Tropical-themed restobar opens in Coimbatore

As Zoi, a swanky restobar, opens its doors in Coimbatore, MetroPlus gets a first look of its innovative cocktails, variety cuisine and unique decor inspired by the tropical rainforests

A dramatic, tropical rainforest-inspired design aesthetic defines Zoi, the newly opened restobar. It’s glass front and tons of hanging plants, lush-green vines and nature-inspired textures initiate a sense of quiet wilderness within the busy urbanscape. It features innovative cocktails and a global menu featuring Asian, Italian, and Kongu cuisines.

“Zoi in Greek is life and we wanted to incorporate the zest for life in our decor,” says Chantel Vincent, creative director. The 220-seater features tall bar stools and tables and cosy coffee tables. The choice of materials, dim lighting, earthy green colour palette and the overall ambience is carefully curated to convey a narrative of love for Nature.

Large TV screen, DJ music consoles, and retro music keep up the tempo of party vibe. “We want more families enjoy the experience with their children. It’s not fine dining but a relaxed space for conversations and good times together,” says Chantel, who runs the restobar with her husband, Adrian Costa.

While the drinks menu has over 30 signature cocktails, the food is largely global but also features Kongu specials like neipodi chicken, idiappam and paaya, idli with kudal kuzhambu, eeral ghee roast, idicha kari tawa fry – to name a few. “We also have glazed pork belly with fluffy hokkaido buns,” adds Chantel.

Chef Manikandan Vijayakumar from Chennai-based Chef’s M& N consultants, who have done projects like Secret Stories, has come on board to curate the menu and cocktails. “We have used tropical ingredients like passion fruit and mango infusions and flavours of lavender and betel-leaves to name a few,” he explains as we try the Kulukki Sherbet, a vodka-based cocktail (garnished with soaked sabsa seeds, split green chilli and lime).

While the orange-and-cranberry based drink called Pink Swan, inspired by the classic cosmopolitan cocktail, served in swan-shaped glass adds to the experience, for the Fiery Cactus, a spicy tequila drink, the garnish is the glass itself, shaped like cactus. “Our Pan Asian food has flavours of Thai, Indonesian. So, you will find a rendang curry and a dimsum made with lotus stem flour. We also use Korean gochujang sauce for its pungent aroma in slider buns,” says Manikandan as more food appears on the table.

We try one of his signature dishes, the mutton kola urundai wrapped in a crispy kunafa and served with honey-chilli sauce where a crisp exterior gives way to a melt-in-the-mouth minced meat. Among starters, there is also gongura chicken fritters where crisp chicken breasts are served with chilli mayo and brocauli vepudu, a combination of cauliflower and broccoli fried and tossed in Andhra spices and served with peanut butter. But the clear winner is Michael Jackson podi idlis made with charcoal-infused batter and served with masala cheese sauce.