It’s strange how lethargic I’ve felt in the last few days. Yuye and I packed on Sunday, all ready to take a flight to China last Monday night but plans changed yet again and we’re now scheduled to head to the airport in less than 3 hours. When I found out I couldn’t leave Monday night, it was as though my mind and soul just wasn’t with me anymore. It had floated to a freezing distant land where I could have been and it had stayed there until now. So I apologise for my lack of posting in the last few days, my brain just didn’t want to function.
This would be the last post I write before I head off so I apologise in advance for not being able to post comments on my dear readers’ blogs. As I mentioned in previous posts, Blogger AND WordPress are blocked behind the great firewall of China. I believe self hosted blogs are still accessible so my access would be limited to those. Thankfully I had moved my blog over. Very thankful indeed.
The one thing I’m really going to miss is my coffees and poached eggs. I wouldn’t dare to try uncooked eggs in China for obvious hygiene reasons and coffees there are so expensive you’d think they added gold to it or something, not to mention they don’t taste great either. Whenever I go to China, I’m reminded just how lucky I am and we all are for being in a land where great coffees are in abundance.
A few weeks ago, I met up with my best friend Winnie for dinner in Glen Waverley. As it was a boiling hot day and we both had late lunches, our appetites just weren’t the best. Instead of our usual big meals, we opted for a healthier and lighter choice at Coco Lounge. Unfortunately the only thing available that matched our criteria was a special of the day entree – sesame seed & cracked pepper crusted tuna served on a cucumber & tomato salad finished with an elderberry dressing for $12.90. This meant that I could only take photos of one dish.
I can tell you though that it was quite an eventful dish, not in terms of ingredients but rather, the dust on the plate. I didn’t even notice the thick layer of dust surrounding both our tuna dishes until Winnie pointed it out. When we called the waitress over, she was shocked and embarrassed and immediately served us new dishes each. It was nice and fast service which really made it all ok. Although I do wonder how the dust came about. It looked like the plates haven’t been used for a long time.
The tuna was tasty and well cooked. Still slightly pink in the middle, the flesh was tender and not dry which tend to happen with cooked tuna, or any fish really. The sauce was sweet and went well with the tuna and salad, although I preferred to put on a lot of lemon juice to give it more acidity which I thought was needed.
The salad was fresh and vibrant. I liked how they gave us a lot of cherry tomatoes, they’re my favourite.
If you look closely at the bottom right corner of the plate, you can actually see the dust particles there. I forgot to take a photo of the ‘clean’ plate when it came up.
I was going to order a coffee but due to the heat, I thought a cold drink would have gone down better so I went with an iced chocolate instead. It was a very beautiful and creamy iced chocolate with just the right amount of chocolate sauce to make it sweet. I’m glad I made that choice. Please excuse the big trickle of melted ice cream down the side of the glass, I was taking too long with the photos and the weather wasn’t on my side.
Winnie ordered a watermelon juice which she said was just as expected. It was not a mocktail so had no other ingredients except fresh watermelon juice. I would have preferred it with mint to give it a slight twist and summery feel.
Time really slips away from us when we’re enjoying good company. We went through quite a few glasses of water and Winnie then ordered another latte to make sitting there a bit more legitimate. I didn’t try her coffee so I can’t comment on the taste but I didn’t think it was the prettiest coffee ever.
This review is probably not that comprehensive since we only ordered 1 thing from the menu but I know I will definitely return here because of the close proximity to home and well, the service and food wasn’t at all bad. It’s a nice little cafe to hang out and catch up with friends.
I’m going to have to say goodbye to Twitter and Facebook so no more updating about new posts there! Please come back and read my blog every now and then because I will have updates here. Also follow my Instagram, my username is ichigoshortcake as I will be updating Instagram with interesting and delicious things during the trip. 
Question time: Have you ever been not happy with an element of your meal but the service was so good that it made you forget all about it?
Coco Lounge
Phone: (03) 9560 9705
93 Kingsway, Glen Waverley VIC 3150
cocolounge.com.au
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{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Dust on a plate! Hmm that’s kind of rare isn’t it? Unless they used all the dishes that they normally used and reached on another stack of plates that haven’t been used…well whatever it was, I would easily forget if the waitress took care of it with decent manner. Mistakes could happens. Love looking at pictures Jenny. Take good care in China. I’ll stop by your blog. I don’t use instagram but hopefully I look forward to your posts!
