Cocoon, Regent Street

Mr Oil and Mr Vinegar stroll along to Regent Street, where the restaurant Cocoon has been attracting much praise. They are quite impressed.

MrV: I must say my heart sank when I walked in. Didn’t it used to be l’Odeon? I never liked that place much.
MrO: Your prejudice was obvious. I thought initially that your mind was irretrievably set.
MrV: Those ridiculous bucket chairs didn't help. They look like rejects from an episode of The Jetsons [for younger readers, a 1960s cartoon about the space age]. For a restaurant that's only been open a short while it’s hard to imagine how their chairs got in such bad condition. Perhaps they got them second hand. And they are designed more for lounging than sitting at a table.
MrO: I suspect that having low chairs has something to do with the height of the ceiling. Chairs of normal height might make the room feel a bit claustrophobic. But, apart from the reservations about the furnishings, I thought this was a truly excellent restaurant.
MrV: Steady on...
MrO: No, I mean it. It’s rare to come across such flawless food and service in one place. And if the surroundings aren't perfect then that's a small price for near-perfection in the rest of the offering.
MrV: I acknowledge that we had quite wonderful service but there was hardly anybody else there.
MrO: True, but I find that it tends to be easier to get good service in a busy restaurant than in an empty one. A bit like that saying: if you want something done ask a busy man. But what about the food? It was in every respect superb.
MrV: Yes, from the first taste of the first course my opinion of the place changed.
MrO: It was a good idea to have two starters each as well as a main course. The sesame king prawn toast balls were fabulous, although tricky to eat with chop sticks because they were so big. You have to spear them in order to take bites rather than shove the whole thing in at once...
MrV: ...like an American.
MrO: I also thought the Guangzhou pork & radish dumplings exquisite. And so were the sushi rolls.
MrV: I like to think I know my stuff when it comes to beef rendang, and that was as good as any I’ve come across.
MrO: My steamed sea bass was cooked perfectly, although perhaps it was not quite as interesting as some of the other things on the menu.
MrV: My favourite was the pudding. Poached pears can be dull but that was spectacular. The salted caramel ice cream and caramel pear puree around the pear were magnificent.
MrO: I think it gets my award for pudding of the year...so far. I’m feeling a little concerned that you are being so nice about Cocoon. Apart from the chairs, can’t you think of anything to criticise?
MrV: Well, my hackles go up a little when I hear that a restaurant describes itself as ‘pan-Asian’. What on earth is it supposed to mean? When I was a child we used to have a ‘pan-Asian’ rhyme: ‘Chinese, Japanese, dirty-knees...’ The assumption that you can lump the food of all yellow-skinned people together is about as intelligent as that rhyme.
MrO: Except that the concept works very well here. I shall recite your little rhyme next time I visit Cocoon.

Mr Oil and Mr Vinegar consumed four starters, two main courses and two puddings each, washed down with two vodka-and-tonics, two glasses of wine, a large bottle of chilled dry sake and two cups of coffee, at a total cost of about £210 (the sake, at £62, was by far the most expensive item).

Cocoon
65 Regent Street (entrance in Air Street),
London, W1B 4EA
+44 (0) 207 494 7600
www.cocoon-restaurants.com
reservations@cocoon-restaurants.com