Restaurant Review: Rococo (I love it, but I have complaints)

One of my favorite restaurants in Oklahoma City, is Rococo Restaurant and Fine Wine.

I’ve done a review of their brunch before, but I’ve been waiting to do a review of their full menu and now’s the time.

I recently won a $25 gift card to the establishment for commenting on one of my favorite local restaurant blogs – Eat Around OKC - be sure to check them out if you’re ever looking for advice for a great place to eat.

I grabbed the SIL and we headed to Rococo for a lunch date.

Speaking of date, I’d say Rococo is one of the top date-worthy restaurants in OKC. So, if you’re looking for a hot spot to take someone you’re trying to impress. Go here.

The food is really good, the lighting is dim and the choice of booze is excellent (for if the lighting isn’t quite dim enough…). Those three things are enough to get even me to go on a date, and I hate dating.

Anyways, since our lunch date was on a Friday and we were feeling the arduous effects of a long work week, the SIL and I imbibed.

She had a glass of Alamos Malbec (one of my favorite wines) and I had a draft Coop Native Amber. (No pictures because we happened to go on the day before the crappy illness I’ve since been battling first reared it’s ugly head and I was in self-pity mode.)

Major points to Rococo for having a sophisticated wine list and local beer on tap. Those things are hard to find.

We started with one of Rococo’s most famous menu items – a cookie appetizer.

No, that doesn’t mean we had dessert before our meal. Cookies are basically different genius variations of bruschetta with all sorts of yummy toppings.

We chose the one topped with blue cheese, toasted garlic slivers, and asiago cheese.

I don’t like blue cheese, but I could have eaten about 20 of these little guys. The garlic and asiago balanced out the pungent flavor of the blue cheese, and I mean, when is bread and cheese not good?

I’ve also had the privilege of trying the Gangster cookie (on one of those pesky dates mentioned above), which is Italian sausage and sweet onions with pomodoro and parmesan. To die for.

Moral of this story? The cookies at Rococo rock.

Rococo does a lot of things well.

Lobster? I’ve heard it’s to die for.

Pasta? Pretty much the reason for going.

The fish and steak options are supposed to be wonderful as well.

However, I have to be the bearer of bad news here. There are some things that Rococo could improve.

The first – salad. For one thing, they don’t have a lot of salad options, but more importantly when both the SIL and I ordered salads on our lunch date – neither was very good.

I got the Rococo Little Salad.

The thing is, it was probably our own fault. When you’re going to a restaurant with an acclaimed chef like Bruce Rinehart, you don’t order a salad.

However, if you are an acclaimed chef with an acclaimed restaurant I argue that every single menu item should be delectable, salads included. But perhaps I’m just a tough audience.

Another gripe would be the coffee at Rococo. It’s bad. Real bad. Almost undrinkable.

This… is not acceptable. Coffee is not hard. I make coffee that tastes better than the coffee at Rococo.

Luckily, I can be consoled with a cold beer. Other people may not be so forgiving.

So, Rococo, please learn how to make better coffee. Your patrons will thank you.

My last and final complaint would be the service. While not bad, it’s also not good. When the SIL and I went for our lunch date, I had to have my entree (a turkey burger that was just okay) boxed up so I wouldn’t be fired for taking a two-hour lunch.

You should be able to walk into a restaurant, sit down at the bar, and get in and out in under an hour. I don’t think that’s asking too much.

Now, you may be wondering why I like this restaurant so much if I have so many not-so-great things to say about it.

The thing is that the good at Rococo far outweighs the bad, and our city needs more places like Rococo where culinary genius reigns supreme.

As Oklahoma City restaurant enthusiasts we need to be honest about what works and doesn’t work at places like this, so that they’ll stay in business and more businesses of a similar nature can exist.

So, I’ve said my piece, and I can’t wait until the next time I eat at Rococo. If you’ve not been there, I highly suggest you go.

Order a cookie and a glass of wine and be happy. Then thank me for the recommendation.

Enjoy the weekend all!