I agree, dust on a plate is a first time occurrence for me, but thankfully we found out before we ate anything.
I’m in Beijing right now so thankfully I’m able to access my site! Yay! I was a bit worried that it wouldn’t work. Although it’s not easy to get on the internet at the house I’m staying in – no wireless.
Hopefully I can still blog a bit. 
I’m so glad you will be posting in China but no pressure if you can’t be bothered
Have a good trip and safe flight!
That tuna looks really nice. Shame about the plates, but least they fixed it for you. Once I went to lunch with my friend and she found a hair in her meal and when we alerted the waiter, he just took the hair out!! Gross.
I hope I can be bothered
I have quite a lot of backlog lines up and plus new photos to share! But I’ve done this before…in fact, last year this time, I also promised myself I’d post a lot but I really didn’t. Hope this time is better. 
I can’t visit your site!!! 
Sad. I will comment lots when I get to Japan which doesn’t ban Blogger. 
EWWW about the hair!! I can’t believe they’d just do that! At least take it to the kitchen and then remove it.
Not somewhere I’d visit again for sure.
I’m still shaking my head at the dust on the plate. Good that the service made up for the oops.
I hope you find everything in China okay. Good luck.
I was shaking my head a lot too when I saw the dust.
Thanks!
China’s ok so far. Just a bit cold and internet’s not too good. 
Have a great time in China and we look forward to reading all about it when you get back!
Thanks Lorraine! I certainly will.
It’s a shame most restaurants here don’t let me take photos so hopefully I’ll still have plenty to blog about when I get back.
Have a wonderful time in China
And i know exactly what you mean about missing the coffee and poached eggs! I’m having those withdrawal symptoms here in Hong Kong too hehe ~
I’ve tried Coco Lounge before and really liked it, but Mr Bao and I have a soft spot for Mocha Joe’s hehe
Thanks Daisy! I’m already missing my coffees actually. I went to dinner with my parents last night and ordered one but my silly dad drank it thinking I ordered it for him!! There goes my last coffee. Hopefully I can get something decent here, but they’re just so expensive.
At least 40RMB for one, which equates to around $7-8! Back home that would have to be a hell of a coffee.
I quite like Mocha Jo’s too, Glen Waverley’s actually not too bad for a meal.
Enjoy your time in China. Shame about the dusty plates because the dish looks incredible the way it’s been plated.
Thanks, I will!
I know it was a shame, but I still enjoyed the food when I finally got to eat it. 
Safe flight! Service makes such, such a difference, either good or bad. It’s been years since I had an Iced Chocolate!
Thanks Hannah.
It definitely does, the bad ones especially stays in my mind and can really affect how delicious the food is. You should have iced chocolates once in a while, especially when it’s hot 
, goes down quite well. 
Dust to that degree is a little shocking but it is the way any complaint is handled which is the difference between a positive experience and a very negative one. I have had things go wrong with meals and it has still ended up being fantastic.
It is hard to believe that China is still so repressive. We have a student staying with us and she can’t even have a normal facebook account!
Have a good trip and look after yourself, we will all be here when you get back
Yes I agree, I found an ant in my dessert at this restaurant once, but I still loved the meal.
I certainly had to say goodbye to Facebook when I arrived in China, it’s quite sad really.
I sure will thanks!
One day, I’ll be brave enough to visit China… I just don’t think I could survive there with my zero Mandarin and anal hygiene ways… ONE DAY!!!
I think zero Mandarin is fine, but the anal hygiene I’m not so sure about
The toilets here are SHOCKING to say the least and the food…well…lets just say you should take some digestion pills. 
I go to China every year and I still get very sick sometimes. With that said, it’s fun and definitely worth coming to. 
Safe travelling! I agree, service really is the differentiator when it comes to your experience as I think most of can come to terms with not everything going perfectly but the way it is handled when dining out makes all the difference to your experience,
Thanks Anna! I totally think so. There’s been many incidents where service is the thing that let down the meal as well, even though the food was not bad. I guess eating food is all about the ‘experience’ of it all.
Everything looks so drool-worthy!! Have fun travelling
I am having fun! It’s just very cold and makes me lose energy quickly. So I have to go out in short bursts and take lots of rest in between.