I'm so glad my friends agreed to come to have dinner at Coda after watching Comedy of Errors at the Athenaeum Theatre. Coda has been on my list of places to eat for ages and finally, fate has brought us together.
I've read some reviews that food here is mediocre, service is slow (and sometimes left some confused people who actually have booked tables) and noisy. When I walked in, I was surprised to experience a relaxed and spacious atmosphere, though Coda is located at the basement. I absolutely loved the fishnet lightings, which made it Asian, rustic and dramatic. There's something almost trashy but still classy about the whole setup.
If you're a fan of prawns, you have to try the Sugar Cane prawn with sweet chilli sauce. It's balls of minced, flavoursome prawn meat with a sugar cane stuck into it like a lollipop. The crunchy texture outside reminded me of fried vermicelli and of course, you cannot have this without the sweet chilli sauce. The prawn balls by themselves were tasty.
I had the Hervey Bay scallop, pearl tapioca and Yarra valley salmon caviar. I loved this one. It actually has melted cheese on the bottom which is kind of like gratinated scallop with salmon roe. Combination-wise, it's very subtle which is perfect because you want to taste the sweetness of the scallop.
Buffalo mozzarella, zucchini fritters, mint and pea salad. This dish has everything that I love on a plate. Fresh mozzarella pieces, zucchini fritters and the freshness of mint and peas. Having recently discovered the convenience of frozen peas, it is fast becoming my favorite vegetable. But of course, the peas used here are so busting with sweetness, they remind me of sweet corn. The dish is simply drizzled with olive oil. You can't go wrong with this one. 
Salted cod fritters is WY's dish of choice and surprisingly, the salted cod tasted like crabmeat! It's a must-try as well if you like the texture of crabmeat. Flavour-wise, I'm not too crazy about it, I think it lacks something that I can't put my finger into.
Main dish is Sizzling plate of beef, roasted chilli, kingbrown mushrooms, wing beans and thai basil with rice on the side. It reminded me of a hot Asian kitchen that is so steamy with aromatic soy-based flavors and it made me drool with delight. On the other hand, it also reminded me of food courts in Manila that serve beef steaks on sizzling hot plates overloaded with gravy sauce and garlic-flavoured rice. In short, it reminded me of home.
I had the best soufflé hands-down at Vue de Monde. So I know I got to try Coda's soufflé of the day: Apricot with orange ice cream and gingerbread. The verdict? I have to say it's at par with Vue de Monde's. The apricot taste is just bursting inside my mouth and so clean tasting, I was in soufflé heaven. WY also raved about her dessert which consisted of black sesame ice cream with banana fritters. She loved the ice cream so much that she literally wiped her plate clean! Way to go! =)
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