Restaurants

KoKo's pan-Latin menu is at its best when it's all over the map.

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Shrimp and grits is Carolina low-country cooking — not technically Creole but close in spirit — so I was disappointed that KoKo's version was merely mediocre, with bland shrimp and "grits" that were far too solid, more like polenta. In contrast, the fried chicken was terrific, with crisp, crunchy buttermilk-battered skin and exceptionally tender, juicy meat.

The fried chicken was served with mashed potatoes. Not really a pairing you can dispute. But mashed potatoes also accompanied the pot roast and the "Beef and Beef." According to the menu, unless otherwise noted, every entrée comes with the chef's choice of a starch and a vegetable. On my first visit, the vegetable was grilled asparagus (the fattest stalks I've ever seen). On my second, the vegetable was limp, flavorless broccoli.

That got me thinking about St. Louis' other two pan-Latin restaurants, Mirasol and Wapango. KoKo is closer in size to Mirasol — you could fit a dozen KoKos inside Wapango — but menu-wise Wapango is the more apt comparison. Entrées there more or less follow the usual meat-starch-and-vegetable format, but you're likely to have quinoa or potatoes whipped with yucca root or even just rice and black beans. You're immersed in the cuisine, not just introduced to it.

Which is why KoKo's asopao was such a success. Not only was it very good — it was a discovery. And while I like mashed potatoes as much as the next red-blooded American, I can't help but wonder, in a category of cuisines as vast and varied as Latin American — not to mention Creole — what else is waiting to be discovered.

Have a suggestion for a restaurant the Riverfront Times should review? E-mail ian.froeb@riverfronttimes.com.