Cock-A-Hoop

By Katherine Macalister Hang on a second, the car park outside the square landmark building in Nuneham Courtenay is packed with cars.

And the premises has a new sign discreetly beckoning diners to Cockadoo Bar and Restaurant.

As the door opens a wonderful waft of oriental food greets you alongside a tinkling of piano music.

Tainted with the brush of years of failure, the hundreds of residents and commuters who pass this site everyday had given up on life being breathed back into this former restaurant/ pub/diner, depending on which reincarnation you remember.

But, despite years of neglect, Cockadoo’s new reputation is spreading quicker than swine flu in the two months since it’s been open.

And who is the magician behind this total transformation?

Allan Yeung bought the restaurant on the cusp of the recession, bringing a lifetime’s experience in the hospitality industry, a flair for decor and a meticulous attention to detail, service and flavours, to the 100+ seater eaterie.

And judging by the other customers’ reactions, Allan’s got it just right. “We’ve had a fantastic meal,” one man told me conversationally, “so we’re getting a taxi home and making the most of it.”

“We’re from Didcot,” another woman told me, “but we heard about Cockadoo from friends so made an occasion out of tonight and brought the whole family, and it was all fabulous.”

I can see why they were impressed.

The place has been gutted and painstakingly restyled to provide the perfect backdrop to a Pan-Asian menu, or as Allan prefers to call it Oriental fine dining.

Think opulent and you won’t be disappointed, and the food will take your breath away because Cockadoo is a notch above everywhere else. The service is immaculate and unobtrusive and the menu alone stops you in your tracks. So choosing from the wonderful array of unusual and tempting dishes was even harder than my son’s algebra homework.

We opted for the crispy aromatic duck served with cucumber, spring onion, plum sauce & pancakes £8.80 (quarter), a great benchmark for any oriental restaurant, and the vegetarian mixed starter which came on a huge ornate tray, each titbit light years away from the party pack version you find in supermarkets at this time of year. It included little hand-made parcels of spring roll, corn cake, golden bag, crispy seaweed, salt & chilli tofu, vegetable satay & baked garlic with sweet soya sauce for a bargain £7.50 per person.

Fighting over the crispy duck, we then made room for Mongolian Lamb Fried with Garlic, Coriander, Dried Chilli, Shallot & Spring Onion (£8.50), the crispy shredded beef (£8.80), the Chilean seabass (£16) and a mixed vegetable & crispy tofu salad with Szechuan dressing (£5.95).

And yet it was the main courses that drew the biggest gasps of admiration. The seabass came wrapped in a lotus leaf with red dates and shitake enoki mushrooms steamed in a bamboo basket, which when opened revealed beautifully moist and fragrant fish. And the lamb almost caused a fight, such was the frenzy to try it.

As my friend commented: “I could come back, order just that and eat it with a spoon.”

And just when we thought things couldn’t get any better, greatly aided by the wonderful Pinot Noir wine, the desserts arrived.

My husband had “the best cheesecake ever” with red wine fruit sauce (just don’t tell his mum), and the ice creams were delectable, think winter classics with a twist.

So all-in-all a fabulous dining experience and like a preacher on a mission, once you visit you can’t stop spreading the word. Allan Yeung has definitely given Nuneham Courtenay a new lease of life, and Cockadoo is going to put it back on the map.