Coco's Bistro in Dayton, OH

First off, I would like to apologize for the poor quality of photos in this post. As usual, I'm only using my iPhone, but the restaurant had some dark mood lighting (which was romantic), but it didn't bode well for my food photos. I did some basic editing so I hope I didn't destroy the pictures too much.

Coco's is by far one of the best restaurants in Dayton. They have recently relocated to a bigger restaurant and I love the romantic atmosphere. The entire place is unique with cheetah carpet and beautiful art. Matt and I decided to go out to a nice dinner to celebrate his birthday and there was no question that we were going to Coco's.

We started off with cocktails. I had a delicious Peach Raspberry Bellini with blueberry rooibos syrup. It was definitely fruity, but not too sweet. 

Peach Raspberry Bellini

I was a little skeptical on this appetizer. When I heard Chocolate Cherry scallops, it sounded like dessert and not anything to do with seafood. Our waitress recommended it so we decided to try it. I'm so glad we did. The scallops were dusted with ancho cocoa and came with a dark cherry chutney (the top right of the picture) as well as fried poblano peppers. The peppers contributed to a bit of heat that balanced the cherry flavors. There wasn't too much of a chocolate-y taste, but the cocoa did give a great depth of flavor. It was very unique and I would definitely get it again.

For dinner I had the Duck Confit. As already mentioned, I have a passionate love affair with duck confit. I love the buttery and tender dish and Coco's makes it very unique. The duck is brown sugar cured and is served with toasted pecan wild rice with a spiced cider glaze. The veggies were covered in sweet potato cream. Absolutely incredible harmony of flavors.

Duck confit! (my fave)

For dessert Matt and I shared a chocolate torte with homemade ice cream. The torte was pretty basic, but the homemade ice cream definitely makes the dish.

Karen's Chocolate Torte

I love this place so much my family has rented out there party room for graduation. I'm excited to celebrate with family and friends there next May.

Other great dishes from past meals there:

• Shrimp Scampi Ravioli
• Cider Braised Short Ribs with red wine gravy
• Blackened Ribeye with caramelized shallot-bleu cheese butter and spicy onion straws