For ice cream that is (but you already knew that). Ice cream is definitely one of my favorite desserts; smooth and creamy, cold and sweet, what could be better to cool you down (but if you must know, this is a fallacy, as the high sugar content in ice cream would have the opposite effect).
I go local for my ice cream (mainly because I can't afford to buy the imported stuff on a regular basis). Fruits in Ice Cream was started by former employees of Magnolia; the brand used to be available only via home-based distributors but lately, I have seen it in supermarkets. Strawberry, halo-halo, caramelo, vanilla and dulce the leche are quite good; can't stand the green tea, though.
Newly reissued Magnolia is also another current favorite. The texture is not as nice as FIC but still better than the commercial brands. Flavor choices are limited still, but offhand can recommend the chocolate and the strawberry.
Arce is the old standby; quality remains good and the flavor choices are unique; I do find Arce a bit sweet, though. Most flavors are good; the sherbets (sorbets?) are an excellent fat free choice (although quite heavy on the sugar). Heard good reviews about the atis, but strangely, have yet to try some.
Amici (see previous post) has homemade gelato, which are a welcome alternative to the store-bought brands. There are other gelaterias in the city, but I don't think any comes close to the incredible value you can get at Amici (here's a tip, Amici gelato is also available at Waltermart Pasong Tamo, near the supermarket entrance; curiously, pricing here is cheaper than the main outlet, go figure?!).
Moving to the worst of the bunch, I particularly detest Nestle ice cream. Airy, gummy, and flavorless, this is the ice cream for people who prefer Jello (given the amount of carrageenan in the ice cream). One can use Nestle for science experiments (try watching a scoop of Nestle ice cream melt). I also don't care too much for Selecta; I find it too sweet and too airy (manufacturers whip air into commercial ice cream to bulk up the product).
There are some boutique ice cream that has eluded my tastebuds. I remember reading an article about a brand of homemade ice cream, available only via delivery. Unfortunately, I lost the article and cannot recall the name of the ice cream. All I remember is that is costs about as much as the Haagen Dazs's and the Dreyer's.
3 comments:
Completely agree with you that the resurrected Magnolia is a winner. For a quick ice cream fix, hubby and I would buy a bottle of Bailey's and a tub of Magnolia vanilla. Try a liberal douse of bailey's on a vanilla scoop - fantastic.
Hi! I wantered into this blog through the Pinoy Foodies blog. Great posts. I appreciate the candor in your writing.
I am an ice cream lover myself. I love the FIC line of ice cream as well as Arce, particularly FIC's newly released Dutch Almondine and Arce's pistachio flavour.
Floyd's serves FIC ice cream where you can incorporate various munchies by mashing it on cold stones. Pretty good.
Crêpes de France as well as Pazzo sell good gelato but they can be a little expensive. I think around PhP100/cup. That's why Amici de Don Bosco's gelato is so affordable compared to the rest.
I agree with MARKETMANILA. If you really want good ice cream it's better that you make it yourself. However, if you don't want to buy an ice cream maker you may try putting the ice cream mixture in the freezer and whisk the concoction every thirty minutes until frozen, this will slowly incorporate air and minimize the formation of grainy ice crystals.
I didn't know that Arce has atis!
You can't afford expensive ice cream but you can afford to go to Greenbelt and Serendra restos? Haha! Priorities lang siguro.
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