Azabu Sabo Hokkaido Ice Cream (The Central)

I have heard rave reviews of this brand from many of my friends! So when I went to The Central, one of my favourite malls, I decided to give it a try. This shop was strategically located near the riverside, so I really enjoyed the yummy Ice cream. I ordered Blueberry, my all-time favourite fruit flavour for Ice cream. But, the service, I must say, is quite a letdown, considering this brand is from a place where the service is world class, Japan. After waiting in the queue for 10 minutes I finally could order. I asked for a single cone, blueberry. A teenaged boy mechanically opened the freezer and got me what I wanted. Fair enough. But, he didn't even SMILE. As I walked off, a little bit annoyed, to sit and watch the river, I saw a middle aged Caucasian lady (I have nothing against Caucasians, really!) making her order. The same glum teenager was smiling and even faking an accent just to impress her! That really got me mad. But I still LOVE the ice cream... although the staff need some training in manners.

We came across this ice cream stall while walking down the riverbank. There was a long queue of people ordering ice cream even though it was already 9.30 pm at night. So happily we joined in the queue to see what the commotion was about.

When we got to the front, we saw that there were many different varieties of ice cream sold at this store. There was green tea, azuki bean or red bean (japanese ice cream store will always have green tea and red bean flavours), rum and raisin, black sesame, lychee, milk tea, chocolate, mango, strawberry etc..

I chose a double scoop cone of green tea and black sesame ice cream. The cone was tall with a triangular shaped base that had ample room for the two (even three) scoops, and they would mould the mixture and shape the two flavours you choose upwards into a tall tower on top of the cone. Don't be fooled however as the cone is not hollow, so there's no ice cream found in there.

The green tea flavour was smooth and not too overpowering with matcha, but enough to get the hint of the flavour. The black sesame flavour was tasty with hints of sesame bits within the ice cream. Both I must say were quite tasty and we finished it up quickly, but were too lazy to queue for more.

It costs $3.50 for a single scoop in a cup, add 50c more for cone, and I think we paid nearly $7 for the double scoop. Not exactly the cheapest ice cream around.

There were other desserts to choose from, such as Hokkaido Hot Balls which you can add toppings such as ice cream, chocolate sauce, nuts/almonds etc.

This ice cream is reported quite healthy as it is made from fragrant Hokkaido milk which is free from chemical additives. It is supposed to be low fat and low in sugar as well. So I guess its a good excuse to eat more of this ice cream!!!