By Ricky Tjandra
I’m normally a pizza and burgers guy but when my friend told me to try the best French restaurant this side of Nagoya so I had to try it. When someone challenges me saying it’s the best of anything I’m a sucker for trying it out. That’s what lead me to a little Bistro called Coba. I’ve been here twice for dinner now and most of the time the conversation is geared around how good the food is. We’ll get to that later.
Coba is a very new restaurant that opened up in April 2012. It’s located about a 10 minute walk from Nagoya station. The design of the restaurant is simple, not in a boring simple way, but in a modern simplicity that isn’t cluttered with unnecessary designs and decorations. If you look up you’ll see newspapers covering the ceiling, modern sculptures and paintings carefully placed in the restaurant, and little works of art staring at you. There are a few tables for two, a table in the back set up for bigger parties, but the place to sit is in the counter where you can interact with the couple running the place, Ken and Mayumi Kobayashi. Mayumi, who is a native of Nagoya, speaks great English and is fun to talk too. She’ll chat you up about the restaurant, the food, or just about anything. Ken, the chef, learned his trade at the Yokohama Grand Inter-Continental Hotel for about 3 years. He then went to France for 2 ½ years and Belgium for about half a year.
Telling you that the food here is amazing is an understatement! I was recommended to try the Burgundy Style Escargot Stuffed in Tomato (1400 yen). I had escargot once when visiting France and although the flavor was good it felt like you were eating a snail. The escargot at Coba is a completely different experience. It’s not just the sauce that makes it savory and mouthwatering it’s also the texture. It pleasurably dances in your mouth with a tango of perfect softness and tenderness. That restaurant is the day I can now say I like escargot. The other dishes I tried were the Sirloin Steak served with Fries (2,600 yen) which was cooked just right, Roast Lamb (2,400 yen) with a melange of flavors all orchestrating on your palate, Confit of Guinea Fowl (2,000 yen), another amazing dish that was juicy and appetizing on every bite, and one of my favorite dishes Pan Fried Fois Gras (1,800 yen). The fois gras melts in your mouth with its creamy delicate texture flooding your taste buds with flavors that simultaneously seep and evanesces in your mouth. Amongst the dishes not on the menu at the time but recommended to us were the Minced Lamb with Vegetables Cooked with Red Wine, fresh mussels, and some cheese to go with our red wine. Every dish was a memorable experience that you want to savor and hold on to for a long time. Cleanse each bite down with a great selection of Syrah or other red and white wines to suit your taste. Your palate will thank you for the symphony of rich flavors and wonderful texture mesmerizing your taste buds. Your wallet will also thank you for its reasonable price. For two people including drinks will run you around of 5,000 yen if you just get one dish each. If you want to try a lot of dishes then invite a great group of friends, order different things, have a couple bottles of Syrah, and enjoy! That’s what I did. Then judge for yourself to see if this truly is the best French restaurant you’ll have in Nagoya and beyond!
Find the restaurant on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/bistrotcoba
Address: Nagono 2-25-12, Nishi Ku, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan 4510042 (名古屋市西区那古野2-25-12)
Phone number: 052-551-3178
Hours: Tue-Sun 11:30 – 11:00
