Johanne Mantosh digs into the popular sundae As You Like It, Masala Dosa, Biryani and combo-meal Jap Chicken with Fried Rice

Remember Scoop? The ice-cream parlour in the New Empire building that was the place to chill after a movie in the ’90s? It’s back with a whole new ‘pop’ look.

“I got the old stuff out. Everything has changed. Those were the days of milkshakes and floats and then we grew up,” says Johanne Mantosh, the 25-year-old who has taken over the reins from daddy John Mantosh, the family that also owns NiFD, CitiMart and New Empire.

Reflecting her ‘girlie’ personality, the 110-seater parlour is bright and bubbly. To some, the decor could even border on garish, but look a little closely and the independent nooks and corners are actually pretty. Like the bright pink staircase wall leading to the lounge upstairs, lined with gardening and milk cans. Or the bar that displays tiny table fans and jars filled with Smiley emoticons. Even the menu cover is a meme (an image that is passed electronically from one Internet user to another) that says ‘Keep Calm’ because Johanne, like most girls her age, “lives in the virtual world”.

The pretty pink staircase inside Scoop

But the food is as real as it gets. There are Chillers, Moo Moo Time (milkshakes), Hot Stuff (tea and coffee), Southern Flavours (dosas), Indian Khana and Chinese (try the best-seller Jap Chicken). The most popular section at the air-conditioning plant of New Empire that was turned into an ice-cream parlour in 1988, when business at the cinema hall went down for various reasons, is still ‘Sundaes are Fundaes’. Spot the familiar As You Like It (five scoops of ice cream topped with fruits, nuts, strawberries and chocolate sauce), Tutti Fruity and Moon Rocker (two scoops of vanilla and one butterscotch), although Drum Major’s Choice has been rechristened Dark Temptation (two scoops of chocolate and one vanilla).

For the V-Day month, try the “flirty” menu where you have to share an item with your special one — think slurping the same noodle from either end! And don’t miss the line that runs down one page of the menu — ‘Please be polite or you will not be served’! Okay, then.