9 November 2010
cocoro
The eagerly anticipated little sister to Japanese restaurant Soto opens its doors.
Over the past six months there’s been a lot of talk about the imminent opening of popular Japanese spot – Soto’s new restaurant. After several attempts over the past few weeks to catch the restaurant on its open days – we finally struck gold last night and happened upon their first official open night of service.
Located amongst the small cluster of shops halfway down Ponsonby’s Brown Street, Cocoro is a little slice of upmarket Japanese heaven. The interior offers a modern take on the traditional Japanese style restaurant, including a large communal dining table, and comfortable banquet seating lining the walls.
The modern interior matches perfectly with the new style Japanese cuisine that is offered on the menu. Like its sister restaurant Soto, Cocoro approach their food using traditional Japanese methods of cookery presented in a new and modern manor.
The Eihire Aburi skate wing is an interesting variation on air dried meat that reminded us a little of beef jerky. The stingray wings are air dried and then very lightly seared on the grill and served as a tasty entree. $7
The whitebait Chawan Mushi is a delicate dish of fresh west coast whitebait, poached in a savory custard, and served with poached shiitake mushrooms and marinated Akaroa salmon caviar. $12
And the slow cooked Kakuni pork belly is melt in your mouth good. $18
Cocoro does an excellent job of serving up the classics too such as sashimi, nigiri sushi and chicken teriaki, combined with the modern unique offerings on the menu – it’s a restaurant that is sure to please all tastes.
