KOKO Mumbai — Restaurant in Mumbai

KOKO - No need of Introduction. This place is class. Top Notch. Vibe/feel/ambiance/Energy. However they have introduced the new menu (July) some dishes from the new menu as under: 

Nikkei (Non veg Salad) Subtle in Taste. Hamachi/Salman/Tuna being the main ingredients. Besides this they had a nice balance of Romaine hears/Iceberg. Yuzu Emulsion has that lemony/citrusy taste.

Karafuru (colourful) Simple yet classy with Truffle cream (aromatic) this had Arugula and baby Spinach some Sunflower and watermelon seeds, Carrots/avocado. Could have been better a tad soggy i guess. Tasted good though.

Mu try the spicy/tangy Tom Yum (Veg) had bold flavours. Cherry tomatoes and Lotus stem. Lovely.

Coming to Sushi - Koko Is known for their amazing Sushi. Small portions (1 Veg and 2 Non veg) 

SHISOTO TEMPURA MAKI - Done well crunchy with shisoto pepper (Sweet pepper) with Yazu Causa and avocado cream. Non Veg - Hamachi Maki - this was a tad spicy they used spicy Hamachi/King chilli/Chia seeds and Kakidane (Rice cracker) which looks like red pepper a bit crunchy. Overall nicely compressed and balanced well. SALMON HARASU MAKI went well with crispy Quinoa and wasabi Cream.

Soupy Dumplings - ( this is Single serve ) Do try the Tom Yum Ji ( spicy/tangy ) which is vegetarian and if you love Pork the Iberico Pork ( Broth ) of both were good , layer/texture = full marks.

Small Plates - Crispy Lotus root (veg) Tangy/Spicy/Crunchy, Lotus stem made well with Mango salsa as the topping along with Chia seeds. Kept it simple. Tasted Yum.

Spicy Nam Tok Cottage Cheese - Normally they use Pork. Here the chef had made a veg version with Fresh cottage cheese with bold flavours using Soy sauce/ pinch of sugar/chilli flakes/Lime/shallots and onions. It's all about the sauce. Gives you that tangy/spicy taste. Do try.

Steamed John Dory with Broad Bean Chilli sauce was the dish of the day. Loved the texture/balance of the Bean chilli sauce. Melt in the mouth. Not spicy. Just perfect.

Mains - asked for tasting portions Veg we tried the Sautéed asparagus with snow peas with spicy chilli sauce. Comfort food. Went well with the rice served. Non Veg it was the classic CHILEAN SEA BASS with While Fennel curry (refreshing) subtle in taste (Lovely texture)

Edamame Black rice was good. Went well with John Dory Chilli bean sauce.

Ben Ungermann Desserts - Forrest Log Law (for me was bit of a miss) would have loved the Dark Chocolate without the Truffle in the Mousse. My partner liked it. Going by her word. This also had mushroom shaped Meringue and Hazelnut ice cream which missed the Hazelnut flavour.

Coming to cocktails - Leaf game was amazing Vodka (Absolute) with Koko herbal liqueur a dash of pineapple saccharum, Ginger Syrup (gave a good hit) Mint leaves gave the refreshing feel. Strong but good.

Doucai - Gin with maraschino liquor a bit of Abstine lime and lemon.

Overall - had a great time. Wishing you guys all the best. Keep rocking. Await the new opening this...

TL; DR Version - Their Tasting Thursday Luncheon Menu is a steal of a deal with delicious food and great service. If like me, you don't feel satisfied after having 3 pcs of Sushi and Dimsums, then this is the place for you.

A quintessential Asian fine dine set in bustling area of Kamala Mills. 🍽️ Food - While I am more of a North Indian and Lebanese cuisine fan, time and again I enjoy the refined burst of flavors with all the umami richness that a true Asian place offers. My complaint with Asian food has always been the portion sizes, they are just too less to keep me satiated for long and that too while burning a hole in my pocket. So Koko's Tasting Thursday menu was a delightful experience in terms of a full 7 course meal with unlimited servings and a very strong Veg menu for all of 1900 Rs!

