Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Cocomero

Last night Lisa invited a few of us bloggers to check out Cocomero the new (and only!) self-serve frozen yogurt place in Urbana. It's located where Moonstruck Cafe used to be right on campus. To be perfectly honest I wasn't exactly invited, Lauren was. But since we’re married, I figured it’s almost the same thing, and I didn’t want to be left out of this one. While self-serve frozen yogurt is new to UIUC, it definitely isn't new to me. I love frozen yogurt!
We were greeted by the manager Collin, who invited us to try anything we wanted. Anyone who has not been to a self-serve frozen yogurt place before would be a little confused upon entering Cocomero for the first time. There's no menu so to speak, and on top of that, the 8 yogurt machines (each holding 2 flavors), are out in front of the counter.
Basically you grab a container, go up to the yogurt machines and get whatever you want. Then you take your yogurt and finish it off with the toppings of your choice. They have fresh fruit (kiwi, strawberry, mango and blackberries), m&ms, nuts, cheesecake, brownies, cookie dough, and much more. They even have red beans (azuki beans) and mochi (really popular, and they were out when we went)! Cocomero charges by the weight….39 cents per ounce, and well worth it.

At first Lauren and I were going to share a container, but wise wife that she is, Lauren gave me a look that said “yeah right,” and said “you need to get your own.” I’m not sure if she was being defensive of her own yogurt or looking out for me (probably both), but either way I’m sure she was remembering the last few times she took me to a frozen yogurt place, and either way it was a good move. I set off like a little kid in a candy store and decided to take a sampling of the different flavors. Now I didn’t really think about it before, but 16 flavors is a lot of yogurt. I got about 3 flavors in and realized that as big as my bowl was it wasn’t going to make it. Not wanting to look like a total pig and not wanting to get the yogurts all mixed up I tried the flavors that most intrigued me: strawberry, cheesecake, expresso, fudge, original tart, California tart, raspberry tart, and green tea tart. At the checkout line, Collin asked me why I wasn’t getting any toppings. I told him that I wanted to focus on the taste of the yogurt. He said that I should try the toppings because they made the yogurt that much better. He was right!

Here are my impressions:

Strawberry - Your basic strawberry frozen yogurt. Creamy and smooth, and a must have for any yogurt/ice cream store.

Cheesecake - Rich, creamy and tasty. Not quite a stand-alone flavor but excellent when eaten with strawberry, fudge, or any flavor that’d be good in a cheesecake.

Expresso – Good, but I liked everything else so much more that it got a little lost.

Fudge - This really impressed me. It was a non-fat flavor, but tasted really good. It was creamy and rich. Collin said they were working on an even more intense version.

Original Tart - I love yogurt flavors, and this was everything I expected.

California Tart - The California tart was like the original tart, but a little less tart, and sweeter.

Green Tea Tart – My least favorite flavor, maybe because I’m just not used to the idea of a sour green tea.

Raspberry Tart – Just perfect. It has all of the sour goodness of a tart yogurt flavor, but with a strong raspberry flavor as well.

One of the best things about frozen yogurt (aside from the taste) is that it isn’t filling, and compared to ice cream, it’s pretty low-calorie. I really enjoyed our trip to Cocomero. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants a fun choose-your-own-adventure dessert experience, anyone who enjoys indulging in a tasty dessert, or anyone who simply likes eating. Anyone who doesn’t should probably just stay home and eat mouse poop for dessert. Frozen yogurt is addicting. As Collin put it, it's just like coffee. We'll be back soon.

http://the217.com/articles/view/cocomero_replaces_moonstruck_locale_to_open_april_3

Cocomero
709 S Wright St
Champaign, IL 61820
(217) 328-3888

3 comments:

Chou said...

Mike, you rock. I can't wait to come try this. And yes, Lauren was probably doing both things you think she was.

Cooking with tien said...

Thanks for the nice write up, Mike...It was fun seeing everyone.
-Tien:)

Lisa said...

Hey, nice post on Cocomero! I was so happy that you and Lauren could go. You did a much more exhaustive taste test than I did. :) I was glad to read your opinions of the various flavors. I'll be going back, as well. And I want that mochi topping!