Coco Bamboo

My friend suggested this restaurant to me. I had never heard of it before and I wanted to try something different. I usually go to the same old boring places. So I decided to go for my birthday. I turned up right on time, the table wasn't ready but I didn't mind because many of my friends had not arrived. We were offered free shots whilst we awaited our table which was very generous! About 10 mins later we were seated in a nice area of the restaurant. A waitress came over shortly after to take our order, we weren't ready yet so we asked her to come back. It was quite a while before the waitress came back to the table. I actually had to catch her attention! Since we were in the corner I wondered if she had forgotten about us!!

I ordered a drink which the waitress had never heard of, so I let her know that my friend had already ordered it downstairs at the bar. Quite a few of us ordered the same drink and I assumed she wrote it down! The rest of the table ordered their drinks and she returned with half the tables’ drinks. We waited a while and the drinks the waitress was unsure of did not make it to the table. I'm not sure why, but we had to call over another waitress to let her know what had happened.

The food arrived pretty quickly; I had the Saltfish Cod Fritters which were not what I expected them to be like. This is not a bad thing though- they were really nice but tasted more like fish cakes and they needed alot more sauce! For the main I had the baby Jerk Chicken, It was really goooood.. The rice portion was kinda small though, but yet again really good. It was a bit difficult to eat the chicken as well. Some of my friends had the curry goat and they said it was delicious and had no trouble eating it as it was off the bone. We all ordered from the party menu, I wish I had tried something different. I'm used to the dishes I had because I eat them at home anyway, but there was a little twist to the meals here. I tried the Passion Fruit cheesecake and it was great too.

Right at the end we had this waiter and he was very attentive and also quite an entertainer. I would have preferred to have him throughout the night. The waitress we had could not understand us half the time, a friend of mine asked for another bowl of rice and 4 of us had to repeat it just so she could understand us. Another friend of mine asked for another container and had to point at it to show the waitress what she was on about.

I would definitely go back here and recommend it to others! It is worth the money, great atmosphere and most importantly great food!
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Chelle
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Saturday, June 11, 2011

Went to Cocobamboo on a whim, and our party had two taste cards. It IS tiny, but the staff are excellent. Everyone we came into contact with was in a good mood, accommodating and helpful.

I had their plain mojito, which I didn't love, crab cake starter, which was excellent and the meat selection main. Huge portions, tasted great, cooked to our liking.

It was very expensive, even with the taste card, but I didn't shed any tears over it as the food and service deserved it.
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9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 6
Wednesday, May 18, 2011

They say 'don't judge a book by its cover' and this is so true of Coco Bamboo from the outside. The place is a little gem! Four of us all chose different courses and each were superb! The cocktails were amazing and it is certainly a place I would recommend to friends. The staff were also very polite, friendly and efficient. We would definitely like to go back again..
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Julian
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, May 07, 2011

My boyfriend and I went here in the weekend. The menu sounded great, very descriptive and thought the dishes would be nice sized portions. We ordered the two course meal, the starters arrived nicely presented, tasted great... we just hope there would be a lot more food for our mains. This arrived and I immediately said I need to go eat somewhere after! Both our dishes looked like they were designed to feed children, everything was miniature. I would only reccomend this place for people who like to over-pay and under-eat. Besides the lack of food, it did taste nice, however very over-priced!
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3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Despite the external appearance and the cheesy name this is a great restaurant. Service was attentive and efficient and the food was excellent. The feijoada was particularly good.

The only thing is the prices. We went with a tastecard offer so the food was half price. At half price the starters were around £4 and the mains £8-10 which I think is about right. At full price I would feel a bit cheated considering the portions.

If you get a deal I would recommend this place.
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8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 6
Monday, March 28, 2011

Very nice restaurant on a first glance. However the staff and the food let the place down terribly. The group of friends I took to Coco Bamboo for a meal was bitterly disappointed and would not recommend this place to anyone.
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2 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 4
Monday, March 07, 2011

I went to Coco Bamboo last night with a special offer voucher. The voucher cost £18.99 and entitled me to 4 cocktails and one platter. I looked at the menu before buying the voucher and saw that platters cost £21.99. As the restaurant looked like a lively, easy going bistro (and not a high class, expensive place), I assumed that a platter would have enough food on it for 2 people to share.

We were advised by our waitress to order additional items (these were discounted with my voucher) as I'm sure she was aware (but didn't say outright) that in fact a platter is TINY!

So, having 2 starters (with 50% off!) meant an additional £17 on top of what I'd paid for the voucher! Service of 12.5% was added and also £3.40 for a bottle of Highland Spring still water that was on our table when we got there (so we drank and assumed was complimentary - were not told otherwise!). I have never experienced that in UK restaurants before so am sure I am not the first to be suprised by this.

I imagine large parties wouldn't notice these details, but would get quietly ripped off as they need to order more and more food and probably water!!!!

I left feeling cheated! which, even though the food tasted ok, left a bitter aftertaste!!
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3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, February 08, 2011

We were there on saturday night and it was very busy. It was a party of 18 people a family group. It was an advanced booking and upon arrival we were rushed into the eating area and then told that we had to hurry because there was another group booking at 10pm. We were told we could not order anything off the a la carte menu and that we could only order from the set 3 course menu. This was not good considering not everyone wanted to eat 3 courses and the choices were minimal. This increased the amount of expenditure for food that guests weren't really happy with.

The food was of a good standard but be careful the plantain was made in a nut based oil which is not stipulated on the menu so people with allergies be aware. We were then rushed out of the eating area and given the bill, it was very rushed and at 10pm all children had to leave due to licensing rules.

Overall a confusing rushed evening.
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4 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Sunday, April 18, 2010

My friends and I had a wonderful time at Coco Bamboo. The staff were flexible and responsive to the changing/growing size of our group. And on a Saturday night no less. We ordered from the set menu and, as you might expect, received our food promptly. It was delicious.
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MarcosS
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Sunday, April 04, 2010

I've been there only once, but I was extremely impressed! The food was absolutely delicious! At the time they had a special deal 2 courses for £12 or 3 courses for £15, needless to say I got the 3 course meal and came out wishing I'd go back the day after! The service was great as well, location - easy access, prices - with the deal, very reasonable.

If you'd like to try something very tasty, with some Brazilian roots, but above all, just really good food, I'd highly recommend this place!
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Friday, March 26, 2010