Get Your Brain Frozen in Sydney

Being a dessert lover, actually I love everything about desserts and every type of desserts. Cakes, biscuits, chocolates, candies, ice cream, name it and I can immediately give you my most recommended ones for each type! Showing how much I’m addicted to desserts, I even had prepared my dedicated list of places to visit for desserts when I was about to visit Sydney. Lucky me, I have my sister who can go as mad as me when we’re talking about desserts. So there we were, together crafting our long long list to be embedded into our itinerary, just to ensure we’re not missing any must-go ones.

Though my entire family members are those with the mindset that there’s always room for desserts and they’re must-have post the heavy meals, my parents are not that much into cakes. Among all those sweets, ice cream is the one they fancy the best. If you want to know how deep is our love towards ice cream, simply said, we can have it at all times. No matter it’s sunny or rainy season, doesn’t care if it’s spring, summer, fall, or even winter; EVERY SINGLE TIME we can always have it! *My mom even regularly stocks it at our home’s freezer. LOL* ;) ;)

Visiting Sydney in spring, the weather is actually pretty cold for us Indonesians, who are not used to that heavy wind and under-twenty-degree temperature. Nevertheless, nothing could stop us from getting our brain frozen in Sydney. This quite lengthy list I’m going to present to you real real soon contains the list of ice creams and frozen yoghurt we’ve tried. Please bear in mind that the order doesn’t represent anything as I just mention each of them randomly. To access more info about the place, just click on the name and you'll be directed to their Instagram account. So what are we waiting for? Let’s sit back, relax, and enjoy reading! ;) And oopsss, one more thing, don’t forget to prepare the buckets of ice cream to be melted in your mouth while enjoying this.

1.  Aqua S (AUD 4 for Small Cup/Cone,AUD 4.5 for Large)

Starting the list with the famous Instagram star, Aqua S. Yes, I guess I’ve seen this ice cream for uncountable times on my timeline. Yeah you’re right, that blue-and-brown-colored mix-flavor soft serve. Having my footsteps for the very first time at its Chatswood outlet located at Westfield, I just knew that it usually served different flavors at different outlets and they might change on seasonal basis as well. Some flavors I knew were sea salt, salted caramel, taro, and milk tea. If you’re a first-timer, just go for the mainstream one, sea salt and salted caramel twist. They might be slightly too sweet, yet I love it! Coming in light texture, I didn’t get bloated of it though the portion was actually quite gigantic. And if you fancied toppings or simply wanted to make it look more Instagenic, you could add toasted marshmallow, cotton candy, or chocolate.

2.  Brainwave Café (AUD 3)

     

Well, this one was actually not in the prepared list and I just saw it posted by my friend when I was already in Sydney. I then asked my sister and she said that it did worthy to be tried. Brainwave was a small café located in an alley close to the Central train station, right beside Lestari Indonesian restaurant, my sister’s favorite place to go for fried rice. There were only two available flavors for the soft-serve, thai tea and pandan coconut. For sure, I again went for the mixed one. If Thai Tea was kinda easy to be find anywhere, pandan coconut was certainly not and thereby could be a distinct one from Brainwave. Surprisingly, the combination turned out succulent. Neither too milky, nor too sweet. Simply indulgent. Another great news, this soft-serve was also one of the most affordable options, only AUD 3 with quite fulfilling size!

3.  N2 Extreme Gelato (AUD 7 - 9, price depends on flavor)

It just seems like everyone coming to Sydney must have had this nitrogen gelato, tickling my curiosity even more to have a try. Decorated like a lab, N2 had its waiter dressed in lab coat while serving the gelato. As the choices of flavors changed quite frequently, you might try different flavors at different visits. My sister said that sometimes they’re just so-so, while if you’re lucky enough, the flavor you tried might be the great one. Call me lucky (please don’t envy as I mention this phrase too often :P. This time my sister even admitted it), I got two of my most favorite flavors for desserts blended into one, green tea and cheesecake! Though it’s not my most admirable nitrogen gelato, but it did deserve a thumb-up. If you had the same palate with me, preferring the bitter green tea version to the jasmine-scented one, then this was for you.

4.  Gelato Messina (AUD 4.8 for 1 scoop)

One of my sister’s most favorite places to go for gelato. Some flavors on the showcase were available at all times, while the rest were frequently changed, including the one I had. Unfortunately, this time I had to disagree with my sister as I thought it’s quite nice, yet not the one I would be craving for.

5.  Good Times Artisan Ice Cream (AUD 10 for soft-serve with toppings, AUD 8 for plain soft-serve)

Unlike the previous five, this one actually looked ‘more gorgeous’ with various toppings covering the soft-serve. Well, you had the option to have it plain, but for me the chance to try the complete version absolutely shouldn’t be missed. My biggest apology to you, I actually forgot the name assigned to the one I had. Yes, they had quite long name given for each of the mixture created. However, you needn’t worry as I still remembered clearly what’re in it. Breakfast ice cream which was basically twist of burnt caramel and corn flakes flavors, topped with caramel cubes, salted caramel, and biscuit crumbs. It might sound simple with quite common ingredients, nonetheless, the taste was rich and the texture was sooo moist. Just like the soft-serve name, breakfast, I wish I could have this daily every morning!

