Located off Santa Monica's Main Street, Cobi’s offers pan-Southeast Asian cuisine and natural wines in a cozy, chic setting. Run by the eponymous Cobi Marsh, Cobi's now occupies a space that once housed Dhaba, a longtime area Indian spot. Inside, you'll find a cozy indoor dining room decked out with houseplants, floral wallpaper and antique furniture, plus a lush outdoor patio.
Beyond its en vogue cottagecore aesthetic, however, Cobi’s all-around excellent Pacific Islander and Southeast Asian-inspired dishes set the restaurant apart in a part of town starved for high-quality Asian cuisine beyond high-end sushi. Dry-aged fish in coconut dressing imparts the nuanced island flavors of a Polynesian ’ota ’ika, while the devil(ishly spicy) chicken curry is seasoned with mustard seeds, fish sauce and habanero chili vinegar. The weekend brunch service includes Southeast Asian-inflected delights like kaya French toast, a Vietnamese-inspired scotch egg and Thai-style pork skewers. If you please: Save room for the black sugar boba-topped Thai tea pudding.