Cocochan

When I think of the one place that guarantees good food, service, ambiance every. Single. Time. Its gotta be Cocochan!
I have been meaning to tell you guys all about this gem for ages but better late than never. Cocochan is a pan-Asian restaurant in the heart of London, or where my heart lies at least .. behind Selfridges! *enter heart emoji* Part of the busy street of St James Place, its easy to miss this beauty, but you heard it here! Do not miss it! Cocochan is part of a chain of 3 restaurants (others including Lebanese and Peruvian tapas)
I hadn’t been back to Cocochan in so long and decided to show one of my special foodie friends the ropes of one of the best halal restaurants in London in my humble opinion.

There is outdoor seating for those odd summer days that we have in London, but we sat inside as evenings are getting a little chilly now. The ambiance in the restaurant is so chilled, the decor reminds me of modern Japan, the music plays some on-point light hip hop, which was amazing!!
As this is one of my favourite restaurants in London, I ordered for us both (obviously!) You can’t bring me to one of my gems and expect to choose your own food!
Before I go into the food, can we please take a moment to appreciate my mocktail, I got my fave, Miss V Cocochan.

Did I mention that everything on the menu is halal except their duck! Winner!
For starters we got sushi – Spicy Tuna and Spring Onion Ura Maki and Smoked Salmon and Prawn Tempura Roll maki sushi. I love a bit of tempura so also got the Tiger Prawn Tempura with Spicy Mayo..

Firstly… the Spicy Tuna and Spring Onion Ura Maki…

The spicy tuna was rather spicy even for my liking! Although I have to say I liked the kick in it, but definitely took me by surprise. It was good, but the spiciness meant I didn’t really get to taste much else.

The salmon was probably my favourite of the sushis, prawn tempura covered with smoked salmon, simply yum! The tempura was great, tasty and crispy just the way it should be.

The sushi generally wasn’t the best I’ve had.. It is good, but definitely isn’t one of the reasons why I love this place so much.

The prawn tempura was great. The tempura batter itself was so tasty, and it came with a spicy mayo which just hit the spot. The prawn itself was rather tasteless but overall, I love this!

But the main are what I was looking forward to most – if you’re only going to get 2 things on the menu it has to be these – Miso Black Cod and Thai Green Curry with Chicken. The chicken is halal so it would only be right!

So the Miso Black Cod – words cannot explain what a beautiful dish this is. Did you know that the Miso Cod takes a whole day to prepare, and is in competition with and leading to Roka and SushiSamba for the best miso black cod in London, which doesn’t surprise me at the very least. Black cod has to be one of my most favourite things on this planet (aside from sunrises, praying Fajr on a beach, and the sound of waves crashing against rocks of course!) When I say its one of my favourite things, I mean I have probably tried it in every place I can think of, inclding Nobu and Novikov. Although I think the black cod here is the best I’ve had! (BIG statement) The black cod was just melt-in-your-mouth tender, and oozing with flavour. It was a little sweet, which is an acquired taste for a main meal, but if you can get over that I can guarantee this dish will not disappoint. I can’t remember that I have ever been to Cocochan without indulging in this! 15 out of 10 for this dish for sure!

My other favourite main at Cocochan has to be their Thai Green Curry with Chicken. I realised this was the only checken dish I ordered even though so much on the menu is halal. The choice is tough! But this, like the Miso Black Cod, is another must have! Again, it is a little sweet but definitely one of the best thai curries I have tasted in London.

We were both stuffed so much so that we couldn’t even finish either of our mains, under duress of the size of our stomachs! If I could, I would have! But their desserts are so amazing, when the waiter offered a dessert platter on the house, there really was no way I’d say no. Our waiter was so lovely, and was obviously passionate about the food. He asked whether we liked mochi and all I could think of was the salted caramel mousse that I ususally get. He brought out a mixture of what he wanted us to taste – a selection of the mochis, and what I wanted, the Salted Caramel Mousse.

Now that’s what you call service – First you win my heart over by giving me free dessert, then you give me one of my favourite desserts without me asking for it!! I’m sold!

If you’ve had mochi before you’ll know its basically an ice cream dumpling. There were 4 different flavours of mochi – Hazelnut, Chocolate, Mango and Coconut. I have to say, the mochi was a little too sticky to get into so was a pain to eat. The flavours were gresat, especially the hazelnut which was basically nutella, winner! The chewiness of the mochi itself really took away from the taste though.

The Salted Caramel Mousse though was AMAZING as it has been the 20 odd times I;ve had it before! Usually, when you think salted caramel you can expect it to be overly sweet and heavy. But this was the exact opposite of that – a light, sweet but not overpoweringly so, smooth dessert! Perfection! I am not much of a cook, but I’d really love to meet the guys that create these creations, because these foods are so inspriign to a foodie like me.

Overall, I LOVE THIS PLACE!! It really is the complete package regardless of whether you’re going out on date night, wiith family or with your bestie, this is the place to go. Price wise, for 2 drinks, 3 starters, 2 mains we paid about £50 each. For the service, quantity and food you get, I personally wouldn’t mind paying that.

Some other tried and tested must try dishes include:

• Wok grilled black pepper beef sirloin with asparagus
• Chocolate fondant

Food – 9 out of 10 
Service – 9 out of 10 
Price -7 out of 10
Atmosphere – 8 out of 10 
Experience – 8 out of 10

Overall, giving Cocochan a total TLH score of 9 out of 10.

Address: 38-40 St James Street, London, W1U 1EU
Website: http://www.cocochan.co.uk/
Halal Status:Everything is halal except the duck.
Closest Station: Bond Street (Jubilee line and Central Line)

Let me know what your thoughts are? Would love to hear from you!

As always, love you all lots,

TLH xx