The Cocochine, London

The wife and I had a date-lunch at The Cocochine on Friday. I’d been wanting to try it after a couple of very positive reviews from Andy Hayler (probably the fine dining reviewer/critic that I most trust over the years). It doesn’t have a Michelin star (yet), but delivered a fantastic ingredients-led meal.

Apologies for the poor quality photos – I’m not sure I’ve done the plating justice.

So… The Cocochine has been open for a couple of years in Bruton Place, just off Berkeley Square in the heart of Mayfair (so, probably the most expensive real estate in the UK) under Chef/Patron Larry Jayasekara, who has a strong pedigree, having worked at restaurants such as Michel Bras, Gordon Ramsay and Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, as well as Heading the kitchen at Petrus, previously. Chef Jayasekara is originally from Sri Lanka, which occassionally comes through, particularly in the desserts.

The thing that really interested me about Cocochine was the fact that the produce is nearly exclusively supplied by a farm (Rowler Farm Estate) and private island off the coast of Scotland (Tanera Mor) both owned by one of the restaurant’s investors, Ian Wace. This really comes across particularly in the seafood courses, which frankly were some of the best that I’ve eaten in the UK.

Photos:

1. Menu. We had the Signature tasting menu (8 courses for £189). I had the Prestige wine pairing at £251 and my wife had the Classic wine pairing at £171 .

2. Comte flavoured doughnuts were filled with 36-month-old Comte cheese and black truffle sauce, topped with 72-month-old Parmesan – delicious!

3. Second canape was a refined version of a sour cream and onion Pringle crisp! An onion cracker was made from dehydrated mashed potato, which was then deep fried and filled with cream cheese flavoured with onion. This was topped with golden oscietra caviar (Cocochine have a private caviar supplier in Paris). This was a perfect canape, reflecting its humble source, but refining it beautifully.

4. Breads were a choice of onion brioche and sourdough. The onion brioche was made using flour from the Rowler farm, laminated and layered with caramelised onions and thyme. This was then baked and glazed with brown butter and sea salt. The sourdough was made from a base of porridge from oats and barley. Once baked, the bread is glazed with kithul and served with Normandy butter. Both breads were excellent, although we both preferred the sourdough- which was fantastic.

5. Otoro and caviar with with 60-month aged soy sauce, sourdough croutons and more golden oscietra caviar. Lovely luxurious but fresh, clean flavours.

6. Ceylon king crab salad with apple and curry consommé. This used Norwegian king crab and white crab meat from Dorset mixed with curry leaves, apples and lime zest. This was topped with apple jelly and was finished with a clarified crab curry consommé. This was okay, but had a slightly earthy taste that was a little off-putting.

7. XXL langoustines served with Jerusalem artichoke puree, seaweed, edamame, a potato crisp with golden oscietra caviar and finished with a lightly spiced bisque. This was the best dish so far – beautiful, huge sweet langoustines, served perfectly.

8. XXL scallop with Alsace bacon, kombu, pickled girolle mushrooms, cloudberries and coconut and scallop cream. The photo probably doesn’t do justice to how big this scallop was – a magnificent beast!

9. Terrible photo of lobster in a banana leaf dish. The lobster tails are wrapped in banana leaf and grilled over binchotan charcoal and glazed with ginger and lobster sauce and is finished with tomato, lobster, fresh tamarind sauce. Once again, beautifully sourced and cooked shellfish.

10., 11. And 12. Meat course options were sika deer with coconut, soubise and bitter chocolate jus (wife) or A5 Kagoshima wagyu with shiitake mushrooms (me). The venison (from the owner’s estate) was clearly the winner here – wagyu was nice, but I’ve had so many so many similar wagyu courses (with large supplement) over the last couple of years that they are feeling a bit cliched at this point.

1. Pre-dessert of Sri Lankan pineapple served with lemongrass sorbet chilli, lime and mango brunoise, coriander oil, lemon balm, finger lime and chilli flakes. Lovely and refreshing and a nice nod to Chef Jayasekara’s heritage.

2. Creme caramel with caviar. Okay, but did it really need more golden Oscietra caviar? Bruno Verjus has a lot to answer for…

Wine pairing: Expensive (for the prestige) but some good producers, including:

Billecart salmon rose 2012
Trimbach riesling
Zind humbrecht pinot gris
Boillot puligny montrachet
Red burgundy but forgotten which one!
J.J. Prum auslese

Pours were also very generous!

Overall, a strong recommend, particularly if you are a fan of amazing seafood. Chef Jayasekara was super-friendly and engaging, as were the other chefs (we were seated at the bar counter, which I’d highly recommend) and the sommelier (it was his first week, but he was great!)

However, it was concerning that the restaurant was barely half-full on a Friday lunchtime – maybe that’s reflective of London hospitality right now – but that does worry me that its future might be bleak – which would be a shame, particularly if you are looking for top quality ingredients in your cuisine.