This was the forerunner of the hip and artistic Asian Heritage Row. Frankly it's about time that someone did something about our abundance of old shop houses. So it was no surprise that as soon as Bar Savanh (the bar below Cochine) opened, they were flooded with punters thirsty for a new place to quench their thirst.
We now review Cochine to see whether they can slake our hunger. Cochine serves Indochinese cuisine from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Now if you are familiar with Thai food, Cochine's menu will be familiar though there are certain variations to it. Take for instance the well loved young papaya salad. Laotians call it tham som as oppose to the Thai song tham. The Laotian version is sweeter and has less dried prawns in it.
Today though, we tried the pamelo salad which is called Goi Buoi Saigon. It's got a tartness to it and even if I'm an Ipoh girl, I don't normally like pameloes but this is certainly a great way to serve it. The prawns in it adds texture and a richness to the dish. Try this for something different to start your meal.
Then, we had the Cochine platter, a nice showcase of starters that you can munch on. The Cha Gio which is spring rolls come in two versions. There's a fried version which you eat with a sweet dipping sauce and a Vietnamese style where it's raw and you wrap it up in leaves before popping it in your mouth. Both are yummy but one reviewer especially liked the chao tom which is prawn quenelles speared on sugarcane. When you eat it, you're supposed to bite and suck the sweet juices out of the sugarcane. I remembered eating this in Cambodia and they used fresh grilled prawns but this works just as well. Make you sure you suck out all the juices from the sugarcane...mmm...
"My heart belongs to the Luc Lac"
Now we tuck in our napkins for the main course which is accompanied with fragrant jasmine rice. My favourite Indochinese dish came! Which is the Thit Bo Luc Lac which is fried pepper beef with garlic. This is a MUST have dish here, succulent with a fish sauce dipping, lovely... We also tried the samla kroeung samut which is seafood coconut curry chock full of fresh prawns, squid, mussels and fish and the Cambodian style chilli and basil chicken. These are all commendable dishes and goes well with the rice. However my heart is with the beef...aaah...
As a showcase of things to come, we were served an interesting dish which is chicken marinated and lime juice and herbs which you have to roll into a ball with sticky rice. This is a very strong flavoured dish hence the sticky rice to balance it nicely. I'm liking it...I'm liking it...They can also prepare freshwater eel which you can specially pre-order which we did not have a chance to try this time. Judging by the quality of food though, we'll be coming back!
All in all, it looks like we have a lot more to learn from our other neighbours in the region when it comes to food. Cochine, with its well thought out menu is set to educate us. Indochina being so close together means that boundaries are blurred when it comes to food. Therefore, it's the subtle variations between each country and the local ingredients they use that make Indochina such a gastronomic discovery. At least we have a good idea by now what Vietnamese food entails but when it comes to Cambodian and Laotian cuisine, may Cochine make them as recognisable and loved as Thai food is today.
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