Time just flies, doesn’t it? Australia Day is almost upon us, and we know that you’re not truly ‘strayan until you fire up that barbecue! Well, while most people will turn to a really beautiful cut of meat, it can get really expensive budgeting a steak per person for 20 people. (I don’t know about you, but I can eat a kilo of steak in a sitting easy! I usually try and bring my own meat to a barbecue, obvs.)
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When I first saw Coco Cubano, all I knew was that you could order a Cuban cigar with your hot chocolate. I don’t smoke, and the hot chocolate was okay, but not great, so I left it at that.
Today, many branches later, Coco Cubano is offering up much more than hot chocolate and cigars – though the cigars are still there for sure – and I was lucky enough to be invited to try out the new menu!
Tostones
Havana Dip Plate
El pollo frito
Chilli caramel pork belly
Cuban fried rice
Tropical prawn salad
Arroz con pollo
Pork ropa vieja
Beef short ribs
The Cubano
Elote
Garden salad
Buñuelos
Citrus cheesecake
Salted Caramel Espresso Martini
Chocolate & Rum washed “brownie”
Triple chocolate batido crazy shake
Salty dulce de leche crazy shake
There was just SO MUCH of it. As statistics would dictate, some were good, and others not so much.
Of the good pile, lay the El Pollo Frito, the rice in the Arroz con Pollo and the Buñuelos.
El Pollo Frito
The El Pollo Frito (fried chicken drumettes with red mojo dipping sauce) had a lovely, seasoned crust that the colonel (or should I say, el presidente) would be proud of. The dipping sauce was similarly flavourful, with a great balance of sweet, tangy and savoury. Sure, the drumettes themselves could use a little brining themselves, but otherwise it was pretty nice.
Arroz con pollo
The Arroz con Pollo (Cuban spiced half chicken with brown Sofrito rice) had fabulous rice that was light, delicately flavoured with separated grains. Nice work. The chicken though, came off a little dry, but for me, the rice more than makes up for it.
Buñuelos
And the Buñuelos? Donut + Chocolate = always a winner. The donut was a touch stiff for me, but I loved the crunch of cinnamon sugar on the outside, and then the richness of the thick, flowing molten milk chocolate that I can dip it into.
Of the not-so-good, the Cuban fried rice, the Chilli Caramel Pork Belly and The Cubano. Every thing else is – in the words of every competition reality TV show judge ever – “safe“.
Cuban fried rice
The Cuban Fried Rice (with chorizo, chargrilled corn and black beans) would have been better off labeled just rice and beans. It had the texture of risotto, which completely threw me off the expectation of fried rice. It was pretty heavy, and when compared to the rice of the Arroz Con Pollo, just didn’t make the cut.
Chilli caramel pork belly
The Chilli Caramel Pork was almost too sweet, or not sweet enough. It was like eating pork belly (albeit tender and nicely cooked pork belly) that had been sprinkled with sugar. It didn’t quite have the hit of dark rich tones of caramel, and there wasn’t an element of salt to balance out what sweetness was there. The chilli also wasn’t particularly present, but that could also be because my Asian chilli sensors have been used and abused over the years.
The Cubano
And if you’ve seen Chef (the movie that taught us you needed to neither have looks nor personality to land Scarlett Johansen, you only need to know how to cook), you would probably have a super romantic idea of the Cubano, which at its core is a toasted ham and cheese sandwich. A BANGIN’ toasted ham and cheese sandwich. Here it was a bit, um, bready, and the cheese say limply on the ham and pork, but was neither melty nor luscious. The side fries, though, were shoestring, and so have my seal of approval just for that.
It’s a bit hard to comment on the service because we were there for a menu launch, but I did have a particularly friendly waiter who was hilariously cheeky and made sure we felt right at home. It was also a great ice breaker that he had a name tag that said “Awesome”.
Well, if the shoe fits, right?
The other service team members were friendly enough, but mostly just seemed rather green and just a little lost. Maybe it was the event setting that they weren’t used to, but when compared to Mr. Awesome, they just sort of faded into the background.
It’s not the cheapest meal out there, with mains sitting at the $25-$35 mark. But then again, they aren’t advertising value so much as they’re advertising an experience. In this case, it’s a bit middle of the road: the food wasn’t particularly authentic or punchy, but they weren’t charging you CBD prices for it. It would make more sense if you were dining in a group, in this sense, and if the group wanted a Cuban-lite experience that wasn’t too exotic.
When we went, they had a BALLER singer/guitarist playing. He was as Australian as they come, but he really brought a Latin American vibe to the whole place. The mood lighting and dark wood also brought forth visions of smoky clubs in 1930s Havana, and really add fuel to all the Dirty Dancing fantasies you might have (the sequel, I mean. Don’t judge me!). The space may not actually be conducive to dancing, but doesn’t mean you can’t pretend!
So the goss from Mr. Awesome is that the kitchen team was very nervous about the new menu, also because they were coming together as a new team. Fair enough. Some things can take a while to settle in and because this is the launch of something new, I can take that into account. I had a good time there, and while I didn’t get what I think would be an authentic Cuban experience there (I’m happy to give the oppression a pass), I went in knowing that an authentic Cuban experience wasn’t what they were offering up anyway.
Like I said, if you’re celebrating in a group that has polarised tastes and likes a very… gentle introduction, this is a safe bet. Otherwise, maybe stick to the hot chocolate and cigars. Hard to go wrong, there.
Authenticity is a very finicky thing. We get so riled up about “this isn’t authentic (insert food here)”, that sometimes, we forget about the fun of it all. I know, because I do it too.
So it’s quite a relief to rock up to eat a cuisine that I have little experience with: this time, it’s Mexican.
Smoked Chilly Popcorn with Chorizo Chips, $7
I’ve seen mixed reviews about Los Vida in Sydney’s CBD, but this brand new venue in Crow’s Nest also seems to be accompanied with a brand new menu, just to spruce things up a bit.
Los Vida Famous Fish Tacos, $5
Lamb Barbacoa Tacos, $5
Chorizo Octopus Tacos, $8
So I did my food blogger duties and gave the new menu a workout, the only kind of workout I partake in.
Chilaquiles, $13
Beef Ribs, $18
Watermelon Salad, $12
The Chorizo Octopus Tacos were an instant favourite, with the smoky paprika and tender octopus delivery punchy mouthfuls of flavour. The Chilaquiles was like hearty, grown up nachos that’s perfect to share, and the Beef Ribs had a sweet sauce paired with tender meat and tangy pickles.
I did have a bit of an issue that the Prawn Ceviche actually involved poached prawns in a tangy dressing (WHY U TOY WITH MY FEELINGS), which actually made for a nice mouthful, just not a ceviche. And I was looking forward to cured raw prawns in citrus.
But otherwise, it was all very enjoyable, with bubbly staff members and an upstairs/downstairs setup that gave the whole restaurant a lot of depth and a great ambience. Whether or not it was ‘authentic’ or not (as some of the reviews were complaining about) I really don’t know, and you know what? I don’t think I cared. It was a good lunch and a great day out, and I really want more of those Chorizo and Octopus Tacos.
Why do they have to be so small?
Prawn Ceviche, $13