It’s the ’70s once more

Back in the ’70s, a groovy rock band was aboard a plane en route to another one of those crazy rock fests so popular in those days. Suddenly, while More Than A Woman (or was it Saturday Night Fever?) was playing in the background, a weird sound was heard. The weird and frightening sound of "BANG!!! Mayday! Mayday! Fasten your seatbelts! Keep your heads down!" and the pilot’s panicking voice was cutting into the music.

"And stop singing, for God’s sake!" But no one was paying attention. Because everyone, apart from channeling The Bee Gees, was busy plunging towards the wide open sea! CRASH!!! (Fade to black)

Want to know what happened? Cocorama Pancake house and all-day groovy café. Marooned at the sixth level of Shangri-La Mall (near the theaters), Cocorama is a European café-inspired resto conceptualized as the supposed aftermath of the above mentioned plane crash. The legs of the tables are of makeshift built using materials salvaged from the wreckage. The flooring is granite and pebble suggestive of survivors stranded at a beach. Shell ornaments adorn a sign board.

Being carefree rockers, would they allow the beach to bore them to tears? So now, the shore has been transformed into – what else? – a disco! A spinning disco ball casts shattered silver flickers all over. Vinyl LPs and 45s are on a wall and they are used in light fixtures. A Volkswagen Combi was converted into the kitchen of the restaurant. Murals of hippies-turned-beach bums garbed in hot pink and neon shimmers around words "Peace, Love and Pancakes." Cocorama is, indeed, so hot for being cool. It’s like Boogie Wonderland!

"We dreamed up a place that speaks to the adventurous spirit," says Cocorama’s Owen Gan. "And what better era to harken back than the ’70s? What decade than one when platform shoes, Afros and psychedelic shirts ruled and raged? We’re not just offering food here but a way of life from the good ol’ days."

Food is fancy and fun. The menu is sweet. From pastas and omelets to steaks and Danesi (a European brand) coffee creations, Cocorama has every craving covered. And as if the compact but creative selection is not enough to put a smile on any diner’s face, check out the names some of these items go by: Berry White, Jackson Five, (famed Afro-American singers then) John Travolta (actor), El Bimbo (dance craze), LSD (kids, ask your parents regarding this one), etc. "If you order Jackson Five, you’d see that one of the pancakes is not as brown as the rest," says Owen, grinning. "Guess why?" Even the name of the joint has tongue-in-cheek allusion. Cocorama. Discorama.

The success of Cocorama is no laughing matter, however. Though limited for being located inside a mall (it could only open at 10 a.m. and close at 1 a.m.) and at the topmost level close to the car park, the 40-seater café has already attracted steady stream of customers mostly belonging to age bracket 14 to 40.

"Cocorama bridges generations, that’s why," says Owen. "The ’70s concept is something most parents could nostalgically relate to since they have been around then. On the other hand, to teenagers and those in their 20s, the ’70s holds a novelty; it’s a time they hear about but never really experienced." Until now at Cocorama. And if the ’70s is of no particular interest, then good food will come into play even for the oblivious.

Lingering in our memory is the cold coffee we enjoyed during our first visit. Served in a tall glass and colored pink (raspberry), the coffee has a delicate flavor and subtle caffeine kick not as strong as those offered in other coffee shops. That’s Danesi for you. We also like it that at Cocorama, we have a wide selection of "real" food (so reasonably priced and in generous servings) at our disposal between sips of coffee instead of just overpriced sandwiches, salads and pastries.

To busy people who don’t have the time of day to even ponder on what to give their loved ones, Cocorama is heaven-sent. The resto actually offers gift certificates in the amount of P300 and P500. Especially to those who don’t know what to give people they don’t know very well, friends with families, or those who seem to have everything, then food is your best bet. Now, give them good food at a place like Cocorama and you’re giving them a chance to experience the ’70s and excellent food, as well.