6.  Zumbo Ice Cream (AUD 7)

Presentation wise, this was surely the queen! I thought gravitation even went stronger to your jaw once you looked at its figure. I was already so excited when my sister showed me the picture, and when I knew it came from Zumbo, my interest hit its top level. Served in Zumbo’s well-known cone-doughnut, this ice cream was probably the heaviest among all that I listed in this post. Not only because of the holder, but also the soft ice cream that came in extremely generous size as well. Preventing you from having long-dilemma at the order counter, only two flavors were provided, hazelnut and salted caramel. It’s actually an easy choice, if you favored something less sweet, opted for the first one. While if you desired sweeter one, went for the latter. Not stopping there, extra ear-catchy news for those who loved freebies, you could add toppings as much as your tummy could afford (and for sure the cone could hold as well :P )! Those attention-stealer decorations varied from rainbow sprinklers, cookies, chocolate sticks, popcorn, pretzel, potato chips, and many many more! Nevertheless, you’d better ask first to the attendant since the name used for the toppings were quite unfamiliar, unlike the ‘human name’ I’ve just mentioned. In my case, to make the order went quick, I picked random toppings so the result ended up as surprise for me. LOL.

7.  La Mama Del Gelato Anita (AUD 7 for small cup froyo, AUD 6 for small cup gelato)

Looking for something healthier? Anita was the answer to your desire, serving both gelato and frozen yoghurt. It’s also the place I visited the most with my sister in my Sydney trip. Call us the most loyal customers, we’ve been there for three times just in a week! YESSS. We love its frozen yoghurt SO D*MN MUCHHH!! Oh yeah, the toppings were also as-much-as-you-want here, and its signature one which was not available in any other places I guessed was the Cookieman, blend of hazelnut chocolate and wafer crumbs which for me was like Ovomaltine in WAAAYY better taste (just imagine how yummy Ovomaltine already is, and this one is way better. WAY BETTER!). There were actually a lot more toppings provided, ranging from fresh fruits, dried fruits, candies, chocolates, biscuits, nuts, sauces, and many many more. If you wanted to try my sister’s secret recipe, which was now mine as well, follow this order: Cookieman on the bottom, yoghurt, a little bit hazelnut sauce, a hint of chocolate and cornflakes sauce, little bit fruits, mooore cookieman! If only no one’s there, I would have licked all those Cookieman left in the cup.

Talking quite too much about the froyo, the gelato was highly recommended as well. Some of the flavors displayed were also uncommon, such as Ferrero Rocher, Snickers, Kinder Bueno, and again Cookieman! If you asked me whether you should go for ice cream or froyo, my answer would be ‘Forget your diet, go for both!’.

8.  Yogurberry (AUD 2.8/100g)

As you might have correctly guessed by looking at the name, this was another frozen yoghurt. If previously some places did serve all-you-can-eat toppings, Yogurberry gave you the privilege to pay as much as you ate because you took the froyo and the toppings by yourself before it ended up being weight and paid. Arrays of flavors provided were plain, chocolate, strawberry, taro, burnt caramel, my family’s favorite – blueberry, and the new comer – butterscotch. The two last ones were must-have, though others were nice to try as well. The choices of toppings were quite similar to the ones served by common frozen yoghurt stalls, besides some exceptional ones such as popping boba (available in lychee, strawberry, and mango flavors), honeycomb chocolate bars, caramel cubes, and cookie dough. For first trial, I recommended you the blend of blueberry and butterscotch yoghurt with mochi, lychee popping boba, and cookie dough. 
 

9.  Ben & Jerry's (Ranging from AUD 2 – 5)

   Having many branches worldwide, I'm highly sure that most of you have known this brand. I tried it for the very first time in Japan and I was delighted knowing that it even had lots of branches in Australia. Not only famous for its chunks and rich toppings mixed into the ice cream, Ben & Jerry's also well-known for its innovative flavors. Among those I've tried, my most favorites are Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Chocolate Fudge Brownie, and Triple Caramel Chunk. Not only in the outlets, it's also sold in almost all supermarkets and convenience stores, allowing the fan to have it highly accessible.


10.Many many more . . . . . (Ranging from AUD 2 – 5)

Besides all those names I’ve mentioned above, there are actually many many more choices, including those I haven’t tried. Not to mention the ones sold in supermarkets and convenience stores, which were also awesome. Magnum (try the ones with different flavors from Indonesia such as peanut butter, chocolate toffee, double choco, etc), Snickers, Mars, Connoisseur, Golden Gaytime, Gaynetto, Pat and Stick, and even McDonald’s soft serve (believe it or not, the milk tasted much better)! 

So are you ready for the brain-freeze? ;)

Thanks for Reading! :)

Find me on:

Instagram . Facebook . Twitter

Inputs & comments: jessicagaby@ymail.com