Cafe Coco

I can only speak to the breakfast menu, which was more varied (including gluten-​free options) than most places in the area, and consistently excellent across several trips. Ambience is relaxed, service is good, and they serve breakfast until noon. It’s not cheap, but portions are quite substantial. Highly recommended if you want a comfortable, sit-​down breakfast.

Café Coco exceeds in some areas and really struggles in other, which makes it hard for me to give them a score. The fact that I try to avoid it made me settle on a two in the end. Should you avoid it? Depends if you are noise sensitive. There must be something with the architecture or the walls, but this place gets unbearably loud with just a few people. I will note that I am very noise sensitive and suffer from migraines, so by the end of the meal I am desperate to get out. Noise cancelling headphones help, but make following any conversation hard. Does that make me the exception? Definitively. However I can sit in Nandos just fine without migraines.
Onto the rest: It is ideally located for a nice lunch after a morning of exploring Cowley Road. The presentation is very nice and it is clean. The staff have always been AMAZING and are happy to deal with special requests. The food is run of the mill Bistro, but quite tasty and so are the cocktails — not quite enough though to justify their rather generous prices. Sadly, if you are at all noise sensitive or suffer from migraines, avoid this like the plague. For anyone else it might be worth a second look.

American in
Oxford — what are baps? — who ate
porridge gleefully.
Great for brunch, nice ambience (bistro casual), and I learned what a Bap is (although literally a bread roll, it’s come to mean an egg-​based breakfast sandwich in the UK). I had the Superfood porridge with fruit, which first looked quite small for the price of 6.5 pounds, but turned out to be filling and delicious — I haven’t had anything like it before or since and wish I knew the recipe. I would definitely go back for brunch.

How is this place still in business? It has all the charm of an American chain restaurant, but at twice the price. I know you will say «what about the mannequin in the tub, tho’? Pretty avant garde of them!» Yes, total art school move; almost distracted me from the fact that I am in a jumped-​up Applebees. I went in Friday night to fill an awkward half hour before meeting my friend at a real place, and was glared at by the three ultra-​metrosexual bartenders who mostly preen about and text each other about how dead it is, probably mindful of the old adage, «nothing attracts a crowd like supercilious thespian manques wanking about disdainfully» Anyway, yeah, typically horrible *- contemptuous even — service, which I probably deserved for being a single customer in lieu of two dozen and taking my time to get through the baroque cocktail list. I give it two stars because the elderflower thing was delicious, but if it was liquid ecstasy I wouldn’t be able to justify putting myself through the abuse for a return visit.
*years ago a friend and I went to Tarifa, of the same ownership, ordered a bottle of wine as we chatted in front of the barman about what we wanted to order, then were told they were «out of food» but were welcome to order, and go pick up, takeaway from Coco. We explained that we had chosen Tarifa because we wanted middle eastern, not calzones, so maybe the least they could do was let us get some (much better) middle eastern takeaway from one of the many other cheaper and vastly superior options on Cowley Road, but they were unable to comprehend that their failure to order enough food put the onus on THEM, not us, to at the very least accommodate this very reasonable request. Basically, go to Coco or Tarifa if you are so Engish you believe that as a customer you deserve to be treated with as much disdain as possible.

Once upon a time on a rainy, windy evening in Oxford, the thing no one ever expected in Oxford … happened: restaurants were booked out. In the end we turned up in this café/​restaurant and got stared at by a creepy wax figure of a half naked clown (why? have they not read IT?) sitting in a bathtub, with a mirror in hand, which also had a screaming mouth come out of it at the back. Yes … it’s as creepy as it sounds. Picture attached for proof.
The menu is Italian based, but the portion size were a bit disappointing. Also my pizza tasted mainly of salt, as it had way too much feta cheese on it. The drinks are decent, but nothing to write home too. All in all, a place that you may visit for a quick drink (if you can stand the clown) before going to a nicer place to eat.

I was surprised to see their limited menu, but they agreed to serve me breakfast even though it was after 12 noon. The eggs and chorizo were good, and the cappuccino very good. Service was fine and can’t really complain about anything.

I really like the atmosphere and that you can come on a Saturday night for dinner, drinks or even just to have a coffee and they did do well to accommodate us and the service was friendly and helpful. However having paid a similar price for other meals around Oxford which were far superior I was disappointed in the food, especially the pizzas, which was a shame as I’d chosen this place for a birthday meal. I would go back but perhaps not for dinner.

