This article first appeared in the Mar/Apr 2012 issue of World Gaming magazine.
| KOKO |
| Level 3 Crown Towers |
| Crown casino |
| Melbourne, Australia |
| +61 3 9292 6886 |
The second half of January each year usually sees me enjoying the Australian summer in Melboune for the Aussie Millions poker tournament at Crown. This year was no different and while I was in town, I headed to one of my favorite local eating haunts for some top shelf teppanyaki.
January is summer in Australia, and a bit hot for a big hairy bear like me but as long as I don’t get caught in the sun, and can find cool air-conditioned eating caves to add to my winter bulk, I am as happy as a pig in mud.
With a population of around four million, Melbourne is Australia’s second largest city and about half the size of Hong Kong. Melburnians justifiably lay claim to their city being the sporting capital of the world. Many international visitors do not realize that Melbourne is also one of the globe’s top culinary cities. Bad restaurants just don’t survive here. From little cafés and inner suburban haunts, to the best in silver service, the truly multi-cultural melting pot of fine food has something to tempt everyone.
Japanese is one of my favorites, and one of my favourite Japanese restaurants has always been Koko at Crown. It doesn’t matter if you like to order straight from the sushi bar, the à la carte menu or the teppanyaki, I have always found everything to be of the highest quality. On this particular night there was a big group of WGM crew, so I decided that a private dining room for teppanyaki would suit us perfectly.
There are many private dining rooms at Koko but if you plan to be there at a busy time, make sure you book as you will struggle to get in. Seven of us comfortably sat around the big silver teppanyaki grill, ordered some drinks and waited for our personal chef to prepare his delights.
The first thing I will say is that I hate going to teppanyaki restaurants where I am expected to put the bowl on my head while a chef throws pieces of food into it. If I want cheap showmanship I’ll go to the circus. When I am sitting down to eat I want to eat. Entertain me with the quality of the food! Thankfully, none of this food-throwing nonsense takes place at Koko.
The best thing to do at Koko is to order a set menu. Koko teppanyaki set menus range from AU$85 per head (Hoshi) to AU$198 per head (Mori). We ordered one level down from the Mori set (Kaze), which was AU$129 per head. You can download Koko’s menu from their website www.kokoatcrown.com.au to save any guesswork on the night.
We started the ball rolling with ice-cold Asahi beer, both hot and cold sake and a couple of bottles of Penfolds RWT at a very reasonable price. A good restaurant with a table of good friends is the perfect place to enjoy a few drinks. But I must confess, there is something about Japanese food that makes me even keener than usual to get merry.
The chef got to work frying up some potatoes on the grill, and as the heat rose off the stainless steel in front of us, the cold beers paid dividends. We were presented with a nice array of starters including a wonderful plate of assorted sashimi. I don’t care what type of Japanese meal I am partaking in – I must have some raw fish!
The highlight of this style of meal should always be the meat they prepare on the grill. The prawns, salmon and scallops were perfectly cooked by our chef who knew his way around a grill as well as any in the world. The pièce de résistance as always was the Australian wagyu beef striploin. This was perfectly cooked and the rich marbled beef simply melted in my mouth. There was some nice fried rice and house salad to go along with everything, and fruit and ice cream to finish. I didn’t try it this time, but for those who are prepared to loosen the belt at the end of the evening, the Japanese red bean pancake with black sesame ice cream is something not to be missed.
Everything about Koko is well done. The décor is perfect, the service is fast and attentive and the food is always reliable. It is not cheap, but then again it is not expensive for what you get. I think everything about Koko is better than its more pretentious Japanese competitor at Crown, Nobu, and it is about half the price. Be warned though, book well in advance, as Koko is a busy restaurant with a big reputation.
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Setting
|
8.0/10
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|
Service
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8.5/10
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|
Food
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8.5/10
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Wine
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8.0/10
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| Value |
7.5/10
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Overall
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15.5/20
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