Share
WATCHING experimental films from morning till late in the evening can be a curious, complicated experience. One is constantly battling between desiring the paisa vasool quality of films and allowing for the medium to pry one’s mind open. And a long, good day of being immersed in a dark room, watching films back-to-back on a giant screen is swinging between these two places. While these confusions and contradictions are great for our cinema diet and our culinary adventures, we prefer a sense of surety; we want to know it's good from the very first bite.
Late in the night, on the same day of being cocooned in the glow of a projector’s lamp, we entered the low-yet-warmly lit belly of KOKO. This tony, pan-Asian joint is helmed by the Mumbai-based Tham brothers – Ryan and Keenan Tham – of the decade-old Pebble Street Hospitality (Their grandfather Mon Yiu Tham started the now-shuttered Kamling and Mandarin, the legendary Cantonese cuisine restaurants in Mumbai). Everything here looks and feels luxe – the contemporary chandeliers, the chairs, the corniches. We – my critically-acclaimed photographer friend from the nation’s capital and I – slid into one of their velveteen booths in their indoor seating section to try out this restaurant’s ‘Tasting Thursdays’. On this weeknight, one can sample to one’s heart’s content from an offering of thirty of KOKO’s signature dishes for a fixed price. As well as order from a list of ten of their signature cocktails for a special rate.
Big Brother, Big Appetite
We were ravenous, film-watching made us hungry. We skipped past the soup and salad options on the food menu and swapped them with the cocktail course: Tom Yum Cup and Picante. Our Thai soup-inspired cocktail was delicious – lemony and lush – while the other, a blend of coriander and jalapeno, had a seriously spicy kick.
We soaked up the sozzle with servings of kappa maki roll, KOKO signature roll and hamachi carpaccio from their sushi starters. Our tapioca, cream cheese and carrot ginger sauce was a burst of earthy and fresh flavours; the prawn tempura and avocado of the signature roll was waltz between crunchy and creamy but it could have been a tango; and the carpaccio was thin slices of yellowtail drenched in citrus soy sauce with the crackle of toasted sesame – “perhaps slightly thicker slivers of the fish might be a better foil for the refreshing flavours,” the photographer suggested. But this minor hiccup didn’t hamper our relishing more portions of the carpaccio. We would have continued scarfing down the fish dish if we weren’t immediately crushing on the dim sum cart that passed by our booth.
We shifted our attention: we got little bamboo baskets bearing delicate dumplings stuffed with turnip and chive with chilli oil, pak choy, chilli duck, and prawn and lemongrass. Here, we did the real damage. The slight edge of turnip finds companionship in the garlicky kick of chives – always more chilli oil though; the pak choy was the posh, prettier cousin of the street-smart cabbage-stuffed version; the duck was a spicy, satisfying mouthful, and the prawn flavoured with lemongrass was light and subtle. Like studied experts after our sushi, we repeated a couple more portions of another single dish from our original order. The winner of this honour for the second round: Chilli Duck Dumpling.
Thankfully, our server suggested, we sauntered down to the small-plate selections: water chestnut, tofu and baby corn drizzled with a sweet chilli sauce; chicken in a black pepper sauce and crispy pork belly. We’ll be real for a second and admit: while we’re not fans of baby corn, it wasn’t a hurdle in enjoying the crispy chestnuts and fried tofu, the peppery chicken was standard fare but the champion was the pork. The crackling divine, the meat heavenly, the order repeated, several times over.
There was no going beyond that for us, though there are a couple of big plate options and dessert too; there’s the classic – honey noodles with ice cream. We did indulge – dessert has another stomach – and it was old-school, familiar, nostalgic. Our real dessert was another round of drinks: Oaxaca Sour and the Corpse Reviver #2. Smoky mezcal is a smooth twist on the classical sour; and one sip of the gin-absinthe-liquers concoction, we were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed again. ‘Tasting Thursdays’ is a great way to meander through KOKO’s culinary fare while plotting your next visit. It’s like watching the treat and thrill of the trailers at a cinema. Book your ticket now!
KOKO, Prestige Icon, Old Airport Road, Bengaluru. Call 9844194747 for reservations. Every Thursday, 7 pm onwards. INR 2100 + taxes (food), a la carte at special price (drinks).
