Dubai: Coco – The new poolside lounge at Media One

//I was invited to visit Coco and I didn’t pay for food and drinks//

Coco is the new poolside lounge on the 8th floor at Media One Hotel. Coco takes over where popular DEK on 8 left, and even though they just opened, and they’re still in the middle of fine tuning the concept, it already looks very promising. The theme is Miami which shows in both the menu and the surroundings that are even more sleek than before.

The food is primarily small plates of the kind that suits the poolside location, and everything we had looked delicious. It was the Poke Tuna that ended up on my Instagram, but while it looked gorgeous, I would have liked a little more poke sauce because it came out a bit dry and the taste of the fish became too dominant. I also found the scallop ceviche too bland and the flavor too sweet, but nothing that a better dressing couldn’t fix.

The Biscayne Bay Salad, which was packed with squid, shrimp and mussels, was just what Poul was looking for, but he could have it to himself, as long as I could have the mini skewers. They were really good, especially the ones with halloumi, and the two dipping sauces served on the side were a really nice touch. I regret that we didn’t order one of the flat breads, because further interrogation revealed that this was the favorite among most of the staff.

For dessert, we had a rice roll with salted caramel, like a sweet maki roll. A brilliant idea if you ask me. Poul was more skeptical so I let him have the chocolate mousse with mango to himself.

We picked the cocktails from the staff’s recommendations and while I don’t remember the name of the cocktails, they were both delicious. One of them (the one in the white martini glass) tasted like a Bounty chocolate bar while the other one was more fruity and with lots of passionfruit added.

I used to be a big fan of DEK on 8, which was a great place to go out, but Coco seems to be even better. A little less unga-bunga and a little more class. When Trine saw my Insta-story, she first thought I was at Siddharta at Grosvenor House, and there’s no doubt that the two places have a similar vibe. Coco might be a bit more chic, while Siddharta is a bit more glam, but I think the places appeal to the same tanned crowd of well-dressed 20-30-somethings.

Coco on 8, Media One Hotel, Dubai Media City, Dubai