Koko enters Hyderabad with its Asian fine dining experience

Things to expect at KOKO Hyderabad | Photo Credit: Special Arrangements

Asian fine dining in Hyderabad? Have you tried KOKO, a luxury Asian dining space located at Knowledge City? Ensure you make a reservation, as the restaurant does not entertain walk-ins, even if it is running with a lean crowd.

The 10,000-square-foot space exudes a sense of grandeur, with its high ceiling, well-lit natural interiors and earthy tones. A red canopy is the colour pop element here. The design-forward space should surely be the talk of designer chats.  

Designed Sarah Sham of Essajees Atelier, the elements that stand out include a Chinese imperial design with a sleek, contemporary aesthetic, a striking bar, a lounge, and a private sound-proof KOKO suite.

Once you are done with admiring the space, settle down and take a look at the menu.

Apart from the regular vegetarian and non-vegetarian options, the menu features vegan and Jain sections, with an innovative take on traditional Asian flavours. Some standout dishes include the lobster and caviar dumpling, miso-glazed black cod, and the KOKO Signature Non-Veg roll. Signature cocktails, such as the Tom Yum Cup and Miso Caliente, are crafted to complement the dishes. In the Jain section, there are soups like Miso soup and edamame nutty soup and the Koko Signature carpaccio a tender coconut dish in the main course. The sushi includes choices like Chilli Tempura roll which has Thai chilli Tempura, avocado, cucumber and spicy crisps.

I skipped the signature dishes and ordered what intrigued me. I chose a dumpling soup; it comes with a straw. The wobbly dumpling, with a paper-thin skin, is served in a fitted bowl. Cautiously gauging the temperature, I sip the soup with the straw. When the soup is over, it is time to enjoy the dumpling, which is stuffed to capacity with meat.

I also tried a tempura maki roll. They are bite-sized delights. The restaurant staff wanted me to try the hamachi carpaccio but I preferred to try something spicy. So they recommended the sesame chilli chicken; I loved it. 

Can an Indian be at an Asian restaurant and not want to try some rice and noodles? I was prepared to try the pan-fried noodles. However, I was told the portion size was too large for one person. So I chose the Fried chicken sticky rice with sliced chicken chilli oil and Superior chilli oil Ho Fan noodles with kun pao prawns. 

I loved both the rice and noodles but I might go back for the Superior Chilli Oil Ho Fan Noodles with either tenderloin or minced pork with holy basil.   

Who Stole My Cheese is quite a huge dessert as it is a combination of Miso brown butter cheesecake, honeycomb, raspberry, passion fruit sorbet, pretzels, and almond crumble. But I still went for it just to humour the staff and ask who stole my cheese (from here). In both the vegan and Jain sections of the menu, the dessert is the Vegan raspberry coconut cheesecake.

Published – December 12, 2024 04:24 pm IST