February 20, 2010: Coco Loco II

Update 31/12/2014: Coco Loco has changed its name to Papasito and its emphasis to Mexican food. It's still run by the same owner and still has a decent range of vegan options.

Michael and I spent Saturday afternoon at the Applecore Backyard Festival with some friends. The relaxed atmosphere and discovery of some great unfamiliar bands were obvious highlights, but we were also pretty chuffed that we avoided sunburn entirely thanks to some huge, cheap Big W hats. Even so, we were a little drained as evening fell and in need of some sustenance before heading home. We'd spent the day grazing on vege sausages-in-bread and BBQ shapes and had very different ideas about what we needed to eat next. While Michael and Mike originally suggested pizza, Toby was keen on Coco Loco, and since I was fighting from the Sweet Stuff corner I readily agreed with Toby.

Toby assured us that Coco Loco sells savoury crepes and this is true. However this restaurant's love of sweet luxuries is written and illustrated all over the menu. There are pages and pages of chocolate truffles, cocktails, hot and iced chocolate and coffee beverages (liquor-shot by request!), waffles and other desserts competing against a modest offering of 4 savoury crepes. (Even one of those contains chocolate!) Our incredibly cheerful waiter also rattled off a handful of additional specials, his enthusiasm not diminishing as he repeated them for our late-coming companions Mike and Kristy.

It wasn't in vain - I took him up on the drinks special, a mocktail involving hibiscus, ginger, vanilla, pineapple and coconut (~$13). It was just the refreshment I needed, with a nice gentle ginger burn in the back of the throat.

Michael chose the Kama Sutra crepe ($15), which was stuffed with Indian spiced roasted pumpkin and fetta cheese. It was richly flavoured with cumin and went down a treat.

To eat I chose yet another dish from the specials - a chocolate mousse garnished with strawberries. The first time we visited Coco Loco I was underwhelmed by the grainy texture of the cashew milk. Here I was completely knocked out by the smooth, rich fluffiness of the mousse. An unsuspecting eater would never have guessed that this was vegan, it's a refined dessert by any standards. (How I'd love to know their secret! My tofu chocolate mousse is tasty'n'all, but it's not this kind of bliss.)

While the menu is a little inconvenient to navigate, vegan and gluten free options are clearly marked. Our waiter of the evening deserves another positive mention - he was utterly good-natured in the face of our embarrassing disorganisation and social lingering. I believe everyone around the table was well satisfied by their meals - these aren't everyday-eating prices but then, these aren't everyday-eating dishes.

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Read about our previous visit to Cocoloco here.