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Last Update: Nov 13th, 2019
Coco Asian Bistro

Coco Asian Bistro

1841 Cordova Rd
Fort Lauderdale FL, 33316
(954) 525-3541
Overall Rating
3.1
Food
Service
Ambiance
Value
Last Review
09/07/2016

Details

Hours: M-Th 11:30-10pm, FriSat 11:30-11pm, Sun 3-10pm
Attire: Neat Casual
Parking: Private Lot
CC: Yes
Alcohol: Full Bar
Prices: Moderate
Outside Dining: Yes
Reservations: Yes
Delivery: No
Happy Hour: M- F 3pm-6;30pm. Sun 4pm-10pm 50% off Martini's, House Wine and Appetizers

Pros

Nice than your Avg Asian Restaurant
Competent Service
Good Food

Cons

Nothing is Spicy
Original Dine Out Menu Downgraded

Critic's Review

There are 3 restaurants offering Dine Out lunch menus, which are supposed to be 3 course lunches for $16. The only one worthwhile SEEMED to be at Coco Asian Bistro. The Shrimp Shumai (dumplings) caught my eye The choice of miami or rainbow roll didn't excite me, but I can deal with a rainbow roll.

They serve their lunch menus until 3pm, so I got there about 2:15.

They have a nice outdoor space (considering the shopping center where it's located), but it was too hot to eat outside and they have no cooling in the space.

Coco Asian Bistro Outside Dining

They've changed the decor since my last time here; it's more like a club now. Plenty of booths and not many customers is a formula that usually lands you a booth, as it did today.

Coco Asian Bistro Interior

As I sat down I was given a full menu and also a laminated sheet with the Dine Out Lauderdale menu. The first thing I noticed was that the Shrimp Shumai, the first item on the menu, was Pork / Shrimp Shumai. A subtle but significant change. I figured I'd better check the other choices. OMG, they'd removed the entire 3rd choice. There was no choice of roll as there was on the

dine out menu
on Sunny.org.

Looking at the lunch menu, the Dine out menu wasn't a very good deal so I decided not to do it. I really felt like walking out; when you're lured in with false advertising you really shouldn't reward the restaurant by dining there anyway. A girl came over to take my order and I mentioned that the menu wasn't the menu on the website. She tried to convince me that their plan all along was to offer 2 courses for lunch and 3 for dinner, but I wasn't having any of it. I know how it works. The problem with the stupid program is that sunny.org is a joke and all they care about is getting their $500 to promote the program. It's on the integrity of the restaurant to actually offer what they said they'd offer.

I decided to stay, and ordered an iced tea while I decided.

Coco Asian Tea

The Combos aren't such a great deal. I decided on Box #2, which includes soup. Miso soup is never a good choice; the soup of the day was hot and sour, which is a fave of mine, so I felt better about the choice.

Coco Asian Bar

Music is unexpectedly ok for an Asian restaurant; 10000 maniaces, Gin Blossems, Santana. The soup came out quickly.

Coco Asian Soup

An interesting looking version as everything was diced, and I thought Italian parsley was an unusual addition to an Asian dish. Maybe it was cilantro? Tasted like parsely. The soup wasn't hot or sour; just a bunch of stuff without enough white pepper or vinegar to make it into what it's supposed to be. Edible, but disappointing.

The main course came out 7 minutes after the soup, which was just enough time to finish it up.

Coco Asian Lunch Box #2

The tray made it look like more food than it was, but it was a nice presentation. Usually the egg roll that they add onto these lunch specials is a joke, so I thought I'd dispense with that first. The big dish with duck sauce came in handy for this.

Coco Asian Egg Roll

Surprisingly good. Not as good as the big, overstuffed egg roll I used to get on RT 111 in Hauppauge when I was in HS, but not bad. The Tuna roll was also good despite a lack of tuna; they just put a small "spot" of tuna on the rice, so it was just a tiny piece per slice.

Coco Asian Tuna Roll

The seaweed was edible, which is all seaweed can really be. Not too sweet.

Coco Asian Sea Weed

And the Pad Thai was superb, a word rarely used in Fort Lauderdale. Not spicy, no lime. Unusual but well balanced and not too sweet.

Coco Asian Pad Thai

Not too much left. I think that box #2 is better than the original Dine Out menu.

Coco Asian Bistro Finished

Although I had to wait for the check (as usual), service is very good here. The servers are well trained; little bits of paper on the table disappear as they're skillfully scooped up when they ask if you have everything. All in all a decent experience.

Conclusion

The Dine Out debacle is unacceptable; the entire point of Dine Out is that Sunny.org promotes the program and the menu on their website must be correct. The explanation that the restaurant was unaware of the discrepancy doesn't hold water with me.

That being said, the food here is very good except for the soups. Kind of expensive for dinner, but not bad for lunch.

Review 2/13/12

Coco

Coco Asian Bistro has some new landscaping; they've removed the hedges and it's a lot more open now.

I never really think of Coco Asian Bistro as a take out restaurant, but it's really not much different than any other Thai restaurant save the fact that it's a pretty nice restaurant. I'm not big on Thai food, but today I decided to have some red curry chicken.

Inside,there's a small bar and a Brown theme; The restaurant was designed by Karen Hanlon, the same designer who did YOLO and VIBE. There's a small bar to the right and a nice dining room to the left as you walk in.
.

Cocoasian inside

They have the same lunch special has most Thai places have; you pick your meat and your sauce and they give you rice and soup. You don't get a choice of soup; it's the Soup of the Day. Today's soup was Miso Soup.

Cocoasian miso

I didn't like the soup at all. It had an odd smell to it, and I just didn't like it. There were little white tofu squares in the soup as well as seaweed and green onions.

They use pretty sturdy container for their takeout, and its a good thing because I was carrying the bag upside down. The containers locked closed nicely and there was no spillage at all.

Cocoasian takeout

It's a pretty good portion; for $10.50 it's not the best deal in town. I ate about half of it; I have to eat light the day after my cheat day.

Cocoasian redcurry

While they used good ingredients and everything was cooked propertly, the curry wasn't spicy at all. I was hoping for some spice, and this didn't deliver. They didn't ask me how I wanted it when I ordered; I guess they make it mild by default. I think they should have asked.

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