Last year Coco in Tower Bridge was the biggest halal restaurant opening, It stood out as one of the most instagramable places to eat, with its high end stunning interiors and floral themed decor.

They recently opened a new restaurant in Lakeside @coco_asia_lakeside West Thurrock over looking the water, with a Asian focused menu with infulances from Japanese , Indian, Thai and Korean cuisine.

I was invited down and here's what I thought.

There's an outdoor terrace which overlooks the water and is fantastic on a sunny day, as I went at Saturday lunchtime opted to dine outside with wife and baby. 

My focus at restaurants is the food, I'm not distracted by decor, vibe, fire shows or dry ice...not to say I don't like a bit of theatre. On a side note, since coco launched, I've noticed newly opened restaurant basically look the same, hard to tell them apart sometimes.. 
 
Let's focus on the food. Here's what I ordered. 

Mini poppadoms £6.50
Fiery cauilflower £10
Chicken satay £13
Korean spicy wings £13 (Smoke show) 
Pulled duck rolls £13
Wagyu Bao £16 
Lamb Biryani £19
Tandoori Mix grill £32
Coco fried sushi £18
COCO spicy double rainbow £18
Fire chilli chicken £19 

I sampled a wide range of menus items, I'm gonna generalise everything but saying it was all good, not average but not excellent either, everything would score 6 or 7 out of 10. While there wasn't any major issues, nothing really set my tastebuds alive. All the dishes were played safe. 

The sushi was probably the most underwhelming dish, I was really expecting better especially for the price tag. The best thing I had was the wagyu Bao bun and the very spicy fire chilli chicken. 

The desserts were not at the level I would have expected and not recommended. 

This place is more about the decor and vibe with food that just satisfactory. Prices may seem high; this happens when a restaurant has this level of decor and doesn't serve alcohol. 

There's a free car park next door (car park D) 

All food is halal. No alcohol. I was invited. Meal was complimentary. More on the blog

@halalfoodguy's review of Coco Asia Lakeside on Instagram

Lakeside Shopping Centre has seen a bit of a rejuvenation over the past few years. 

There are now entertainment facilities along with some Halal fine dining.

You can now enjoy glamorous Halal dining, thanks to restaurants such as @coco_asia_lakeside.

We tried the following dishes:
Wagyu Bao £16.00
Crispy Shrimp £15.00
Wagyu Ribeye £49.00
Coco Stir Fried Noodles £18.00
Dragon Roll £18.00
Miso & White Chocolate Cookie £12.00
Lotus Cheesecake £12.00
Coco Brownie £12.00

The venue is aesthetically vibrant and large, with Riverside views. 

I have to say, most of the dishes we tried were actually good. Plus the Coco Brownie was freaking amazing.

The drinks were a little hit and miss in my opinion, but nonetheless a good dining experience.

@coco_asia_lakeside is a great option if you're looking for a bit of chic dining.

Full Halal Food Menu with No alcohol served.

#Asia #asianfood #asianrestaurant #London #londonfood #halal #londonfoodie #lakesideshoppingcentre #londonfoodguide

@halal_chronicles's review of Coco Asia Lakeside on Instagram

COCO ASIA

Coco Asia is one of the best Pan-Asian food restaurant out there. After my experience today I will happily go there again. The food is authentic and the service was phenomenal. Especially from the brother named Hamid. Went above and beyond to ensure we were having a good time and was making sure the food and everything else was okay. His recommendations were spot on and just amazing. Highly recommend this place and if you are lucky ask for Hamid, you wont regret it! As he says “you won’t like it, you’ll love it” 😂 10/10

Just had the pleasure of dining at this new restaurant.

Beautiful and stylish setting, great ambience.

We had the chicken satay and crispy shrimp for starters. Both were tasty but the crispy shrimp was particularly delicious.

The strawberry daiquiri was amazing. We had sushi, sweet and sour chicken and egg fried rice for mains. Again, great flavours and beautiful presentation. Skin on fries were a tasty addition.

From the moment we walked in till the moment we left, the staff were friendly, attentive, and more than happy to accommodate our requests and made us feel well looked after.

Really enjoyed dining in such beautiful surroundings. Felt transported away for a while.

Overall, a must visit for anyone looking for a new fun dining experience .

I had multiple issues with the restaurant
Firstly the food was cold. The black cod and butter chicken were very nice however in flavour.
Second is the atmosphere. Great if you’re going for drinks or want to be in a nightclub. Not great if you want to have a conversation. Music so load waiters had to shout to hear anything, and chairs literally vibrating. They don’t serve tap water, have to order bottles of water.
The restaurant was very pretty and well done up. But really let down by overly loud music/club atmosphere when it’s a restaurant.

Absolutely love this restaurant.  Ate there tonight during its first week of opening and the food and drinks were superb.  The Staff were attentive and the decor of the restaurant beautiful.  Love it.

Lovely food, staff couldn't do enough for you and decor has been completed to a high standard.

only thing that let the night down was that 4 of us attended and only 1 starter out of the 4 come out as a starter, the rest come out with the main course.

The venue doesn't sell alcohol, which in time could be a reason for customers not to return. When querying if they plan on getting a alcohol license the answer was no and that there are other venues nearby that sell it.
Mocktails however were priced at £12.50 each which seems a excessive considering you would normally pay between £12-15 for a alcoholic cocktail!

Fully Halal. We have an extensive drinks menu with beers, wines and cocktails which is completely alcohol-free.

Order from Coco Asia Lakeside