I have known about this place as the owners DM me via Instagram when they opened around 2 years ago but never went. Coco Kai managed to get the recipes from Nanny’s Food Truck when they closed up shop in Wellington and have managed to get a bit of a following in the Hutt area. It is rated highly on mentioned quite a bit on Instagram so off I went.

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Spicy Marinated Deep-Fried 8 Piece of Chicken Nibbles Covered with Homemade Sauces on a bed of Slaw

This was a generous serving of chicken wings. I decided to go for the “hot” option and was pretty excited to give them a try. The sauce on the wings was really nice and had a nice sweetness to it. However, there was no kick to the sauce and was pretty mild in my option. The bed of slaw was really minimal which was also disappointing as I do like some salad on the side. The deep-fried chicken was interesting, as it was not as juicy as I thought they would have been. Maybe the chicken was cooked twiced and between cooking, it was stored in the fridge.

Burger: Beef

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Marinated 180gm Beef Patty, 2 Slices of Cheese, Bacon, Slaw, Homemade Sauces with the topping of Caramelised Onion

I could not believe what was on this plate. The salad was mesclun leaf with a mango dressing on top which was nice. The fries were nice and crisp and had a good crunch to them and were nicely seasoned with this coating. They also came with an aioli sauce which had some herbs in it which was really nice. The burger was a giant. The flavours in the burger were really nice. The beef patty was housemade but I would have liked it if it was not well cooked. The cheese on the patty was nice as was the crisp bacon. The slaw and onions were also good and inside was a slice of a granny smith apple which is a Nanny’s Food truck thing. The brioche bun did disappoint me though as it crumbled slightly as I ate it.

The food is good, but I am not quite sure why this place gets quite the following that it does. the service is good and the food came out quite fast. Maybe I am just a bit too picky and expected too much from this place. This place is worth a try and I would be interested to see what other people think about this place.

Facebook Page: Coco Kai Cafe

Address: 378 High St, Lower Hutt 5010