Taste Of Cochin

I have only been here once but my friend goes here reguarly and orders take aways from here too. He really raves about this place.

I find that South Indian cuisine is a lighter and more refreshing alternative to the normal popularised high street Indian food.

There was a big group of us so we got the big round table at the back end of the restaurant. We got stuck in to the Kingfisher lager straight away.

We then kicked off with the vegetarian and non-vegetarian starter which consisted of deep fried large chillies, fish and prawn cakes, potato dumplings, spicy lamb and chicken. This was enough for 6 people to share and at £8.95 each was excellent value.

We had the Dosa pancake with Masala which was superb, sweet pancake with fried egg and fragrant saffron rice to accompany our meal.

Main courses included an excellent lamb dish cooked with fennel, fish moolah, lamb birhianie, chicken cooked in curry sauce. We also tried the excellent dried vegetable dishes such as Beetroot with Coconut and Cabbage stir fried with carrot and coconut.

With copious amounts of Cobra and Kingfisher, the bill came to £20 a head which we thought was excellent considering everyone was totally full and satisfied.

All in all, Cocum's Kerala menu offers some interesting dishes that are fresh in taste, light in texture and multi-layered with spices. It is a good local restaurant that I wish I lived near. I hope to be back soon.

Coming from Malaysia, I'm more used to Indian food coming from southern India or Sri Lanka rather than the Bangladeshi food that you find in most Indian restaurants in this country. Cocum serves Keralan food, which reminds me of home - more use of coconut and generally lighter curries.

To celebrate a successful campaign this year, my hockey team descended upon Cocum for a celebratory dinner. The 2 Indians in the party gave their blessing, always a good sign when the locals are happy to recommend an ethnic restaurant. Kingfishers all round (except for teetotal me who stuck with an excellent mango lassi)

For those used to regular Bangladeshi type curry houses, the dishes on offer here may be unfamiliar but the menu offers nice descriptions and the waiters are happy to make suggestions.

For starters, we had masala dhosas, an Indian pancake filled with spicy potatoes. The main courses were a mish mash of different curries shared between us, all accompanied by rice and various breads. The curries were generally lighter than in other places.

During the meal, we worked out short corner routines for next season though I'm doubtful how many will be remembered by September!

Worth a try to see if you enjoy food from a different part of India.

What can I say Reminds me of home.!


Very authentic tastes, good service, pleasant atmosphere.
You will get to taste a lot of dishes from the Gods Own Country. Being one of the spice rich territories, kerala offers wide range of dishes, lightly spiced ones to spice rich ones to hot dishes.
The best combo I would recommend, and my favourite, is non-veg mixed platter as starter, Appam, a fermented rice batter pan cake, with malabar chicken curry for main course, and Payasam as the dessert. Ah heaven.!

Delicious!!! Had lamb biryani and Nadan chicken both really good and not expensive! Healthy pour of wine only £2.95.

I think this is one of the most fabulous South Indian restaurants in London. The service is always top notch particularly on weekends when Prakash is serving the tables. I have probably had every dish on the menu thrice over but it always tastes that little bit different, I put that down to the fresh home cooking. To top it the fridge is always well stocked with ice cold Kingfisher beer.