: 6.5/10

Service: 6.5/10

Overall Rating: 6.5/10