Motormouth From Ipoh – Malaysian Food & Travel Blog

There is this bistro-cafe-pub-lounge like place in Greentown Business Centre that has been earning stripes in both positive and negative aspects. Cocooon Cafe (no spelling error, it’s spelled with that many O’s) started business sometime in the beginning of this year (can’t be sure, for I seldom venture out to that jammed area for lunch anymore these days).

Set Lunch – Dory Fish Fillets cooked in a light garlic and butter sauce, served with a side of herbs rice and potato wedges. RM14.90/USD4.60 for a set with a soup, a dessert and a drink.

Okay, I do admit that the ambience plays a pertinent role in ensuring a most pleasurable dining experience. To which I have to give credits to the management of Cocooon Cafe, for the interior of the premise looks resplendent yet comfortable with soft hues of natural light streaming from the sidewalks.

Cocooon Cafe - A relatively new dining sensation in the heart of the city; Greentown Business Centre of Ipoh.

Painted with an eye-catching purple shade on the outside, the cafe appears more like a pub or bistro than a fine dining settlement. Which, in this case works wonders as the casual environment befits a simple and quick lunch for the blue-collar workers around the vicinity. And Cocooon serves various affordable sets for lunch and dinner, but here comes the major lament ….

Read on to find out what they offer in the sets, and the daunting wait for our food ……

Good to know that they’re holding strong to the principles of serving healthy dishes and balanced nutrition

The place was packed during lunch hour, mostly patronized by workers around the area. But we did see some families having their leisurely lunch there, while we were relishing in the thought of savouring some lip-smacking pasta or chops to feed the hunger pangs. After all, we were already darn late for lunch that afternoon.

Only to be served after a good 45 minutes or so later. Of course, I do not mind if my food arrives a little slower during dinner, for I prefer my food to be cooked from scratch especially in fine dining places or even the average restaurants. Nobody likes their food to be cooked prior to your meal, then reheated in the oven anyway. (Think Secret Recipe, then you will understand)

Cream of Chicken Soup that came with the Sets. Looks like canned variety, but was creamy enough thanks to the addition of a swirl of cream to increase the richness level of the soup.

For a lunch session to be packed into the one hour allocated, we simply do not have the privilege to enjoy a one and a half hour meal. And to imagine us peeking at our watches periodically and twirling our thumbs wondering when our next course will be arriving; that affected the overall experience somehow.

Complaints aside, the service was not as poor as projected by some of the previous customers on the All About Ipoh page. Yes, the waiting staff may not be as efficient, but credits to them for the prompt service and taking the orders without any error.

Ipoh White Coffee or Iced Lemon Tea to go along with your meal.

The set lunch/dinner menu came with more than 10 choices; ranging from Asian Fusion creations, Japanese dishes, lamb, salmon, fish and chicken dishes to their supposedly good pastas. The sets include a soup of the day, a drink and even a dessert. Priced from RM13.90 onwards.

The soup was good, and served as a good starter to the meal. Just do not put your hopes high up for freshly cooked tummy-warming cream soups, but certainly better than the soup-from-the-can varieties.

Thick, flaky fillets of Dory lightly pan-grilled until forming a slight crust on the exterior of the fish.

On another positive note, the presentation of the food at Cocooon Cafe is well-taken into consideration; and they do not skimp on the ingredients nor ignoring the aesthetic values of the dish presented. The herb rice leaned towards an uninteresting bland taste, but eaten with the garlic and butter-flavoured fish and salted potato wedges, the combination worked somehow. Usually poor quality dory fillets possess an unmistakably muddy/earthy taste, but thankfully the dory here was odourless and tasted sweet with a firm yet flaky texture.

Chicken Roulade stuffed with Shiitake Mushrooms (RM16.90/USD5.30 per set)

NK had the Chicken Roulade from the Japanese Fusion Sets list. A tender roll of chicken thigh meat stuffed with an earthy, robust stuffing of shiitake mushrooms cooked in a reduction that had this faint hint of wine, but I had a mere nibble from his portion, hence I could not put my finger on it. But the dish was above average according to NK, and after the tedious wait earlier, the plate was polished clean in a matter of minutes.

Dessert – Thin slices of pancake (crepes) served with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and blueberry sauce.

The ‘generic‘ dessert that came with the sets was a pancake with ice-cream and supposedly chocolate sauce but ours came with streaks of blueberry sauce and sprinkled with cookie crumbs (or was it crushed peanuts?). Nothing outstanding, but miles better than being served with a lazy scoop of Magnolia ice cream.

To customize your sets into something fascinating, you can top up a minimal amount for a change of drink or dessert, or both. Do refer to the photo of the menu at the end of this post.

The cake of the day at RM3.80/USD1.20 extra. A blueberry cheese cake.

I initially wanted to upgrade my dessert to the Affogato, an Italian dessert of vanilla ice-cream or in rarer cases; gelato drowned in a shot of espresso. But the “Affocado” (wrong sp?) in the menu sounded not too convincing, and fearing that the coffee used would be the local Aik Cheong, or worse …. two-in-one prepacked instant coffee, I changed my decision and opted for the cake instead. But then later I noticed that they claimed to use Illy coffee for their Cappucino, so I should have given them the benefit of a doubt.

The cheese cake had this gelatinous, rubbery texture instead of being spongy soft or velvety smooth. After a few bites, we stopped for we were already full from the mains and starters, and the cake was no better than Secret Recipe’s anyway (and that’s not saying much ....).

The Set menu of the Day. I have this feeling that they change their menu often, but I did not ask for confirmation.

All in all, the meal was above average we felt, with the prices being reasonable and the portions as well as quality of the food at an acceptable level. The ambience reminded me of Folie-Folie Cafe & Grill, while the Western fares served are in the same league as Hot Jack, Capucino and even KS Boat & Grill Cafe. Value for money sets with interesting choices deviating from the usual Chicken Maryland, Lamb Chop and Fish & Chips.

COCOOON CAFE
12-1A, 12-1B, Persiaran Greentown 8,
30450 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
Telephone : 605-241 2748, 6019-509 2592 (Ken Cheah)
GPS Coordinates : E101 5′ 43.7″ N4 36′ 0.7″
Google Map to Cocooon Cafe.

Here’s a review by caffe corner on Cocooon Cafe back in June.