One day in Rotorua I was feeling cold and hungry for some comfort food, and by chance I came across cocoffee, a tiny Vietnamese cafe with a bit of everything: decent coffee, and proper noodle soup all in one place. You wouldn’t just stumble into it as a visitor, but it turn out to be the sort of place that often ends up being the best. This is a brief glimpse of an unexpectedly decent lunchtime spot.
It is exactly the sort of unfussy eatery that make you remember why it’s so pleasant when a café stick to doing a few dishes well rather than trying to do too much.
My Surprise Lunch at cocoffee
cocoffee
Cocoffee: I almost walked straight past, tiny shopfront on the high street, with a couple of outdoor tables. Posters in the window promote coffee and Vietnamese food. That’s about as accurate as you’ll get.
Not expecting much, I didn’t do any research and ducked in to warm myself up while I got hungry.
It’s small inside but simple too. There is a chilled cabinet near the window displaying some of the ready-made offering and a counter up front. A handwritten note on the wall caught my eye; the type of personal touch you’d expect from a restaurant whose owner are actively involved in the business.
We went up to order at the counter and got ourselves a table while we waited.
Two bowl of noodle soup were ordered, and they came out steaming hot with a large mound of fresh herbs on top. It was perfectly what I wanted: rice noodles, clear broth, and lots of green stuff to add as you go along. The sort of thing that won’t weigh you down but will warm you through from the inside.
I tasted as I went, adding the herbs gradually, finishing the entire bowl before I even noticed.
To wash it down with, I had a latte which came in a glass instead of a cup. It was not overly milked, smoothly made and paired nice with the soup. Although, I will say I liked the fact that they hadn’t attempted any trendy latte art nor were charging trendy prices for it, just a good, drinkable coffee.
There was a good variety on offer from the menu boards; Vietnamese classics, all-day breakfast items and some special dish pasted up on promotional signs around the walls. It wasn’t trying to be everything to everyone, which I appreciated; instead, it kept things focused and did not cover every cuisine under the sun. Photos of dishes was pinned up which accurately showed what would arrive, always reassuring.
In conclusion, cocoffee proved to be a solid little place for an unfussy but filling meal. It’s definitely worth visiting if you’re in Rotorua and looking for something slightly different than the standard fare of cafes aimed at tourists, as long as you don’t go expecting anything fancy, you’ll walk away satisfied. What is your favorite low-key cafe find while traveling that was better then expected?