Everything in Coco Bambu, a public success, seems to converge on the obvious

Coco Bambu is a restaurant for those who are not looking for signature cuisine. Tasting some of the house’s acclaimed dishes is such an unusual experience that an unsuspecting diner could think they’ve caught Covid-19 and lost their sense of taste. But it’s not necessarily bad.

In the magazine O Melhor de São Paulo, the restaurant was the public’s favorite in the “to go with the family” category. With more than 80 units, it offers a varied menu and hearty dishes that, combined, may seem like they will create something attractive. In reality, they are full of anachronisms, truisms and random sums.

There are almost 30 varieties of shrimp dishes, another dozen fish dishes and more than ten meat dishes. In the end, everything seems to converge on the obvious, exaggerated mixtures with emphasis on bland, industrialized cream cheese.

This is the case of the jangadeiro shrimp (R$ 69). The dish arrives impressive, with four large pieces of shrimp breaded with catupiry. In practice, it’s a disappointment: the frying is well done, but you only have to take a bite to notice that the filling is a massive cheese, with skinny prawns that disappear in the cream.

The lack of delicacy is most evident in the flagship, the international shrimp (R$ 157). On a single platter there are prawns, creamy rice with peas, ham and white sauce, all topped with cheese and covered with straw potatoes. The dish for two seems to be enough for four. But it soon becomes clear that it’s almost all rice, and that there aren’t that many shrimp. The crustaceans are medium and have a good texture, but the dish is bland.

The lack of ability to surprise is repeated in the dessert, which highlights “the best pudding in the world” (R$ 30). It is not. The cream is heavy and too sweet, with a slight touch of plum in the syrup, without complexity.

Overall, Coco Bambu lacks boldness and creativity. The food is a bit banal, but its well-behaved attitude seems to be working, as, on a Sunday in October, the newly opened unit in the Bourbon shopping center had long queues from early on.