Founded in 1957 in Surawong, the restaurant group is the pioneer of the "suki" trend in Thailand and now spans three generations. COCA has evolved over the years with its vibrant interior and extensive menu selections, while staying true to its roots of offering the freshest ingredients and good value for money as its core principals.
Now, the COCA brand has a presence of over 30 outlets across the region, with plans to open four restaurants in the next three years in Kuala Lumpur, starting with the new premises in Bangsar Shopping Centre. New owners of the COCA Franchise in Malaysia, Jannio Sun and Elizabeth Thea Lee used to have their dates at COCA restaurants and thanks to their love for the brand, they brought the brand back to KL and are determined to see it grow in Malaysia.
The new outlet in Bangsar can seat approximately 100 diners, featuring two private rooms inspired by a solarium and semi private dining areas for families and large groups. The menu offers Thai-Cantonese cuisine, along with COCA's signature hot pot, famous suki sauce and a new Southern Thai soup base designed exclusively for the Malaysian diners.
Before the main event, we sampled a few of their appetizers, namely the Crab cakes (RM24), Signature fish cakes (RM24) and the Spicy deep fried chicken wings (RM23).
The crab cake was loaded with crab meat, which is seared and then served with a creamy curry mayo. Lovely and moist!
These Thai fish cakes were superb; love their bouncy texture, each bite bursting with flavour from the various herbs used.
The chicken wing lover in me approves of these tom yum Thai-style wings, which are well-marinated and juicy with crispy skin. The herbs lends a lovely fragrance to the wings. They're slightly spicy, so the Thai iced tea with milk is the perfect pairing with these wings.
You can also find Thai favorites such as grapow beef or chicken, khao mun gai (steamed free range chicken) as well as claypot crabs with glass noodles.
There also various noodle and rice dishes, including this Khao Klook Kapi (RM26), with a spectacular array of flavours and textures on one plate. Originating from Central Thailand, this is typically eaten during lunch and features fried rice with shrimp paste, omelette, young mango, shallots, cucumber, long beans, chillies, dried shrimp and sweet, sticky chicken pieces. A vibrant, delicious plate of goodness!
Of course, one must never leave COCA without trying their signature hotpot. Diners can choose from three types of soup: chicken, Southern spicy soup or tom yum. For the meat, seafood and vegetables, you can order them individually (per plate) or go for the Suki Set which has been carefully selected and served in a huge steamer basket.
We had the Meat Combo Platter (RM98) which comes with imported Australian beef fillet, NZ lamb fillet, chicken fillet, premium beef balls, homemade chicken balls as well as a selection of vegetables, tofu, beancurd sheets, corn, mushroom and glass noodles. The staff will place all the ingredients for you in the soup of your choice, so all you got to do is wait for the ingredients to be cooked and enjoy!
We also tried the signature COCA fish glue / paste (RM23) and juicy shrimp wontons (RM15), absolutely worthwhile additions to our steamboat experience here.
We had the chicken and tom yum soup, one mild and one spicy to suit both mine and Hubby's tastebuds. I love the spicy, sour tom yum... so appetizing!
Perfect for a rainy evening.. my favorites were the beef, lamb and beef balls.
COCA's suki sauce which you can customise to your taste, with more lime, chilli and garlic. I loved dipping all my meats and balls in this sauce.
For dessert, try the signature dessert - the Patanko served with condensed milk. Patanko is similar to the Chinese's cruellers (yau char kwai); here at COCA they are made fresh to order, so they're lovely and crisp everytime.
Special weekday Lunch Set menu
Opening times: 11am-3pm; 6pm - 11pm.
Pork-free.
Service: Good.
Location: COCA Restaurant, TK1, Level 3, Bangsar Shopping Centre, 285 Jalan Maarof, Bukit Bandar Raya, 59000 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2011 3575
Website: https://www.facebook.com/coca.malaysia/
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Happy to see Coca back in the mix, they were once the premium steamboat place
ReplyDeleteI loved Coca! Used to go to their outlet at a leading hotel in Kuching but that was many many years ago. Dunno if it is still there. I love that fish cake in a plate where they splash the hot soup onto it first.
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