Some fancy food to tickle your Indian taste buds - Coco Jaunt 1728, Chennai

What: Coco Jaunt 1728

Where: 5, 1st Street, Cenotaph Road, Teynampet, Chennai

[Other outlets: Anna Nagar, Adambakkam]

Cuisine: Bakery, Cafe, Italian

It's hardly two years and they already have three outlets at Chennai with some promising array of food that continues to please the diners who walk-in. After my dessert experience at their Anna Nagar outlet, which was good, I was excited to grab the opportunity to try their anniversary menu (Anna Nagar branch also offers this menu) when I got the invite. There were some interesting addition to their menu and without much drag I will get on to the food part.

With too many dishes making their way to the table, we got sample portions to try so the food doesn't go waste. FRIES is a magical word for a potato lover and with four types of fries dancing their way down the table I was totally elated. So the four varieties were: Peri Peri fries, Cheese flavoured fries, Mexican fries and Kheema fries, each one was served with different dips to match the flavour.  The fries are part of their regular menu but any form of potato will impress me so I was in love with them. But there is always a favourite and my picks were peri peri and cheese fries; the intense of the flavour did elevate the taste.

Peri-Peri Fries

The Kheema fries with drizzle of mayo would be next one on the list but I personally prefer for more kheema masala which would have made it perfect. It was the dip that made the difference for the Mexican fries, though I place them at the last it might still impress you. 

Kheema Fries

And here starts the SAMOSA mela, name any type of samosa and I think they would put it before you in a plate. The non-veg samosa version included Dragon Pepper and Pepper Chicken samosa. The dragon chicken fills your palate with chinese flavours with the mix of tangy, sweet and spicy elements; it was like gulping through chicken spring rolls so no complaints in taste. Followed by pepper chicken, which is my pick from the non-veg samosas because of the spiciness from the pepper and the juicy chunks of chicken.

Pepper Chicken

Now moving on to the vegetarian samosas, Chilli Cheese and Olives cheese samosa. The deep-fry did make the cheese quite hard in texture. Though the hit of chilli and cheese was good, it wasn’t their best. And the cheese was more on the lines of paneer. Whereas the olive-cheese samosa was bang-on, it was totally delicious in terms of taste; cheesy and the flavour of olive blended so well and this was the best samosa for the day. And one final samosa, it was Chocolate Samosa for the chocolate lovers. Though I am chocolate maniac this samosa didn’t work well for me, I wasn’t much fond of the fact that the taste of chocolate is somehow lost when you bite through the crispy samosa and all that you are left with is ‘oil’; the only dish that was a complete failure for me that day.

Olives

Chocolate

Next on the line was wings, chicken wings; three varieties - Hot Peri Peri Wings, All Time Favourite Buffalo Wings and Cheesy-creamy Wings. The peri peri was the best; the crispy chicken wings and the hit of spicy sauce coated on the chicken was too good to resist. Though the chicken wings were cooked to perfection, I am never a fan of buffalo sauce so this wasn’t a favourite. And the cheesy-wings as well didn’t appeal me, it was less way too cheesy and less on spice for my liking.

Peri-Peri

Buffalo Wings

After gulping through that much of fried food there was garma-garam Masala Chai and it was truly blissful to sip through that glass of delight. It isn’t tough to master chai in India but many don’t do that and here they have served a really good chai. The butter cookies that comes along is good too.

So finally it was time to visit my favourite country, Italy. How can a cafe meal end without pizza or pasta? And it was Mac & Cheese that day with different flavour varieties. The Desi Makhni Chicken (you can also try the veg version) was drool-worthy. The mild spices and the perfect Indian flavours is a treat to your palate and the garlic bread served with the pasta were crispy and delightful in taste. Next was Pesto Mac & Cheese, the bitterness from the pesto sauce was taking an upper hand which is a major put-off that didn’t let me enjoy more of the pasta. Of course most places in Chennai doesn’t use pine-nut and may be the addition of walnut or spinach by itself causes the bitterness but if you can get through the bitter flavour then go ahead with this one.

And finally some dessert time, it was a great idea to present the dessert as a small platter. The dessert platter included Chocolate cake with gooey with caramel centre, Creme Brulee and Chocolate and nuts terrine with lemon curd and lemon bread. The chocolate cake with sticky and gooey caramel sauce that oozes out as you cut through the cake is a delight to your vision as well as to your palate; was in total love with this one. The terrine was good but I am not a big fan of the lemon curd or bread, it helps to cut through the richness but it was too sour for my liking.

The last but the most anticipated dish for the evening, Drooly Shake and Sweet Curry Bunny Chow. When it’s a shake I prefer just the liquid form of the drink, the extras like the chocolates or choco sticks or cream etc., doesn’t really mean much to me so as I sip the drink the reaction goes 'Oh-man!' It was truly a delight, the intense flavour of chocolate and caramel is hard to let go and I happened to fall in love with the taste at the first sip.

Then there was sweet bunny chow (their savoury versions are a huge hit). A huge cake where the centre was scooped out and filled with ice-cream, chocolates, cream and chocolate sauces. Do you need anything else to be tasty or delicious? I don’t think so and this was really good; it would take atleast 4 people to completely destroy the sweet bunny chow. And the cake soaked in ice-cream, cream and sauces just melts in your mouth.

A mini version for tasting & Original portion on Right

So there are quite a number of interesting things to try from the new menu at Coco Jaunt and my favourites were Olive-cheese samosa, all the Fries, peri peri chicken wings, desi makhni mac & cheese, drooly shake and sweet bunny chow.

Breaking Down Points

Location & Parking: The same road as double roti restaurant and finding the place will not be tough. With parking sufficient for a few two- and four-wheelers.  

Ambience: The place is very small and could hardly accommodate 20-30 people but the decors and the look of the place is pleasing and is done-up really well. Especially I was fond of the colour combinations they have picked up for their furniture.

Food Variety: The menu is vast and the new additions multiple the variety.

Taste: Thumps-up! Many glorious moments so I don't bother about the few misses.

Quality & Quantity: The food presentation and the quality of the food in-terms of taste and use of ingredients were great. Also the portion would be perfect for sharing among 2-3 people.

Service: Definitely the speed can be increased cause the wait just kills you.

Price: A meal for two would cost Rs. 650-800 INR approx., which is reasonable considering the taste, quantity, quality and variety.

So my Verdict!

Coco Jaunt 1728! Though it's just another cafe, the food is promising enough to pay a visit. The taste, variety and pricing are things I was pleased with. If the service can tweaked it shall be perfect.  

P.S. On-the-house meet for tasting of their new anniversary menu at Coco Jaunt 1728. Remember, no two person's palate can be same.