After months, years and eons of being deprived of fine dining, I was super excited for this Luncheon.

Food: We started off with a salad and the Som Tum salad was the winner. The multiple textures and flavors left us wanting for more and more. The bite of the raw papaya with the crunchiness of the peanuts topped with their amazing sweet and sour dressing was simply perfect. Despite a full 7 course meal on it's way, we ordered one more plate of this and had planned to have one more at the end. We moved onto the Dimsums and the Waterchestnut truffle and sweet pea dumpling was melt in the mouth. The Spicy Poached dumpling was also really appreciated by my wife. Next up was the Sushi for which we had been waiting since the meal began. Sushi is our favorite part of any Asian meal and the Kappa Avocado Maki and Koko Special Veg ensured that this didn't change. The cream cheese and cucumber were perfectly balanced in one and the crispy asparagus in the other made both their Sushi's a must-have. There's an another sushi on the menu but unless you're an Aubergine fan, you can give it a miss. By this time we were already quite full with the small plates, main course and dessert yet to come. We did however try all of these out and except for the Broccoli Planta which had a slightly weird taste of the batter/covering. Special highlights are the Truffle Edamame Money Bag (ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR CRUNCH!) and the Red Curry (Perfectly balanced and paired extremely well with the Jasmine Rice) Dessert was Twisted Honey Noodles with Vanilla Ice-cream which was good, but I think after the brilliant complex riot of flavors that we had had, it came across as a little too vanilla. (Pun intended)

🤵Service - Extremely polite and watchful staff. Special shoutout to Wayne who ensured we had a great time.

💡🎶 Ambience - Sophisticated, simple and calming. Flashes of bright red and a colorful patchwork of tiles on one full wall give it a very trendy vibe.

P.S. Before I forget, their sauces are also amazing and especially the Smoky Soy sauce. If they bottle it and sell it, I guarantee that their will be queues of buyers...

Diwali Dinner turned into a horrific Insulting experience thanks to Mr Joel Godinho.

We went in for Diwali dinner on 3rd November 2024. Reserved the table over the phone, but a friend happened to mention that there is an offer if we book on Easy Diner (free dessert per table), hence we made a reservation there too just before entering the restaurant.

We were almost done with the dinner, made a bill of almost (11-12k total) and it was time for dessert. We mentioned to the server that we have an easy diner booking, so if he could kindly bring the complimentary dessert. We also wanted to order one more dessert, since we were 6 of us and just 1 dessert wouldn’t suffice.

Server called her supervisor, and he in turn called the manager, almost 3-4 people were involved in this whole scenario, whether or not to give us the complimentary dessert or not. They asked if we made the reservation on easy diner after calling the restaurant, and we were honest about the whole story. Didn’t think a dessert would cause so much stress with the team cause we did have a confirmed Easy Diner Booking.

After almost 5-7 mins, the Manager Mr Joel Godinho and his colleague Mr Melroy come to our table, and start arguing with us, that they dont wish to pay Easy Diner ₹50 per head for the table reservation and hence they cannot give the complimentary dessert. And we ofcourse told them that its a valid booking, so why not. After 2-3 mins of talking, Mr Godinho goes like ‘All this hassle is just for a free dessert? Fine Give it to them’ in a very condescending and insulting manner.

Hospitality has left the chat here.

He has just casually insulted us like we are beggars and just walked in for a free dessert.

We have had to bear his rude behaviour and terrible hospitality and ofcourse thanks to him, our festive dinner with friends just turned into a very sour experience at Koko.

Even after all of this rude behaviour, We ordered another dessert, for which we paid for. Waited almost 20-30 mins for our dessert to arrive.

Even after this whole thing, when he said that he is sending the complimentary dessert, he hasn’t sent it.

Shocked at how casually he has insulted the customers for a very legit table booking, and denied us the offer, and also made us feel like we’re free loaders who walked in for a free dessert after making a bill of ₹12000.

No doubt the food is amazing and many compliments to the chef, but hospitality is at its worst there. Mr Joel and Mr Melroy shouldn’t be working in hospitality industry if they don’t know how to speak...