Fix a date with Audrey Tautou

Photographs of this award-winning French actress are splashed all over the newest cafe ristorante in Bandra, Cocoa, which promises good food, coffee and company and pretty much delivers

Fix a date with Audrey Tautou

Photographs of this award-winning French actress are splashed all over the newest cafe ristorante in Bandra, Cocoa, which promises good food, coffee and company and pretty much delivers

Audrey Tautou is perhaps the unofficial brand ambassador for Cocoa, the cafe ristorante at the private club C'est La Vie (though Aamir Khan and Salman Khan's family were special invitees at the cafe's launch party on Wednesday). The French actress, who you might remember as Amelie from the French film by the same name, Sophie Neveu from The Da Vinci Code or Coco Chanel from Coco Avant Chanel, seems to be a favourite of Cocoa's interior designers. She features on the large collage of sepia toned pictures as well as on the coasters. Dreamy images of the seemingly shy but mischievous Tautou prodded us into a long conversation about the young actress's prowess. Thankfully, the food and service didn't hinder the discussion.

Crunchy Cottage Cheese Burger

It's rare for the ambience of a restaurant to spark off a tete-a-tete that lasts through the evening. Plus, the Sylvie Vartan-esque French ditties set up the mood for mid-conversation deliberation. If only the couch and chairs were a tad more comfortable, we'd give them full marks for a perfect ambience. Nevertheless, the smiling and helpful waiters gained brownie points for their prompt service.

Since it is a cafe ristorante, Cocoa serves soups, salads, sandwiches as well as mains and all-day breakfast. However, when we dropped by work was still in progress as far as setting up the kitchen was concerned so a few things were unavailable, despite being listed on the menu. Weu00a0 opted for the chilled Guava Spice Soup (Rs 195) and the light Mexican Mix Salad (Rs 255). The soup, which arrived in a sweet-n-sour salt-rimmed roli-poli glass, went superbly with the tangy and crunchy salad.

For the mains, we called for a Fillet Mignon (Rs 435) and, from the sandwich menu, a Crunchy Cottage Cheese Burger (Rs 315). Despite the waiter reconfirming how we preferred our beef steak (well done) the meat was chewy and negotiating it without a steak knife was a near-impossible task. The mashed potatoes with the steak were sinfully creamy. Yet, not enough compensation. The Burger was also not quite great.

Finally, we called for a Banoffee Pie (Rs 250) with a Cappuccino (Rs 65) and Cafe Mocha (Rs 75). The Banofee Pie was yum but the Mocha had no trace of chocolate! Our complaint was noted and we were given a generous 15 % discount on the final bill. As we left the caf ufffd our waiter promised us loads of chocolate in our Mocha the next time we dropped by.

At 164, Hill Road, next to Holy Family Hospital, Bandra (W). Call 61322222 Cocoa didn't know we were there. The GUIDE reviews anonymously and pays for meals.