Une cuisine simple mais très bonne. Des classiques du fastfood revus, revisités et amélirés pour le plus grand plaisir des papilles. Le décor est extra.

A disappointing experience. I hadn’t been to Coco since I had stopped working further up the Cowley Road, and that was a loong while ago, so I decided to try again with a few friends. The place hasn’t changed inside, which is fine, but the food definitely has. Nothing that came to our table was better than average (good pizzas here, what a laugh! Obviously frozen dough…) and mine was positively below average. I asked for a Vegetarian Tian which came with a piece of ciabatta that had been toasted to cinders, totally inedible, even impossible to cut. When I reported it to the waitress she came back a minute later saying that the goat cheese was supposed to be grilled. hey? Who mentioned goat cheese? Anyway, much later the Tian eventually returned and much reduced in size too. It was obvious that the kitchen had removed the piece of cheese that I had cut and simply put the rest on a smaller piece of bread. It was so evident that my fellow diners commented on how it had shrunk in the process. Totally unforgivably poor service. The coffee was good so I give them the extra star for this, the atmosphere is no doubt good, as for the food, forget it.

Ich kann das Café Coco schon ganz gut empfehlen. Es hat eine gute Atmosphäre und ist auch schön ausgestattet. Allerdings haben sie leider ein Problem mit Obstfliegen, die einem immer wieder an der Nase vorbeifliegen, wenn man gerade einen Happen, seines ziemlich teuren Essens, nehmen möchte. Das beste, was man haben sollte ist das English Breakfast, weil dort das Preis– Leistungs– Verhältnis doch noch stimmt.
Alles in allem ist es doch aber ein netter und entspannter Ort um sich mit guten Freunden auf einen Drink treffen kann.

We had coffee one time and a smoothie another time here, so this review doesn’t cover any of the food. But their coffee is great and their smoothie was delicious. Prices are decent, especially for Oxford. I love the décor inside. They’ve got a little lounge area with sofas and small tables and then the actual restaurant. Would definitely go here again.

Some of the best pizza and cocktails in Oxford and a great place to visit after the Clapham Picturehouse. Friendly staff and a fun atmosphere. This is a great place to have dinner and warm up drinks before hitting the bars of Cowley road!

This happens to be one of our favourite restaurants in the area. The décor is appealing to the eye, has a great atmosphere and the staff are always helpful!
They do great cocktails (Mojito’s especially), and are well well priced at around £5.50 a pop. Theres a selection of bottled beers, wine and champagne to be quaffed too.
The menu is well priced, with Pizzas being the main selection, and they are damn tasty! The pizza types are very varied, with some being completely different to the normal run of the mill pizza. Again well priced at around the £7 mark. Theres also a selection of other food types to be had, such as pasta’s, fish and various salads. They had a very good selection of food sorts for vegetarians as well!
For 3 of us, sipping cocktails and having pizza’s to eat, the bill came to £52. Not nad at all, so if you are in the area, pop in and enjoy the atmosphere and sample some tasty food!

Just randomly dropped in here after a cinematic experience at the Ultimate Picturehouse up the road.
Quite an odd décor and statues of naked ladies makes interesting viewing there is also a ice cube system that drops them into a bath with a naked man in it!!!
Anyway having spent 2 days in Oxford this was my last stop before the train home and what a great place, this wd possibly the best spaghetti bolagnaise I have ever had, a lovely rich sauce and perfect pasta and served in about 2 mins from ordering.
Nice cocktails here also and in the pear and cinnamon desert is on the specials board it’s certainly worth a try. I am not sure if this place gets busy but on this Saturday night it seemed quite quiet.
The place may be just out of reach if you are in Oxford hightower street but I would recommend you take the 3 – 4 mind walk, it’s a nice stroll over the rive anyway.
Good value and very tasty food

This may not be the most useful review, since Café Coco seems to be a hip, nighttime hangout and I only went there for a late breakfast once. Nevertheless, perhaps some brunch rover will find this helpful.
Café Coco is a quirky place… I’d definitely say it has character. We snagged a high table near the window, which offers great views of the vibrant Cowley Road. The inside was a little dark, with a pretty hipster atmosphere, but not overwhelmingly so… at least not at brunch. The staff were friendly and we got our food pretty quickly. There’s not much selection for breakfast food… full English, some omelette options, lots of ciabatta bread. We opted for croissants with jam and cups of tea — nothing fancy but tasty and satisfying all the same.
Some of the art in the café borders a little on scary… like the big sculpture of a clown in a bathtub. That I could do without, but hey, how many other cafes have art like that?
The rest of the menu looks pretty good — a variety of pizzas, pasta, salads, burgers, fish… not a bad selection. Also a decent wine selection, and the website advertises a 3.85 pounds deal on cocktails after 10pm. You don’t find too many prices like that around Oxford.
All in all, a pretty cool place. Maybe not entirely my scene, but a chill place to grab a quick breakfast, or apparently a cheap drink late at night.

