Cucurucu is a café that does coconut water drinks. You’ve heard of juice bars, right? Well, this is a coconut water bar.
It’s located in the space formerly housing Bloom on Tongren Lu in a beautifully designed space. The indoor seating feels more like a bar counter at an Apple store than at a café; it’s comfortable but not cozy. The outdoor space is where its at, which is also dog-friendly.
On the menu are a multitude of coconut-based drinks, all non-alcoholic. The concept follows the health trend surrounding coconut water for its naturally sweet, mineral rich properties. The drinks are a combination of coconut water, coconut milk, milk, nut and oat milks, teas, and fruit, made with no added sugar or sweeteners.
They’re all tasty and enjoyable. Some of the flavors are quite unusual, but most play to favorites like the hot almonds and coconut milk with crushed oats and salted frothy coconut cream. It could be a breakfast drink. Plus, I’d choose these concoctions over questionably sweet milk teas any day. Drinks range from ¥29 to ¥36, hot or cold.
I really enjoyed the almonds and coconut, but also the Jasmine Tea (¥32) with coconut water, salted coconut milk foam, and wheatgrass jelly, and the Black Sesame (¥32), made with black sesame paste, walnuts, coconut milk, fresh milk, shaved oat milk snow.
Cucurucu also has some open-faced sandwiches as snacks, the base of which are made with 大饼 (dabing), hardy and savory fried breads. The sandwiches are tasty but small, you’d need to order two for it to be a “meal”.
The pork “cold cuts” is my favorite, doused in spicy chili crisp with cilantro, arugula, horseradish, and mayonnaise.
Cucurucu is good for a quick pop-in. It would have been an excellent working café, but power outlets are scarce. Plus, it can get crowded—it’s popular with wanghongs. If you live or work in the area, it’s a nice option to have for “healthy-ish” drinks.
Coconut water has always been popular, but is this the start of a new trend? There’s Cococean, which first opened in Beijing in 2017 and now has multiple stores in Shanghai. Later this year, we’re also getting Coco Crew, a new concept from the Bottega group, which will do alcoholic and non-alcoholic coconut beverages. Time will only tell if this will catch on.
Cucurucu
Address: 88 Tongren Lu, near Yan’an Zhong Lu 同仁路88号, 近延安中路
Tel: 13816681634
Hours: Daily, 11am-9pm
