COO Bistro

COO Bistro
259 Outram Road

http://www.staycoo.com/

Grilled Burnt Banana Waffle (SGD $13)

Food, Inspired By Heritage

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 6
Ambience & Setting: 8
Food & Beverage: 6
Service: 7
Value for Money: 6
Spent about SGD $32 per person.


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Located in, and inspired by, the Tiong Bahru area, COO Bistro And Boutique Hostel is a new generation 'Sociatel', a marriage of modern hostel, contemporary bistro bar, and a social community space enabled by digital technologies. As a location, it's rather out of the way to get here, but also provides an affordable base from which to explore the area.

Ambience at COO Bistro is eye-catching and sleek, from the colourful patterned designs on the wall, to the neon-lit map of Tiong Bahru on the ceiling, which casts a calming blue glow over the shared dining space. The modern, yet simple and functional furniture, in less than 50 shades of grey, are neatly packed in the 60-seater area. Kudos to the folks from Ministry of Design for the overall look and feel, which pays homage to the Tiong Bahru area through artwork and literature on the walls. Suitable for long, lingering meals.

Service at COO Bistro is casual and friendly. Living up to its social concept, staff are engaging, and will interact with you. The menu has clear descriptors of dishes, and staff will helpfully make recommendations if asked, displaying rudimentary product knowledge. They also seem well-versed in various points of interest around the Tiong Bahru area. Orders are fulfilled within 10 minutes, and staff are quick to clear empty / dirty tables. The front-of-house manager is naturally more adapt at conversing with customers, and displays very good product knowledge, stepping in to assist her staff if needed.

Food at COO Bistro is modern European, with elements of Asian fusion. Drawing inspiration from the Tiong Bahru area, several dishes are crafted to resemble, or pay homage, to iconic Singaporean street food the area is famous for. Generally, taste is decent, with passable quality, but not something I'll like to eat more than once. Portions are designed for communal dining, as per their social concept, so expect large and hearty portions. Prices are mid-range, comparable to other bistros, budget about SGD $32 per person for a meal here.


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COO Bistro Exterior

COO Bistro Interior

Neon Lights

Decor

Artwork

Kitchen

Time Capsule Lift

The Valrhona Hot Chocolate (SGD $7.50) has a thin texture, but holds a good amount of deep chocolate flavour. Comprised of a blend of Manjari and Jivara chocolates, rich, smooth, and sweet, finished with a sea salt vanilla espuma foam, which lends a layer of salty flavour, intensifiying the pleasurable hot chocolate. Manjari is a single origin, 64% dark Madagascar chocolate, while Jivara is a 40% milk chocolate. Worth ordering!

Valrhona Hot Chocolate (SGD $7.50)

Valrhona Hot Chocolate

They offer the Beer Asahi Super Dry (SGD $10) in bottles here. This bright, clear golden yellow brew has a tame aroma of hops, grass, corn, and apples, with a smooth, refreshing, medium body and medium carbonation. Taste is floral bitter sweet, with notes of wheat, rice, malted barley, and lemon citrus, with a super dry, crisp finish. Very drinkable.

Beer Asahi Super Dry (SGD $10)

The Tiong Bahru Platter (SGD $28) is a large sharing platter, featuring 4 different modern Singaporean appetizers that pay homage to the Tiong Bahru area, hence the name. The crisp Mackerel Keropok, with its distinctive fish taste, is served with a House Sambal Belacan With Salad. The salad is properly fresh and crunchy, but the chili is only mildly spicy. The Salt & Pepper Fish chunks are slightly firm and dry, but the taste is enhanced with liberal garnishes of parsley and chili.

The best item would be the Grilled Chicken Satay, large, meaty, savoury sweet chunks of boneless chicken, marinated in a spice mixture of powdered turmeric, cloves, and other spices, then grilled to perfection. Moist, juicy, coated in a delicious and thick peanut gravy, so good. The Roasted Pork Belly is hit and miss, some of the thick slabs of fatty pork belly were tender, moist, savoury salty, and completely delicious. Other slabs of pork belly however, were dry and gamey in taste. The sharp yellow mustard helps somewhat in masking the taste. Overall, a decent sharing platter.

Tiong Bahru Platter (SGD $28)

House Sambal Belacan With Salad

Mackerel Keropok

Salt & Pepper Fish

Grilled Chicken Satay

Roasted Pork Belly

Tiong Bahru Platter

Pleased with the Coo’s Prawn Noodles (SGD $18), with its deep, robust, savoury salty meaty flavour that calls to mind the Singaporean hawker classic Hokkien Mee. This modern Singaporean dish is recreated here with a flavourful prawn and pork lard gravy, wide flat al-dente fettucine pasta noodles, succulent large deshelled tiger prawns, crunchy endive, and a spot of bird's eye chili. Finished with a sous vide egg, which you mix into the dish to give it a luscious, silky eggy texture. Incredibly tasty. Highly recommended!

Coo’s Prawn Noodles (SGD $18)

Coo’s Prawn Noodles

Coo’s Prawn Noodles

The Tiong Bahru Chwee Kuey Panna Cotta (SGD $9) is designed to resemble the famous breakfast snack of the area. Essentially a panna cotta, albeit one that is more firm in texture and more milky in taste than the usual, topped with candied walnuts, crunchy and sweet, resembling chye poh / preserved turnip, along with balsamic strawberries, sour and sharp, resembling sambal belacan chili. Creative and unique, looks better than it tastes though.

Tiong Bahru Chwee Kuey Panna Cotta (SGD $9)

Tiong Bahru Chwee Kuey Panna Cotta

Loved the Grilled Burnt Banana Waffle (SGD $13), largely due to its sweet, caramelised grilled banana. Cooked with its skin on till it blackens outside, the inside is warm, soft, and incredibly tasty. Served with fluffy waffles, which bordered on dry, along with a hardy and sticky scoop of peanut butter ice cream, rum soaked raisins, blueberry compote, and chopped peanuts. So good. Highly recommended!

Grilled Burnt Banana Waffle (SGD $13)

Grilled Burnt Banana Waffle

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