Chocko Choza opens a new resto-cafe serving global and South Indian food in Coimbatore

Chocko Choza offers artisanal bakery items and global cuisine with a focus on natural ingredients and flavors.

If there is one thing that can best describe Chocko Choza’s core principle, it is defiance. Right from their refusal to add artificial colour to their red velvet cake to make it more attractive, to adding real strawberry pulp instead of the pinker, sweeter, synthetic syrup to their mocktails, it has been a journey of some difficult, yet fulfilling decisions. “From the time we started out, we wanted to offer our customers the kind of food we would offer our daughter,” says P Dhivya, who co-founded the artisanal bakery and café along with her husband S Anbuchelvan.

Chocko Choza, that started as a small store selling single-origin chocolates in RS Puram in 2007, has now opened a new bakery and kitchen at Race Course. The two-storied 70-seater, done artfully with a courtyard with natural lighting at the centre, is packed when we step in for a meal on a weekday. The outlet is a resto-café serving global cuisine including South Indian food through the day. Think biryani sizzler and idiyappam with crab soup alongside steaks, pastas, toasts, and croissants.

We try a bit of everything and understand why Chocko Choza’s no-artificial flavouring or colour and hydrogenated vegetable fat policy works. Their wheat spinach focaccia bread, for instance, is soft, yet dense, and when served with a topping of chicken, boiled quail eggs, cherry tomatoes and a drizzle of micro greens, it is a match made in heaven. This is their cluck n crust toast, and there are vegetarian and sweet versions as well.

Speaking of bread, do try their croissants — the fillings, a harmony of flavours, are balanced — but the soft, flaky rolls are something else. They have a range of wood-fired pizzas, among their specialities, and we try the burrata bliss that comes with a dollop of white burrata cheese in the centre. A small slit in its outer later gets the gooey, creamy cheese to spill over the pizza that has a puffy, charred edge. Its marinara sauce, like every other sauce in their kitchen, is made in-house, according to Dhivya. “Since we do not use artificial preservatives, we make our sauces and pulps in small batches,” she adds.

Chicken popcorn, their alternative to chicken nuggets, is not the cookie-cutter version we are so used to. It is crispy and soft, and tastes wholesome. Dhivya recommends the zesty lemon chicken for children. The dish has chicken in a tangy lemon glaze, that makes way for a sweetish aftertaste. The kids at our table like it; the adults too. The creamy mushroom pasta is creamy and filled with softly-done mushrooms. The dish has a mild, lingering flavour of garlic that elevates it. Mention must be made of its portion size — it is perfect for one person, leaving room to try something else as well.

The bakery serves a range of croissants, strudel and quiche, apart from artisanal gelatos made with real fruit. There is also an interesting ginger chai flavour in the offing. Their plated desserts are among their specialities, with options such as apple crumble with ice cream, and baked chocolate cheesecake topped with raspberry.

When in Chocko Choza, it is an unwritten rule to try something chocolatey, for they are experts at sourcing the best kind. Milky magic arrives on the table and while we sip the sweet, silky, deep-brown concoction, we forget all else. Chocko brew, a hot drink of dark chocolate with coffee, stronger and bolder, is even better. These are beverages that can get addictive, and we make a mental note to come back just for a cup of their hot chocolate.