ice cream

I Tried Grasshopper Ice Cream-Yes Real Grasshopper

Ok I can’t believe I actually did this. I don’t know how it happened but I guess it’s kinda cool that it was spontaneous. Yes I had grasshopper ice cream and the flavour was called Choc Hopper. REAL GRASSHOPPER! Not just the flavour that is typically made of chocolate and mint. Never thought I’d say those words… To be honest, I couldn’t actually make myself eat the whole grasshopper but I did have some bits and pieces (e.g. arms and legs mostly)… I only got a tiny scoop of chocolate ice cream so there were only 2 small grasshoppers in there. They don’t have any taste and they’re just crunchy and very light. I couldn’t stop imagining the grasshopper as I was eating it though. Actually I’m not even sure how many real grasshoppers I’ve even seen. I did see a cricket recently in my apartment and I was freaked out already.

Grasshopper Ice Cream

So how did this all happen? The Economist was doing a promotion for their new subscription packages and I think they had an issue covering insects or something? They were doing the promotion at Wynyard station and being a sucker for free things, I had to go over and check it out. After I found out that there were REAL insects in the ice cream (this explains why there was no line up for free ice cream haha) I decided that since I was already there and it was free, I might as well give it a try. Or maybe it’s because I’m in Australia now and trying to be more adventurous. I think it was just a one time thing and I don’t think I’ll be compelled to try it again. Unless maybe they were completely covered in chocolate…heard those were good?

Let me know if you’d ever eat insects with your ice cream! Grasshopper ice cream is going to top the list for the most adventurous thing I’ve ever eaten!

Aqua S-Did it Taste as Good as it Looked?

Aqua S is a soft serve ice cream shop that serves new flavours every 15 days. You can check their Instagram to see what their current flavours are. I went to their store in Regent Place after dinner to get some dessert. The ice cream comes in pastel colours that are really photogenic and insta-worthy. The shop is quite small and doesn’t have much seating so you’ll probably have to take it to go. On this particular occasion, they had Manuka Honey x Sea Salt or Lime Cheesecake x Sea Salt available. I believe the sea salt flavour is always available and the other 2 flavours are changed frequently.

Aqua S

I’m a huge fan of salted caramel ice cream so I was excited to try the sea salt flavour. I love cheesecake as well so I went with the Lime Cheesecake x Sea Salt swirl. They only accept credit/debit card if you buy $6 worth of food and since the ice cream was $4.50, I was short of the minimum spend amount so I was forced to add a topping for $1.50 so that I could use my card. Also my friends were waiting and I was too far away to ask if they had cash and I didn’t want to go get cash after I made them wait. Toppings include popping candy, fairy floss or a toasted marshmallow. As you can see, I went with the toasted marshmallow.

Despite how pretty it looks, especially against their aquamarine coloured wall, the taste fell short of my expectations. I thought the sea salt would be much saltier and the lime cheesecake tasted artificial. Also it melted too fast for my liking. I like my ice cream cold and hard. The best thing about this turned out to be the toasted marshmallow which was thick and fluffy. I was told by someone else that Aqua S doesn’t taste as good as it looks but it seemed quite popular and I had to try it for myself because how bad could ice cream be? Maybe I just picked a bad flavour?

Needless to say, I don’t feel the need for a re-visit anytime soon.

Aqua S Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Limited Edition Ube and Coconut Ice Cream-Amato Gelato Cafe

Disclaimer: All ice cream was complimentary but opinions are my own.

I’ve been seeing ube flavours popping up in Vancouver this year and my fellow food blogger Foodgressing (check out her giveaway!), has just launched her own collaboration flavour, ube and coconut, with Amato Gelato Cafe/Mario’s Gelati. Located near Olympic Village, they are one of Vancouver’s first gelato stores and have 200+ flavours on rotation.
Amato Gelato CafeUbe is purple yam and it’s a popular Filipino dessert flavour. The owner said that he had trouble getting his hands on ube and a lot of suppliers that he talked to suggested that he just use taro but he knew it wasn’t the same despite the similar colours and flavour profiles.

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MagiCream-This Ice Cream is Amazeballs

Disclaimer: All food was complimentary but opinions are my own

Foodgressing was organizing a media tasting on behalf of MagiCream and kindly invited me to go! I had seen a few photos on Instagram but I hadn’t really heard much else about them. They seem to be the only liquid nitrogen ice cream shop not located in downtown. They are in Kerrisdale to be exact. Little did I know, I was about to be impressed.

MagiCream

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Popbar-Gelato on a Stick

Popbar opened a few months ago and has taken over the spot where Beard Papa’s used to be, next to Superstore in Metrotown. I must say that I was not initially too excited about the concept, I mean I love ice cream/gelato and cold confections but for some reason, it didn’t seem to have the “wow” factor?

Popbar

I saw on Facebook that they had a promotion where if you liked their page you get 30% off so that’s what prompted my visit. Or should I say, I “popped” in? ;) The promotion ended on July 31st but maybe they’ll have more in the future. Continue reading →

Bella Gelateria-Coal Harbour

It’s summer (finally!) and that means that I will be eating lots of ice cream! I can see the long line ups at Bella Gelateria from my office and it gets pretty tempting to go! Well ok I wouldn’t go with the long line ups because I’m impatient but I can check when they are short and then I’ll go. Also, by long line ups, I mean it wraps around the block…

Despite all their gelato awards, I did learn that there was a down side to their gelato.

Bella Gelateria Continue reading →

Mister-Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream

Mister is the newest liquid nitrogen ice cream place in town. Specifically Yaletown and it’s really the second liquid nitrogen ice cream place we have in Vancouver with the first being Lik N2 Ice Cream. Mister has taken over Sweet Bake Shop’s old spot and it’s just across from the skytrain station.

Mister

Their store is very minimalistic looking and sparsely decorated. Their logo is equally simple, just a blue pentagon. Mister currently has four flavours: avocado, creme brule, dark chocolate and lemon FY. Seems like there is space on their menu for more new flavours.  Continue reading →

LIK N2 Ice Cream

LIK N2 Ice Cream

It’s finally warm in Vancouver and that means I’ll be eating a lot of ice cream! LIK N2 Ice Cream is one of the newest ice cream places to open up and they specialize in liquid nitrogen ice cream. They are located next to 7-11 on Robson and Hamilton, beside the library.

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Tangram Creamery-New Fave Ice Cream Place!

Tangram Creamery

Tangram Creamery is one of the newest ice cream stores to open. There is really no shortage of ice cream in Vancouver! Located on Arbutus between 10th and 11th avenue, they are well known for their “cookie cones”, also called langue du chat in French. There’s a decent number of seats inside with a long wooden bench along the window and a wooden communal table in the middle.  Continue reading →

UYU Ice Cream

UYU Ice Cream opened over the summer and they’ve been getting rave reviews! I’ve seen them all over my Instagram feed with their weekly rotation of flavours. I actually went after I ate lunch at Tacofino (despite being super full already). I couldn’t help it since it was like two blocks away! #foodieproblems

The store is pretty minimalistic looking and according to what I’ve read, they didn’t have any seating at all before but when I was there, they seem to have added two small benches along the walls now.

I’ve seen a lot of flavours that I would like to try and on the day I went they had Earl Grey! Yay! It’s probably one of my favourite flavours of anything!

UYU Ice Cream Continue reading →