I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed this yet. I’m not the world’s biggest pizza fan, but even I can’t resist the pizzas here. The prices are reasonable — similar to places like Zizzis, and they taste better in my opinion. Why people still go to places like Dominoes, I do not know! If Café Coco did home delivery, they’d be the pizza kings of Oxford. The most surprisingly part of the yumminesss is actually the pizza base. Normally I see that just as a sort of edible plate for all the good stuff, but here it actually tastes really good in itself. No idea why — you’ll just have to try it for yourself!
I’ve not been here as a bar, but it’s a popular 30-​something or rich student hangout. It’s not cheap, but it’s not unreasonable and would probably make a great evening out combined with a meal there. I agree with what the other reviewers say, though — save your hunger up because the meals are really filling!

Café Coco reliably delivers tasty food and well made drinks, yet the atmosphere is generally very relaxed. Even when they’re busy, you still feel very relaxed rather than hectic — maybe it’s the clown in the claw-​footed tub behind the bar?

Such a unique little place on the Cowley Road (of course!). The décor makes the place stand out with its art deco use of mannequins and even an old foot iron bath. What is better though is the fact that you can eat here for £6 per pizza (an anniversary year offer but it always seems to be their anniversary year!) and the food is generously portioned and topped, so you end up with a fully loaded pizza with plenty of cheese and a full belly!
Perfect place to go for dinner before going for one of the bars on Cowley Road and it won’t break the bank, meal for two for under £20great!

Fabulously located at The Plain end of the Cowley Road in a beautiful conservation area.
The exterior and interior are totally fabulous, and the food and cocktails an absolute delight!
Fantastic pizza bases — made just like you WISH you knew how to make them!
A full menu for a happy stomach!
It is a lovely place to sit and idle away the hours on a sunny afternoon, with beautiful dim lighting and candles in the evening — one of those places you get stuck into conversation in a big way.
There is also a naked man in a bath — don’t let it put you off — he’s just looking after your ice cubes for you!
Enjoy!

Having moved away from oxford 8 months ago Café Coco is the restaurant I miss the most.
Last time I went if you ordered 2 pizzas they were £6 each, so just go with an even number of friends and your fine, or have the Joey special (2 pizza’s).
So much to choose from. I recommend the prawn as they are just delicious! Another favourite is the fried breakfast pizza which comes complete with sausage egg and black pudding! Me and my friends would usually order a load and chop and share because its too hard to order just one.
The also serve burgers and other dishes. I once ventured for a cous cous salad sausage varitety dish, which was delicious but became instantly jealous at my friends’ pizzas.
And yes, to agree with Elliot– the Belgian Waffles are HEAVEN
Go hungry, the pizzas are very filling and you will leave the restaurant upset if you know you left a slice, or a tiny crumb, of their divine pizza.
I’m hungry now. Trip to Oxford anyone?

Situated at the end of cowley rd closest to town, café coco certainly stands out.
From European inspired dishes to pizzas with a difference (the usual cheese and tomato is made with feta cheese and real tomatoes not just paste) there is also the option of creating your own combination if you can’t find anything to suit you. Which is very cool for those who have the taste of a pregnant women! And i know people who do!
Café Coco provides a huge variety of foods for all tastes and a drinks list to match. Cocktails are about a fiver and the wines and beers are the usual. Not too pricey but not the cheapest.
A main course can cost anywhere between £6.50 –16.
The staff are helpful and polite and the place is kept looking clean and fresh. Can be busy in the evenings — even in the week.

I dine here frequently, in fact, i did last night. Located at the bottom of Cowley Rd. Coco’s bar and restaurant combines Art Deco ambience friendly comfortable service. Famed for the pizza’s and north African cuisine, Coco’s is an ideal location for a date, a nice meal, or just a quick drink at their central horseshoe shaped bar.
REVIEW IN ONE LINE: Try the Belgian waffles and try not to convulse with joy.