Co Co Sala
Co Co Sala is a hotspot among the sweet-toothed night owls, and I’m not talking about the sparkly cast of the Twilight series. The restaurant focuses on small dishes that really explore all corners of your sense of taste. The restaurant offers a 3 course and 5 course tasting dessert menu, but you should expect to order a few dishes in addition to this sugar laden orgy to really get a full meal.
We started out with the Four Cheese Fritters. Served with a creamy dipping sauce that was very reminiscent of a Thousand Island dressing, this appetizer (teaser, as the menu calls it) gets your appetite going. These deep fried morsels contain melted but not quite molten cheese interiors inside a crispy, fried shell. Highly recommended.
The tasting menu Jen and I shared also comes with a cheese plate- four cheeses, a chunk of date pâté (no fowl play), grapes, and crackers. I steered clear of the blue cheese, as we don’t really get along, but the brie came strong with the flavor. We opted to have it served as an appetizer, to which our server happily complied.
Jen’s first dish, the portobello risotto, was a little heavy on the butter, but then again, any good risotto is going to be heavy on the butter, so consider it just about right. Topped with asparagus, mushrooms, mixed greens, and fresh shaved parmesan. This dish won’t win any awards, but it’s a great vegetarian dish, and suited Jen well enough.
Her second dish was the Manchego and Baby Arugula Salad. Tossed with slices of apple, chunks of oranges, caramelized walnuts, dates, and then a strip of coffee vinaigrette, Jen absolutely loved this plate. Which of course, means, I’m going to try and make this for her at some point in the future. Shouldn’t be too hard, except for the coffee vinaigrette, but I’ll figure something out.
My first dish was the trio of Lamb Sliders. How could you not love these? It’s like midget wrestling, with less spandex and more brioche. Three mini organic lamb patties cooked in a coconut and curry sauce, topped with a lime yogurt creme and served with rosemary and parmesan fries. The restaurant also offers a beef or a chicken trio of sliders, but it’s impossible for me to turn down an order of lamb.
Next, I had the Bacon Mac’n'Cheese. A dish of baked mac’n'cheese’n'bacon, topped with a crispy cheesy crust, and topped with a stick of chocolate covered bacon. The combination of sweet and savory really works in favor of the dish here. There’s a Shrimp Mac’n'Cheese option available on the menu, but c’mon. It’s bacon. I’d name my first born child Bacon.
That’s a terrible idea. Why do you people let me come up with this sort of stuff?
Our five course (four, after the cheese) dessert ‘Nutty But Nice’ tasting menu started off with the churro batons, served with a caramel dipping sauce. If I had one complaint about these things, is that they’re entirely too small, but I guess I’ll consider that a good problem to have. The only other place I can think off of the top of my head that sells churros is CostCo, and the ones at Co Co Sala definitely blow those away.
The Rum Caramel Bananas and Chocolate bring a natural combination together, but neither Jen nor I found this one to be very impressive. The shaved chocolate on top of the rum soaked bananas definitely earned points for presentation, but lacked the punch we were expecting.
The peanut butter cheesecake is a huge win for this tasting menu. Rich and creamy like an albino Texas oil tycoon, this one is a must for just about anyone without a peanut allergy. Even then…not a bad way to go.
To finish things off before the final bits of signature Co Co Sala truffles, a small dish of citrus sorbet is brought out to cleanse your palette, perfectly setup for two.
The dishes here at Co Co Sala are at worst, average, and at best, truly a gastronomical adventure that runs from the savory to the utterly sweet. Our server was great with the recommendations and timing, with only a small slip of forgetting to refill our drinks. The ambiance here is definitely on the sexy side, so make it a special night out and wear those monkey print undies you save for occasions like this.
See Co Co Sala on a map here.
Recommended For:
- Girls Night Out
- Chocolate Chasers
- Vegetarians
- First Dates
- Anniversaries
Not Recommended For:
- Guys Night Out
- Frugalistas
- Going Into Labor
- Paleo heads
- Zone Dieters
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Coffee vinaigrette sounds interesting….. Starbucks will make it better.