Frozen Yogurts Attack!

Frozen yogurt stores are everywhere. From the more expensive ones located in posh malls to the cheaper versions offered along the periphery of the SM grocery.

People are beginning to be health conscious and savvy entrepinoys are cashing on it by offering healthy substitutes and in desserts, we now have this frozen yogurt.

Frozen Yogurt has been in Pinas for quite sometime now. I think the pioneer is BTIC(Better than Ice Cream). But without having much competition, and perhaps the inadequate marketing strategy, their existence didn't create much of a buzz as do these fab and glam yogurt cafes like Golden Spoon, Red Mango, et.al.

BTIC sold their frozen yogurt ice cream substitutes in much the same way they sold their ice creams; in a small hole in the wall or in carts kiosk style.

In contrast, Golden spoon, Red Mango, White Hat went beyond that by investing on a larger dining area where the customers can sit and lick away, every ounce of it, their expensive indulgement.

Yes, frozen yogurts are ridiculously expensive. You pay 150 bucks for a few ounce which would put the old Magnolia Ice cream cups in shame inasfar as scrimp serving goes.

I used to veer away from Haagen Daz ice cream parlors because I thought they were pricey. Well they still are but with expensive Frozen Yogurt parlors everywhere, it makes you feel less guilty paying for 150-200 bucks for that littlest serving.

I tried Red Mango, Golden Spoon, and Tutti Frutti. I like the concept of Tutti Frutti which is self serve. You choose a cup from three different sizes(I guess it's three, I just chose the smallest) and you get to actually swirl your yogurt variety of choice as much as you want. Same goes with the toppings. The friendly people at the cashier just weigh the total contents of the cup and charge you for it. The customers have all the freedom in the world to be creative with their yogurt and topping combination. A word of caution though, don't get too excited putting in more yogurt than you actually want to pay for or you'd end up burning your wallet.

I didn't get all too giddy with Red Mango cause they only had the basic Yogurt and the not so tasty Green Tea to choose from. I had mango(cause they are red MANGO right?!) and nuts for toppings. It wasn't exactly something that struck my senses and I almost gave up on Frozen yogurts after tasting theirs. I'm not being too harsh on Red Mango but that was exactly how I felt at that time. Maybe because it was lunch and I'd be back to work in a few minutes that my mind and taste buds were a little distracted from fully relishing the sweet delight. Anyways, good thing I didn't totally junk trying Golden Spoon.

Golden Spoon prides itself for having yogurts that taste like Ice Cream. You see Frozen Yogurts, despite giving ice creams a run for their money, don't exactly approximate the taste that the saturated fat of ice cream brings. Yogurts will always be yogurts in taste(read: a hint of sour). And then here comes Golden Spoon. I didn't bother to find out how they get theirs to taste like ice cream. They even have a nutrition label as poster breaking down the macronutrient content of their yogurt and if what they really put there was true, then you'd wonder " How did it taste so darn good? "

I also tried Red Hat. Again, like Red Mango, not exciting. That's all I have to say about that. They could have at least made up for it by having a nice dining interior but I happened to eat on a branch that was put up along the walkway of the mall.

Golden spoon has the nicest dining area. The lighting is good, not so bright and the tables are spaced far apart. Upholstery is nice. Red Mango comes in second. Tutti Frutti exuded the vibe that was more like: self serve then eat outside despite having a small but uninviting dining area. In fact I did eat my yogurt outside because the place was so small and the tables all occupied.

Overall, I probably would be back to Golden Spoon. Can't wait to sample their wide variety of Yogurts.