COCA Restaurant 2015

COCA Restaurant 2015
391 Orchard Road
#04-23 Ngee Ann City

5 Stadium Walk
#02-01 Leisure Park Kallang

3 Temasek Boulevard
#02-440 Suntec City

https://coca.com.sg/


A Taste Of Tradition At This Thai Steamboat

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 8
Ambience & Setting: 8
Food & Beverage: 8
Service: 8
Value for Money: 7
Spent about SGD $48 per person.


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Founded way back in 1957, along the Soi Dejo road of Bangkok, Thailand, COCA Restaurant is a Thai hot pot / steamboat restaurant franchise that has since gone international. COCA Restaurant first opened its doors in Singapore in 1987, and now, over 2 decades later, is still holding its place as the premier high-end Thai steamboat / hot pot restaurant.

There is a luxurious, yet casual, elegance to COCA Restaurant. Colour themes of gold, brown, and black mix to lend a sense of sophistication, while lanterns and spotlights directly over each table draw attention to the centerpiece steamboat. Furniture is comfortable, and the layout is designed such that there is still some sense of privacy despite the open communal dining area. I particulary like that ventilation in COCA Restaurant is excellent, you don't come away with the smell of food sticking to your clothing.

There is some semblance of an upper end dining to the service standard at COCA Restaurant, but not quite fine dining yet. Staff are friendly, offering greetings, and can converse in both English and Mandarin. They're able to offer recommendations if you decide to go ala-carte, and will assist with placing food into the steamboat if you decide on the buffet. I also like that COCA Restaurant staff showed proactiveness several times in topping up drinks, though only during non peak periods when they're more free.

There is a choice of either ala-carte, or buffet steamboat at COCA Restaurant, though most diners opt for the buffet. The ala-carte menu is distinctly Thai Chinese, with medium sized portions designed for sharing. The buffet is much more value for money here, at about SGD $48 per person, for a free flow of food, though serving sizes are small. COCA Restaurant actually recommends starting with several ala-carte appetizers, then continuing with the buffet, though I think you should only do this if you're willing to splurge, and can eat a lot!


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A huge plus point here is the great ventilation, so that the smell of cooking doesn't stick to you after you leave! There is a luxurious, expensive feel to the place. Both the COCA Restaurant ala-carte menu and buffet menu is rather limited in the variety / options of food, but at least the food has a certain quality to it!

COCA Restaurant Seating

COCA Restaurant Steamboat Buffet Menu

They're known internationally for their COCA Restaurant Special Dipping Sauce, which is a legendary in-house recipe, made the same way at all outlets worldwide. I'm told it contains coriander, Thai sweet chili, fish sauce, sugar, and a few other secret ingredients. The sauce is addictive, at once sweet, sour, savoury, and mildly spicy, semi thick in consistency, and absolutely tasty!

COCA Restaurant Special Dipping Sauce

The default soup base for the steamboat here is Soup Chicken & Soup Tom Yum, separated by a divider in the middle of the steamboat. The Soup Chicken is light, very light in fact, with not much taste, though the addition of vegetables and other ingredients does sweeten it. I actually prefer the Soup Tom Yum, with its sour, mildly spicy taste, and while not as fragrant as regular Tom Yum soup, I found this to be quite good!

Soup Chicken & Soup Tom Yum

Soup Chicken

Soup Tom Yum

Cooking 01

Cooking 02

There are over 30 ingredients on the steamboat / hot pot buffet menu. Standouts for me include the fresh Tang O Chrysanthemum Leaf, which lends a hint of sweetness to the soup; the various meat balls (Cuttlefish Ball, Fortune Fish Ball, Special Pork Ball, Chicken Ball, Beef Ball, Special Shrimp Ball), which are hand made and bouncy in texture with good flavour; the fresh, plump Oysters and Fresh Squid. The house special Fish Glue was highly recommended, but I thought it was only average at best.

Tang O Chrysanthemum Leaf, Chinese Cabbage, Golden Mushroom, Fish Glue

Cuttlefish Ball, Fortune Fish Ball, Special Pork Ball

Beef Fillet, Thin Sliced Beef, Thin Sliced Pork, Carrot, Fish Fillet, Fresh Squid

Chicken Ball, Beef Ball, Prawn, Pork Fillet, Shimeji Mushroom, Chicken Fillet

Osyters, Special Shrimp Ball, Winter Melon

Egg

The East Meet West (SGD $8) is a Thai / Malay / Western style fusion dessert, made with sago pearls in a Gula Melaka / palm sugar syrup, topped by a generous scoop of creamy coconut ice cream. Extremely satisfiying and lovely, and quite unstoppable when eating!

East Meet West

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Reserve a table now @ COCA Restaurant - Ngee Ann City

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