Picotin - new French restaurant, excellent

[Aliya]

Picotin is the new restaurant owned/run by Sebastian of Sesbastians fame. It is a really well thought out place, is a bar, indoor restaurant, and has a covered outdoor eating area on one side of the restaurant and an uncovered eating area on the other overlooking the old stables. Has a carpark right next door which is very handy if you have kids and stuff like that.

It is based in the old Turf Club stables area which is currently turning all the old stables into restaurants, shops etc, a sort of new Dempsey Road area.

Menu is not that varied at first look but it is actually rather good with the old French basic standbys of duck and stews, very interesting pizzas, that sort of thing, excellent "specials" board, all the food was very tasty, GREAT service with friendly useful staff, speedy delivery of food, yummy bread basket. Actually I couldnt find anything to complain about other than it was full of expats on a Sunday night desparate to find somewhere to feed their children on the maids day off but apparently Fri and Sat nights are kid free zones

They do a really good selection of French and other beers, the bar and the restaurant are completely enclosed by glass so light and airy.

A restaurant/bar that has been very well thought out, esp to suit Singapore's weather and the choice of indoor outdoor dining. Lots of fans in the outdoor parts! Excellent job Sebastian, we will be back!

At the intersection of Vanda Road and the old Turf Club Road, off Bukit Timah. Number is 6877-1191. If from the PIE take the Eng Neo turn off and turn right into Vanda and then right again and it is just on your right, cant miss it as there is a bit white balloon with Picotin on it.

Forgot to mention it has a deli and bread shop next door, the raisin bread is to die for!

[BFG]

Went there a couple of weeks ago. Very good, very "Sebastien's". Good wine list too.

Spookily expatish - went there off the cuff and bumped into 7 people I knew.

Note I said "knew" not "liked"...

[BoD]

Hmm.. to disagree a little.

Went Sat night and it was pretty busy. The bar is very nice and the outside seating area perfectly pleasant, though not as nice as it could have been given the location

As for food. Well I guess Sebastian wants to run a French restaurant, but the place really didn't seem to decide what it wanted to be. Medium-high end French or a standard pizza/pasta Italian. We went with French, and although it was OK, it wasn't inspiring and a number of items were unavailable - this is perhaps not usurprising, as with the main menu and the specials board there just too many things on the menu.

Service was fairly slow, a number of things were forgotten. Having a different waiter coming to the table after we had finally ordered was hardly a good sign. I will be generous and put it down to teething problems due to being busier than normal.

I will probably go again, but not at a weekend and will just stick to pizza

[BFG]

One thing I was impressed with, BoD, was the service. We were looked after by an Ang Moh lady and she was very capable. Perhaps we were just lucky.

The kidnetys with tagliatelle were to die for. Actually, they weren't - nothing is that good - but they were jolly nice...

[Aliya]

I agree on the French/Italian tension on the menu but it sort of worked for us last night, we went in wanting pizza and pasta and ended up with the pork belly stew and lamb shoulder, both excellent. It was raining like nothing else and we sat outside in the covered area, didnt get wet, very nicely done. I also agree that on the stables side the uncovered seating could be surrounded by some nice plants to give it a bit more of a personal feel.

Kidneys! Devils food.

Very expatish, the place was heaving last night with expats and their kids. Fathers kept doing a runner into the bar for a quiet beer while the mothers stayed outside with the kids, very funny... You could see the fathers at the bar through the glass so quite convenient. The kids of one family scarpered to join their father in the bar, left the mother by herself until she gave in and joined them. One little boy came up to me and eyeballed me and refused to talk. Very odd. Expats are quite odd over here sometimes.

[Aliya]

Anyone know if it does breakfast? Forgot to ask.

[BoD]

No idea. Did occur to me that it would be a great sunday breakfast/brunch place..

[Aliya]

Just spoke to them, the French lady on the phone said they were starting breakfasts on March 15th.

[Scrummy Mummy]

Bit confused why the car park is a handy feature for the kids. "Go and run around in the car park little Johnnny while I eat my foie gras"?

And I know why Aliya likes the place - Sebastien always gives her a snog

[BoD]

That is EXACTLY why it is a handy feature for kids.

[Aliya]

Ah Frenchmen! I have taken to kissing Francois from Flutes whenever I can. Haven't spoken to Sebastian about the new place, only glimpsed him last night as we left.

[canuck]

Bit confused why the car park is a handy feature for the kids. "Go and run around in the car park little Johnnny while I eat my foie gras"?

some people traipse about with all their children's belongings so need to park next to the door?

[Fat Bob]

the fact they traipse about with their children is just an annoyance in the first place!

[Scrummy Mummy]

Ah, but when there's a mini-Fat Bob you will change your tune.

Or would he/she be short-Fab Bob?

[canuck]

I am sure when FB has a 'mini me', he will be the worst offender

[Fat Bob]

Two more chicks that are deluded enough to think that I will change my mind after a good 20 years of saying "nah, not for me".

[Monkey Hanger]

They do a really good selection of French and other beers

Huh? The only good selection of French beers would be to select none of them at all.

[daffodil]

French beer? Merde!

[Scrummy Mummy]

Two more chicks that are deluded enough to think that I will change my mind after a good 20 years of saying "nah, not for me".

About as long as I did then till mini-Scummy came along and made me a boring, doting mummy

[Fat Bob]

Ah, but women have this "mothering" gene in them. Surprisingly I have neither.

[Aliya]

Luckily for the rest of the human population!!

[slinky]

Everytime I see the name of this place I invert the letters and I think it says: Pitocin which is a drug they use to induce and speed labor along in childbirth Can't see that it would be a good name for a restuarant [smilie=gnigni.gif]

[BoD]

They do a really good selection of French and other beers

Huh? The only good selection of French beers would be to select none of them at all.

I think A meant Belgium Beers.

[BoD]

They do a really good selection of French and other beers

Huh? The only good selection of French beers would be to select none of them at all.

I think A meant Belgium Beer. Emmanuel Stroobant co-owns the place.

[BFG]

Belgian beers? How seriously can you take a brewer who adds strawberry flavour to a beer.

Not very seriously at all, that's how much...

Belgian gits...