A new take-away outlet in the city is using coconut water to create interesting mocktails, floats and chillers. But does it work? Mid Day finds out
A new take-away outlet in the city is using coconut water to create interesting mocktails, floats and chillers. But does it work? Mid Day finds out
It is true. The miraculous fluid has moved from its plain transparent form to being an ingredient inu00a0 refreshing concoctions. Known for its health benefits and cooling nature, coconut water is no longer the unfashionable drink it used to be. A city-based outlet, Coconut Express, brings you coconut water in never-seen-before avatars and make all your coconut laden dreams come true. We admit we didn't have too many and the brightness of this small take away joint is what attracted us to it.
Black Magic pics/ Satish Badiger
Functional is the buzz word here and you will see neatly accommodated counters, a million silvery steel bottles full of syrups and crushes and of course, a hoard of coconuts on the floor. For a joint of this size, the menu is rather huge and will leave you spoilt for choice. For the ease of those who are slightly disturbed with the sight of too much coconut, it is divided into sections like Tangy Twists, Exotic Floats, The Fusion Bar, The Chocolate Lounge and Super Chillers. With as many as 10 options under each of the sections, we were told each one of them is made with coconut water as a base and that did leave us quite speechless.
Recovering and thirsty, we ordered Twilight (R 59) from the Tangy Twists section. This was a peach and apricot flavoured drink with a coconut water base. Heavily syrupy and sweet, the drink scattered with Takmaria (basil seeds), a common garnish for kulfis and faloodas, was thirst quenching but nothing spectacular. The enthusiastic waiter serving drinks suggested we try the Love Story (R 119) next. This was a chocolate flavoured drink from The Chocolate Lounge section. The drink was creamy and chocolatey but the combination with coconut water didn't seem to settle too well with us and we decided to stick to water-based combinations from then on. The names on the menu are interesting with quirky descriptions attached to each.
The section, Super Chillers, is particularly interesting and the drinks here take their names from timeless bands. You could sip on Pink Floyd, U2 or even Aerosmith. We were looking for something tangy and ordered an AC/DC (R 69). An orange flavoured drink with oodles of crushed ice, this concoction was the one that made our trip worth it. It is cooling, thirst quenching and chillingly tangy.
Besides the coconut overdose, Coconut Express also offers pastries, flavoured chocolates, cakes, kulfis and a handful of desserts. There weren't too many pastry options the day we stopped by, so we ordered the frozen dessert Black Magic (R 89. A black forest dessert, it had layers of cream, ice cream, cake, chocolate and some cherry bits. Easy to dig into and melts in your mouth, this dessert can be a fulfilling end to a meal. We give this place a thumbs up for its innovative ideas and hygiene, but we might go back only for those Super Chillers.
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Where Coconute Express, Airlines Hotel, Madras Bank Road
Call 42114196
Drinks for two R 400
Coconut Express didn't know we were there. The Guide reviews anonymously and pays for meals.
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