Cocochan and the Flippin’ Fabulous Fish

Cocochan has been making me crazy for months. Not kidding.

I first discovered this Pan Asian Restaurant on Twitter in December. I really don’t remember who followed whom first. Since then, I’ve watched the restaurant’s Twitter account ignite. Its social media reach is exploding. The pictures posted of the food are insane.

So, what’s the story behind this place?

Cocochan is located right near Selfridges in St. Christopher’s Square.
It’s always packed.

Every time I walked by, I was intrigued. Mr. Sunny and I stopped by once to introduce ourselves to the magician behind the social media accounts. We also checked out the menu. It was excellent bait for us. We’re sushi lovers.

For Mr. Sunny’s birthday on Friday June 13th, I decided to treat him to an ‘All You Can Eat Birthday Meal’ at Cocochan. Yeah, I know it was his birthday, so he should’ve had the choice. However, since I was paying, I got the final say. And, I had to make sure it was Blogalicious.

We arrived and were escorted to a special reserved table. Next, we were given complimentary champagne and our water glasses featured two origami butterflies…
The butterflies said “Happy Birthday, Mr. Sunny!’ Clever, indeed.

The menu was overwhelming. We didn’t know how to decide. As we waded through it, we munched on some gorgeous green peppers.
I finally decided on a Maki Sushi selection. This is the Salmon and Avocado Hoso Maki.
And, yeah, you’re going to see that ‘Happy Birthday, Mr. Sunny’ butterfly in just about every picture. It was such a nice gesture, I want to feature it as much as possible.

Mr. Sunny had Crab, Enoki and Saffron Dumplings from the Starter section of the Specials menu.
Mr. Sunny says, ‘They were bloody lovely!’

In fact, there were a few more in the serving. We were so excited about the wonderful flavours of both Starters that we forgot to photograph his when it first arrived. Oops.

For our third Starter, we shared the Mixed Selection of Sashimi which had tuna, salmon and seabass.
Mr. Sunny calls this dish “Flippin’ Fabulous!’ Why? Because he said the fish was so fresh he swears it was still flipping in his mouth.

You feel me, Sunny friends?

We were totally tormented over what to do next. Order Main courses or continue layering on more Starters? Any guesses?

We piled up our plates. Here’s my Smoked Salmon and Prawn Tempura Roll.
Do you think I stopped there? No chance.

And, here’s my ‘Dragon’ Eel and Avocado Ura Maki.
I can’t even find words to tell you how exquisitely the flavours rolled around my mouth. Beautiful. Just beautiful.

Mr. Sunny had the Tiger Prawn Tempura, Spicy Mayo.
AND, the Chilli Squid Shichimi Salt, Sweet Chilli…
AND… the Crispy Aromatic Duck Rolls…

Mr. Sunny calls this experience a ‘multiple orgasm of flavor.’

He said it. Not me. 😉 I’m trying to keep this whole blog thing Rated G.

Mr. Sunny’s Final Thoughts on Cocochan:

– ‘This is a shame. I’m full and I haven’t even touched the surface of the menu.’
– ‘Stand by for Volume 2: I’ll be BACK!’
– ‘Boys, nearly every table was full of girls!’

Ummmm, I think there will be private conversation in the Sunny household about that last thought.

Anyhow.  I don’t have many shots of the inside of Cocochan to share, except this.

The food was just too damn distracting.

But, Mr. Sunny’s ‘All you can eat Birthday Dinner’ was a huge success. Here’s my victory drink from the end of the night…If you can’t actually make the trip to Cocochan, at least do yourself a favor and follow its social media accounts (Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Google+), . Let me know how long you’re able to resist actually eating there. My money says it isn’t long.

What other restaurants can you recommend in St. Christopher’s Place? Marylebone? Where do you celebrate special occasions in London?