I’m not one to comment on the dress of staff usually but I think this at Cocochine, this deserves a word.  Not that the staff were dressed in a threadbare or unkempt way.  In contrast, they were smartly suited up.  Instead, the second part of that usual turn of phrase is where things were not to be expected.  They were not booted.  As they were wearing white sneakers.  White sneakers!  When the dress code said strictly business casual.  In some places, this would be a firing (squad) offence.

I would have the staff note that I roasted in my journey here (30 degrees outside).  So if I had known that there was a less than strict adherence to society norms here, I may have been tempted to wear a cooling dress.

Putting such idle musing aside, the table we were placed at was no nonsense.  With no placings to decorate the table before you started your meal here.  Going for a modern minimalist aesthetic or at least lack of distractions, to better concentrate on the food.

Amuse bouches

Amuse bouche – comate and truffle puff.  Two of my favourite things.  Almost an umami overload, the lightness of the puff posed a somewhat contradiction.  Almost floating like a butterfly but stinging like a bee – when you bit in the headiness of the puff was almost like a punch to the face.  Or more likely that is just a personal reaction as it has been a while since I’ve eaten something to eventful.

Apple juice like you have never had before.  Sharp, tangy and sweet.  An excellent combination.  Finished with miniscule cubes of crisp apple to give crunchy notes.

Sourdough.  One off the best breads I’ve ever had had.  Soft and springy inside, crunchy and firm outside.  A sweet aftertaste following tangy pillowy inside.  Excellent with room temperature butter.  At this point, they had me sold, even if they did charge extra for the bread.

Starters

Rowler Farm 40 days dry-aged beef tartar, pickled chilli, confit egg yolk.  A lesson in smoothness, rich meaty flavour with footnotes of crackle, this was set off with slight heat.  Not too much on this scorching day but enough to play the piano on your tongue.

Raviolo of Scottish lobster & tiger prawns, garden greens, lime and lemongrass sauce.  The other starter was bedded in foam, the seafood parcel floating in a tangy sauce was much to enjoy with the rich seafood (as contrasted to the rich meat) floating along.

Mains

BBQ of Rowler Farm lamb shoulder, spring tomatoes, tamarind.  I hate to use the word well cooked (as that can mean almost anything) but in a strict literal sense I do think it has to be noted here as this dish just about maintained structural integrity.  It was not melt in your mouth, as again, I have no idea what that means although literally I guess that that would only apply to foie gras.  This was tender and moreish with spices and tomato with herbs bringing welcome complexity to this dish which was readily digestible.  That’s my word combining well cooked and melt in your mouth, although maybe I should call it nicely digestible.

Wild Scottish sea trout, fennel, citrus, lobster vinaigrette.  Here the inventiveness of the kitchen shone through as the tangy sauce and citrus fruits with a delicate morsel of trout was delightful.  Something particularly well done if perhaps a statement in minimalism.

Chips.  Or perhaps more accurately described as confit potato reconstituted into potato towers.  A feast for the eyes but on the tongue a bit more ordinary.  Maybe an example of form edging ahead of substance here.

Desserts

Dark chocolate cremeux, sri lankan cardamon ice cream.  The kitchen played with their shapes here to create deep chocolate taste contrasted with smooth ice cream.  Not bad but not living up to what had come before.  My kids play with shapes all the time too even if they can’t talk yet.  Not to say that this was bad but it seemed rather ordinary.

Sri Lankan mango sorbet, chilli, lime.  Although still tasty, this seemed to be the weakest of the dishes with the mango overshadowing taste of almost everything else here.

Throughout the meal, we were checked in on multiple times, so much so that I was tempted to mention to the staff that they take a chill pill, in the vernacular of this day and age.  Which perhaps explains that upon arriving with my sweating forehead and empty hands, I was strangely enough asked if I would want to leave anything in the cloakroom.  Perhaps a showing that the young waiting staff was perhaps working a bit too hard.  I had kept to my minimal aesthetic (which I though they would approve of) just carrying my small satchel bag with camera.  So I was obviously unburdened with easily offloaded goods.  Although, maybe they were asking politely if instead I wanted to be separated from my dining companion.  However, I don’t think that is what they were getting at or if they were that they could be a bit more direct.  Instead, next time I’ll bring a pair of running shoes to leave in the cloak room.  So that I will have the chance, if the meal is going south, that I could discreetly pull a runner by slipping out the back.

Score

A quiet eating 8.5/10.

Lunch (3 courses) was about GBP40 excluding drinks and service.

Cocochine

27 Bruton Pl,
London W1J 6NQ