Koko Ni

Explorative foodies - this one is for you. We had dinner at Koko Ni this weekend and had a ten-course, farm driven omakase tasting menu inspired by Japanese & French dishes.

We arrived at Koko Ni and were seated in the main dining room. The restaurant was a small, intimate dining space with white brick and an open-style kitchen. A note to bring a jacket when you dine at Koko Ni (just in case)! The heating system was broken during our visit so it was so cold in there; I was happy I had my coat.

Koko Ni’s main dining room & tasting bar

Our server, AnnaBelle was a doll and made sure we had everything we needed during our meal.

Spoiler alert! The fun of eating at Koko Ni is that you don’t know what the ten-course tasting will be. I’m about to run through their current tasting and what we had so don’t keep reading if you want to be surprised when you go (and if you plan to go soon). The ten-course menu is written daily, based on local ingredient seasonality and availability so Koko Ni’s dishes are ever changing.

Our first course was Sunchoke and Caviar made with golden Kaluga caviar, sunchoke chips and sunchoke cream.

The dollop of golden Kaluga caviar was buttery in flavor with a subtle earthy undertone. The sunchoke chips were delicately thin with a mild salty taste. The sunchoke cream was silky and had nice contrast against the crisp sunchoke chips. Combine all three of those together and this made for a strong starter.

Our second course was Celtuce made with wolfe point oyster, celtuce, chile patise and crispy lamb.

The wolfe point oyster sat atop the celtuce in the oyster shell. The celtuce was a thin vegetable sheet, green in color with a snappy texture. The cucumber-esque flavor of the celtuce helped temper the very sea-like taste of the oyster.

Our third course was Tempura made with sprouting cauliflower and cauliflower cream.

The cauliflower was deep fried until golden brown and had a nice crunchy exterior & tender interior.

Our fourth course was Mark’s Bouquet made with mokum carrot leche de tigre, castle-franco chicory, trevisa, purple butterfly sorrel and sourdough.

Mark’s Bouquet was beautiful in presentation and was characterized by an earthy bitterness in flavor.

Our fifth course was was Sashimi made with day boat scallop, tomato ponzu and ice lettuce.

The sweet & meaty day boat scallop was delicious. The dash of tomato ponzu lent a lovely citrusy burst to the sashimi.

Our sixth course was Toohey’s Tomatoes made with bluefin tuna, heirloom tomatoes, beet shrub and wrinkle crinkle cress.

The locally sourced heirloom tomatoes were juicy and full of citrus & salt nuances that only fresh tomatoes can offer.

Our seventh course was Desert Fish made with barramundi, fumet, aged beef fat salsa verde, sour cabbage and pine nuts.

The barramundi fish was mellow in taste with hints of butter. It paired exceptionally well with the aged beef fat salsa verde as the fish wasn't competing to be the prominent flavor in the dish. The barramundi's smoothness against the crunch of the pine nuts was a nice variation in texture.

Our eighth course course was Oxtail made with petite oxtail, puntarelle chicory, xo and jimmy nardello agrodolce.

The oxtail had a deep, rich beef flavor that was enhanced by the xo sauce. The oxtail was incredibly tender with a melty, silky texture.

Our ninth course was Tom Kha made with Jonah crab, charred eggplant tortellini and bronze fennel.

The Tom Kha curry was bursting with aromatic flavors of rich, creamy coconut-infused broth. The handmade eggplant tortellini were tender, savory and paired beautifully with the sweet jonah crab. This was our favorite dish of the night.

Our tenth course was Pear made with panna cotta, bitter caramel and matcha streusel.

Thank you to Koko Ni, AnnaBelle, Amy Verbout and Public Content for hosting us!

Check it out babes & let them know that denv.her. sent you! xx

Koko Ni

Service options: Dine-in · No delivery
Address: 1441 26th St, Denver, CO 80205
Reservations: exploretock.com, opentable.com