Cochin

Amazed and shocked that we were not allowed to have finger bowls after eating king prawns. We were told it was not "the policy" and we'd have to go to wash our hands in the toilets even though we would smear all the knobs and handles that we touched apart from waiting for other occupants to come out. The manager was totally intransigent!! The final straw came when we asked for 2 cups to share a pot of mint tea which held enough for 4 cups. Again it is not our policy to do this, you will have to have 2 pots for 2 people.

We'll not go there again nor will all our local friends. Customers cannot be treated like that. It is a shame as the food is quite good. The price is high though and does not compare with other local quality south Asian restaurants
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3 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Monday, August 30, 2010

Its the best restaurant in london... best food .. Must try..
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Dhruv Parikh
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, June 09, 2010

This restaurant is fabulous. It has recently reopened after a refurbishment and it looks very smart. The food has always been great and I was pleased to see that the food is still of a high standard. It was all very nicely presented.

I went this Sunday along with 2 of my mates.

I tried a haryali tikka starter that is made with fresh mint and corriander and for the mains I tried the tangy allepy fish curry with lemon rice.

In order to cool off I tried the Ras Malai for dessert which was served with some strawberries and mango compote.

All in all it was a good meal and we are were satisfied with the food and the service received.
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9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Totally shocked by the fact that they refuse to supply tap water! Apparently it's against their policy! For drinks we ordered wine and asked for a glass of tap water to go with it. We were told that their system wasn't equipped to provide tap water, but we could spend £1.50 on their own filtered tap water. The owner was argumentative saying that the tap water cost them and wasn't free. The lack of water with the meal left me very thirsty and spoilt my enjoyment of the meal. I certainly won't be frequenting this place again until they value their customers.
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5 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 3
Monday, May 03, 2010

I popped in there for lunch as I like South Indian food. The "set meal" was utterly dire. No wonder I was the only person there!

This is not unusual as the set lunch menu quite often is a way for restaurants to use up left-overs. What really annoyed me though was that it wasn't (really bad) South Indian food. It was really, really bad sort-of-North-Indian-Bangladeshi-British-curry-horrible-sludge food.

Of course, you quite often get what you pay for and they may have a proper chef in for the evening session - but by the look of some of the other reviews it seems unlikely!

I won't be going back there in the evening to find out, that's for sure.
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Tigger
2 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Sunday, April 04, 2010

Being an Indian i take offense to restaurant that claim to be authentic and serve rubbish in the name of Indian Food. I have lived in South India for more than 4 years and know what authentic South Indian food is. This restaurant definitely doesn't serve authentic South Indian food. The mango lassi was horrendous. The coconut water was undrinkable. The Mysore Masala dosa was smothered in coconut and needless to say nothing close to a mysore masala. The sambar had no salt. The prices are exorbitant even Indian Restaurants in Picadilly Circus dont charge as much. The service was passable. Food bad. And the manager rude. There are places 10 times better than this and at less cost.

My suggestion stay away!
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Rahul Singh
3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Monday, March 01, 2010

This restaurant is ok, the food is passable, if not particularly stunning or generous, and there's a good selection of vegetable dishes. However, the prices are pretty high for the area, the service is over-the-top and needy (how many times must they ask if everything is ok with my food? what are they expecting?!), but worst of all, the whole set -up is fairly dishonest and designed to rip you off. Disgusting. When you order a drink, they casually ask if you'd like poppadoms. Of course you say yes. Then a small basket with a few poppadoms arrives, with some small, fairly average dips. When the bill comes, that's right, you've been charged £4 for something that's gratis in most places. I also found the waiter very pushy on desserts. I didn't want one, I was in rush, but he kept pushing and pushing in a very needlessly unctuous manner (even though I already had a dessert included in my Thali!). Not attractive.

This may sound like nit-picking to you, but believe me, with the many excellent and great value places around (Benjaman in Muswell Hill, Jai Krishna in Finsbury Park, for instance), Cochin is a bit of a tired format, with average food and a deceitful business model. I wouldn't go back.
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William Thomas
4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Wednesday, September 09, 2009