Have you ever eaten anything so quickly that all of a sudden it’s gone and you barely remember it? Then welcome to my savage world. But sometimes, you receive a dish so beautiful that you don’t even want to touch it. It’s like building an enormous sandcastle and having your jerk cousin immediately come and knock it down, and dammit at this point I could have been a famous architect instead of a broke blogger if I didn’t have the fear of all my other buildings being knocked down but noooooooo you just had to ruin my life and my beautiful sand creation. But enough about my childhood issues – we’re here today to discuss the gorgeous, scrumptious creations made in the kitchen of Coco Asian Bistro in Fort Lauderdale.

Upon walking in to the restaurant, you are immediately struck by the décor. We were seated at a beautiful table that was perfect for a first date with it’s private cabana feel, and I knew that this was going to be something special.

One of our first appetizers was the octopus ceviche. Let me first explain that this menu is insanely hard to choose from because everything looks amazing, so we did NOT take our choices lightly! The dish is made with sliced octopus, ginger, shallot, sesame seed, and served over a thai spicy ceviche salad. I mean, wow. It was more refreshing than a bottle of Pedialyte after a late night of drinking.

There are like, no less than 10,000 sushi rolls on the menu, so making the decision is pretty much a modern day version of Sophie’s Choice. But we went with the Sweet Dream: tuna, hamachi, salmon, imitation crab, avocado, asparagus, masago and scallion wrapped in thin cucumber. For those who want sushi without the heavy rice, it is a perfect choice. It’s hard to eat in one bite, so I wouldn’t recommend it for a first date, especially when you are chopstick challenged like I am. But all the flavors were divine, and I highly recommend this roll.

The Wrapped Wahoo was another dish we could not wait to try, and when it was brought to the table, it was just as beautiful as its description: Seared wahoo, asparagus, avocado, tamago, wrapped in rice paper, spicy ponzu sauce. Although it was a tiny bit awkward to eat, each bite was worth the small drops of orange masago that landed on my shirt (yes, my eating style is just as messy as my apartment). Also another great light choice with TONS of flavor.

I love Asian fare but clearly my biggest concern is that there are never French fries. So when I saw the Samosas were made with sweet pea and potato with curry sauce, I thought, “Good enough!” The dish is served with peanut sauce and cucumber relish, and is a burst of fried goodness flavor. I love that Coco isn’t afraid to explore and add a bit of Indian culture in to their food, and this dish was a huge win for me.

Now for one of the dishes that truly inspired this blog: The Sashimi Moriwase, a menagerie of 15 different, gorgeous pieces of raw fish. When it came out, I wanted to pull a Wayne’s World and fall to ground yelling, “We’re not worthy!” Not only is it insanely, jaw-dropping gorgeous, but the fish is so fresh and delicious. Everyone needs something this stunning at least once in their lifetime. In fact, I think Kelly Clarkson wrote a song about it called “Moment Like This.” Seriously. Look it up.

Ever gotten a dish that your first instinct was that you HAD to play with your food??

Yeah, well this happened. (BTW hat is from Lord & Taylor and the top is by Out From Under which is sold through Urban Outfitters)

Fun as it was, the Lobster Fried Rice was ten million times more tasty. 6oz Maine Lobster tail, large shrimp, egg, white rice, tomato, garlic, cashew nut, onion, carrot, pineapple, and raisin – this dish is a burst of flavor that could solve world peace. Between the presentation and the flavor, this is the Beyonce of the menu. Perfection.

Chilean Sea Bass is hands down my favorite fish, so of course it was a must. It’s pan-fried and served with red curry sauce, asparagus, portabella mushroom, and topped with a roasted pineapple ring. The fish was light and flaky, just how it is meant to be, and the flavors are more intense than a Real Housewives reunion.

Between the ambiance of the restaurant, the well thought-out presentation of each dish that invokes a wow factor, and of course, the incredibly yummy taste of each bite, I was blown away by Coco. This beauty definitely went beastmode on the food there and with good reason!

***I received complimentary noms in exchange for this post, however, you cannot bribe me with food, so all opinions are my own.