Battle of the Fro-Yos

Hong Kong has been swept by frozen yoghurt fever as brands looking to replicate Pinkberry's overwhelming success (but not subsequent recent decline) take over the town. In the past week I have finally been persuaded to give this dessert craze a try, previously being a strongly committed ice cream girl! I guess I like my puddings and sweets so much, and enjoy them as a treat, that I don't really see a whole lot of point in trying low fat or lower calorie alternatives when there's no way they can taste so good, right?

Well, in a lot of ways, frozen yoghurt (obviously) is not as good as ice cream, having that yoghurty tang which is hard to get used to. However, surprisingly for me, the texture is smooth, light and creamy and the innovative range of toppings that the new chains are offering mean that you can really infinitely customize your snack.

We started off at Berrygood, which is the original for Hong Kong as the first to launch here. Located just off Hollywood Road in Central, their shop is teeny-tiny, with a little eating area where you can perch on hot pink banquettes while enjoying the frozen yoghurt. We sampled Original flavor (a plain creamy yoghurty taste) and Pomegranate, their flavour of the day which tasted strangely like Strawberry. Refreshing and delicious topped with chocolate sauce and chopped nuts, you definitely see how you can quickly offset any health benefits by loading up on toppings. Berrygood froyo was a big hit with us, and we left commenting how nice it was to abandon the usual Starbucks and Mix run for something different.

Last night I headed to Ship Street for dinner (stunning recommendation of Rokkaku by a friend), and afterwards wandered around the back streets of Wanchai for a while before stumbling on Yo Mama. I am such a sucker for cute branding that I was instantly excited to try. I've seen that their shop in IFC is opening soon, and so was keen to get a preview of what will be on offer. Yo Mama was really buzzing with mostly groups of girls sitting and chatting in the elevated mezzanine cafe area. It was interesting that the bars around were almost empty - could people really be shunning alcohol for frozen yoghurt?

We tried Original and Green Tea flavor, of which a little sign said that the Original was sweetened with Splenda. We topped our pots with chocolate sauce, toasted coconut, strawberries and crushed Oreos. Unfortunately the toasted coconut was a little like sawdust, and kept catching in my throat! Overall, Yo Mama was definitely not as good as Berrygood - there just wasn't any depth of flavour, and for me the yoghurt wasn't sweet enough. I'd rather have the sugar and enjoy it more.

We still need to try Yoghurtime in Soho, which I'm excited for as they break out of the Pinkberry model, and have around 100 flavours. We'll keep you posted on whether it can beat Berrygood!

Berrygood

G/F 41-43 Graham Street, Central

2543 8393

Yo Mama

16 Wing Fung Street, Wanchai

2865 5600

Images via Hong Kong Hustle