The details
Kokum is Manjunath Mural and Sridhar Penumechu’s second Southeast Queensland venue, having opened Heritij at Brisbane Quarter in September this year, in partnership with Brisbane hospitality identity Nick Pinn. Much like its Brisbane sibling, Kokum’s hero is chef Mural’s culinary cachet, delivering a refined menu that carefully and respectfully blends traditional Indian flavours and methods with modern Australian elements and localised ingredients. Chef Mural’s vision to take Indian cuisine to entirely new levels saw him awarded one Michelin star in 2016, 2017 and again in 2018, as executive chef of Singapore restaurant The Song of India. Now, it’s the Gold Coast’s turn to experience his acclaimed boundary-pushing gastronomy.

The space
Kokum has taken over the waterfront premises that formerly housed Vie Bar + Restaurant, which is located on the outskirts of luxury hotel Palazzo Versace and overlooks Marina Mirage and the Broadwater. Surrounded by boats and super yachts, Kokum boasts a sophisticated indoor-outdoor vibe, seating 80 diners and a further 40 across the bar and lounge. There’s a 14-seat private dining room and a 16-seat semi-private space, as well an eye-catching brass-trimmed bar displaying an extensive batch of bottled spirits and wines. While chef Mural’s Michelin-starred prowess is the key, Kokum’s enviable waterfront locale and sun-kissed outdoor lounge area sees it effortlessly double as an afternoon cocktail-sipping destination.

The food
While a portion of the menu crosses over with Heritij, chef Mural’s ethos of creating dishes with provenance ensures Kokum holds its own identity, with its offering curated to shine the light on local farms and producers within a 100-km radius. While chef Mural will oversee both venues, the Kokum kitchen team will be led by head chef Sabir Merchant, who has introduced a number of native ingredients like saltbush, pepper berries and Kakadu plum into the restaurant’s captivating and constantly evolving menu. Elements like fresh oysters, local pork belly and grilled market fish – which you wouldn’t normally see in an Indian restaurant – are featured across the menu, and are creatively suffused with authentic flavours to uphold the origins and techniques of traditional Indian cookery. Chef Mural’s awarded Asian influence triggers further intrigue, seen in dishes like the grilled chilli paneer with Singapore noodles, the rendang lamb mince and the sambal barramundi with turmeric yoghurt. One of the signatures is Murgh Musallam, a somewhat-forgotten traditional dish that is effectively an Indian version of roast chicken – it’s stuffed with lamb mince, quail eggs and a 21-ingredient Kashmiri sauce, served to share in the same ceramic pot that it’s slow cooked in. You’ll still find go-to favourites like flaky naan bread (definitely add Emmental cheese fondue on the side), beef samosas and a small selection of curries on offer, as well as intricately plated sweets like a saffron cheesecake log with pistachio crumb, and garam pudding with beetroot and dried figs.

The opening hours, location and contact details for Kokum by Chef Mural can be found in our Stumble Guide.