The Cocochine — Restaurant in London

Rather than offering a tasting menu as is normal in fine dining these days, in this case Cocochine offers a 3 course meal with customers being offered a range of options across each course. In addition, there is a full set of canapes, bread course and petit fours at the end.

The starting canapes were great across the board, flavors were varied and on point, and the presentation was great as well. One of the canapes did come with a double layer of pastry case instead of a single so that should have been checked before serving in a restaurant of this quality/price.

The bread course was one of the best we had in recent times, the brioche with caramelized onions was incredible.

For starters we went for the lobster and the scallop. The scallop dish was excellent, the flavour was bold and the scallop was cooked beautifully. Probably the highlight for me for the night. The lobster was also good, with a more delicate flavour profile as normal with lobster.

The mains of lamb and beef were again very good, with no real flaws to pinpoint. Good ingredients, well cooked and good flavour.

Desserts were probably the weaker of the 3 courses, we had a strawberry tart (which was good but nothing to rave about) and the pavlova.

Given we were celebrating an occasion, we were also offered a complimentary dessert (ice cream with a chocolate tuille) which was actually my favorite dessert out of the three we had.

Service was generally good all around (except one point flagged below), staff are well trained and friendly. We ordered a bottle of wine, when it came for tasting and were showed the bottle of wine, we realized it was a different wine than we had ordered. We asked for this to be confirmed (by going back to the wine list) but were advised that the wine was the same as we had ordered. When the bill came, we were proven right, with the wine that we drank and paid for being different than the one we had ordered. The difference wasn't much and hence we didn't make a fuss about it because overall we had a great experience, however the wine list has prices ranging from £60 to many thousands per bottle so this could have been a very awkward moment for everyone.

Finally, we were given a tour of the whole restaurant and it is very well decorated and designed, and has a great private room at the top to host events.

Overall, a good addition to the fine dining scene, albeit still a couple of issues that need to be sorted out to take the restaurant to the next level and ensure its success...

We gave this a restaurant a try based on some good reviews and the desire to try a new restaurant. We were very glad we did.

The attention to detail here is incredible - in the food, the service, the decor and the overall touches you find around the restaurant. The food itself was exquisite and beautifully cooked, presented and served. It is a huge relief to find an A la carte menu rather than the usual assualt from a tasting menu, where every dish blurs into one. This allowed us to choose a starter, main and dessert that suited us and delivered. All the dishes are based on farmed, seasonal produce from their associated Northamptonshire farm and this only adds to the impact and quality. There were also numerous amuse bouches and other extra dishes to delight your palette and keep a tasting menu feel if you prefer that style. The food did come a little too quickly for our liking but we asked them to pause and slow down and they happily did so we could savour the exquisite food and wine and relax a little more. The staff were excellent and clearly very experienced.

The sommelier was helpful and the wine list is extensive and heavily tilted towards Burgundy and Bordeaux. The mark ups are sensible and if you want to splash out, you will not be disappointed. We stuck to wines by the glass which were all coravin preserved and well chosen and of very good quality. The Condrieu was excellent as was the Sancerre and Babaresco. If you like wine and/or decor, don’t forget to take a tour of the cellar. It is stunning. The only issue for us was that for most of the meal we were literally the only diners (it was a Weds evening). This is a shame and did make us feel like a little isolated and odd. The staff were friendly and discrete but obviously this changes the atmosphere for them and us, hence the 3/5 atmosphere score. I do hope business picks up for them as this restaurant deserves success and it’s very special in terms of its location, ethos, food and set up. We will be back but I hope this time other diners will...

The Cocochine is without doubt one of London's best new restaurants and more than lived up to it's pre-opening hype. Our dinner there last Saturday was a beautiful experience from the beginning and dealing with Michal in Reservations, who helped to make our visit possible, to Chef Larry and his super talented Chefs/Kitchen Team & lastly but definitely not least, the wonderful Lisa who looked after us beautifully during our dinner and was super warm, kind and professional, until the end and it was time for us to depart the venue. The food was delicious and looked exquisite and was made from the finest ingredients sourced from all over the World. We had the pleasure of dining on the counter overlooking the first floor kitchen, which was amazing because we were able to watch Chef Larry and his crack team of chefs at work. What made it even more special was that we were able to interact with the chefs whilst they were at work and they could not have been more kind, informative or generous with their time and it took the whole dining experience to the next level. Chef Larry is without doubt at the very peak of the culinary game and has gone to great lengths to create something truly special at The Cocochine, with such attention to detail regarding all aspects of the restaurant and it's stunning design, but yet it still remains a warm, welcoming and comfortable place to relax and enjoy your dining experience without the stiffness of many other restaurant of this type. In conclusion, I cannot recommend visiting The Cocochine highly enough and the one thing that I am certain of and that is, Chef Larry & The Cocochine will be receiving many plaudits, accolades and awards in the years to come, including Michelin Star recognition for the place they have created and well deserved it will be.

Thank You & See You...