I've already visited Cozmo before, this trendy cosmopolitan restaurant located in the middle of Zaitunay Bay. On my last visit there, I tried their pizzas and other items on the menu, but this time round, I was planning on trying their sushi, especially that my friend Pedro and I were craving for some. In all cases we didn't have too much choice as Cozmo is the only available restaurant that serves sushi on the bay.
Before starting my review, allow me to mention something regarding Boubess's restaurants. I went to Kaiten, a sushi place in Hamra last month, I just tried Scoozi today and now Cozmo. Not one of places serve the same quality. Each place has its ups and downs as if the restaurants are owned by different companies. The pizza with the same group differs drastically between Mandarine, Cafe Hamra and Napolitana.
Anyway, we sat and ordered a wide selection of sushi as well as one single appetizer, the shrimps tempura. Menu includes clarifications on certain foods that are too spicy, healthy, specialty, what contains nuts or seeds – being extra careful for the more sensitive customer.
As you walk into the restaurant, you are welcomed by various details that keep you reading and analyzing before you actually sit down on your table. The colors of the bar, the writings, the lamps and the design chairs perfectly fit among the fresh white brick walls automatically puts you in a soothing mood.
The place is interesting with its funky decoration and relaxing spirit. It's a mix of casual dining, hip-hop diner and sushi fast food. Neon lights, concrete flooring, green walls and metallic structures make you spend time understanding and discovering a detail after the other.
Shrimps tempura, to start with were not the freshest out there. A combination of five shrimps battered and fried, served with cocktail sauce and guacamole dip. The fried tempura layer is too thick and tasted of too much flour and oil while the guacamole had an overdose of onions.
The sushi on another hand were the smallest I've ever seen in my life. Tiny bites of tasteless Japanese rolls made from sticky rice. Pedro, looked at me in confusion. He was wondering why I stopped eating. I think that I've had enough of unneeded calories for the night.
A simple example is their red tuna... Juicy red tuna, I say juciy sarcastically here because it felt like a bite of a piece of sponge soaked in water. These are a big no especially that is not justified.
There's clearly a a kind of "laisser aller" felt in here. The staff was too clumsy, the plates used were all broken, the salt and pepper mills are copies of the famous Peugeot design and the menus look too old.
As the only Sushi restaurant on the bay and since Boubess group proved with Kaiten that they have a the know how in Japanese cuisine, the food should be better, much better, especially for the price we paid.
We paid 117$ but left unsatisfied satisfied.
