Pinkberry

OK its about 4:30am Tokyo time and I am wide awake, so I thought I'd do another frozen yogurt review. During our 3 hour layover in Honolulu yesterday, we decided to eat our bento lunch at one of the food courts. The first thing that caught my eye when we got there was the name "Pinkberry". I had a feeling this was another untried frozen yogurt place for me, so I made sure I had room for dessert. Sure enough, pinkberry had the works, several flavors and all kinds of toppings. DH and I decided to share a small, and I guess he knew better than to pick the yogurt combo himself since I'm the picky one... I didn't get to try all of the flavors, but I think most of them are tart- even the coconut flavor I picked. It wasn't too tart though, and contradicted the sweet toppings I put on top for good balance. OK, I don't know if you can tell from this photo, but I had 3 toppings on my yogurt. One of them were these tiny dark chocolate covered crunch balls. I have thing for crunch, so this was my first choice. Then I saw something that resembled melted nestle crunch, so I picked that too (cost $1 extra but worth it) and there was room for one more, so I got fresh strawberries. OMG.. it was sooooo good. Even DH agreed that the toppings were awesome and totally made the yogurt. Good thing he let me choose. The total cost of this small yogurt with 3 toppings was ~$7, kinda pricey, but well worth it. Its not the self serve/weigh type, there is someone there to make it for you... otherwise I would've gone crazy with the toppings. Anyway, we ended up meeting my SIL since she was flying in from D.C., so I told her about my yogurt experience. She said that she's tried it before and agreed how good it was. I asked her if Oahu had any more locations and she thinks there is only one more on Maui and also at the airport. DARN! All I can say is if you are planning a trip and have enough time to mosey on down to the international/domestic terminal- look for the foodcourt with pinkberry.. you won't be disappointed! Hmmm, I wonder if we'll have enough time to get another one on our way home to Hilo? I wonder if Tokyo has frozen yogurt?

More Frozen Yogurt Goodness!

So my last post about frozen yogurt was lacking some photos, so this time I made sure I got some to share with you. This is Yogurt Mama- my favorite frozen yogurt place in Kailua! The logo was designed by Marie of TGF!!!

Here's Akemi eating some of her yogurt... She ate a lot of mine too!

On this last trip... I found gold!!!! Well, not actual gold, but gold in my mind! For those of you die hard Penguin's fans out there, see those white clusters? Its Cookies 'n Cream Scrapple!!! Woo Hoo! My all time favorite topping! I could not believe my eyes when I saw it! Now my favorite yogurt flavor to get is Cookies 'n Cream so I can eat it with the scrapple! My other favorite topping is chocolate covered waffle cone bits.

My brother and his family are frozen yogurt enthusiasits as well, so I knew we'd be hitting the frozen yogurt places with them too. After a fun afternoon at the beach, we took the girls to Yogurt Mama... Here they are with their yogurt..

The little one took 2 bites and then passed out!!!! Right at the table!!!

The other two started photo bombing!

OK now for the new stuff... after a rough photo shoot, we ate at Macaroni Grill with the family.. since we needed to take 2 cars, I jumped in with my brother and SIL. Since we didn't have dessert at Macaroni Grill, we snuck away and had some frozen yogurt at Tutti Frutti. My brother said this is his favorite spot in LA. He tends to like tropical fruity flavors, so if you like that too- you will like Tutti Frutti. We went to the one by Ala Moana in the Walmart building... all I can say is that their Waffle cones are soooo good!! I wish I took more than one for mine!

My brother is such a fanatic that he collects spoons from all the different yogurt places. He was happy because this one had colored spoons but was disappointed with Yogurt Mama because they only had white spoons. I told him that earlier Yogurtland in Manoa had tokidoki spoons.

Here's a close up of my bro's yogurt. I'm shame to show you mine... He makes his look so professional! I think I had the pomegranate, strawberry, and lychee flavors. I liked the pomegranate the best- reminded me of Penguins. I did think the texture was a little icy (very little) and not as creamy as Yogurt Mama or Yogurtland. Its good if you like fruity flavors.

My bro likes jellies on his yogurt. He also likes the popping balls but said they were too sweet. Sorry, just don't think jellies look that appetizing.

And... right before I had to leave to fly home, we went out for one last yogurt! Everyone stayed awake this time! My brother had a "moment" where he transcended into his own world just enjoying his yogurt. He told us that for a moment, he actually forgot where he was because he was so into his yogurt! I think he's more obsessed than me!!!

Frozen Yogurt Review

The last time I went back to Honolulu I went a little crazy trying all the frozen yogurt places! I just love frozen yogurt and am so glad to see their return after a couple of decades absence. When growing up, frozen yogurt was all the rage and Penguins was definitely my favorite! My BFF and I used to go to the Penguins in Kailua after school and would get our favorite combo- strawberry with cookies and cream scrapple. Yum! I was sad to see all the frozen yogurt places close, but was delighted to find that they've recently made a comeback! In the old days, the workers used to put on the toppings for you, but now they are smarter and let you do it yourself and charge you by weight.. Smart no? There are so many new frozen yogurt places in Honolulu- I don't know them all. I've only tried a handful of them and they all have their pros and cons. I guess it depends on your taste preference and geographic locations. I am hoping one of them will make their way to Hilo soon, but I'm not holding my breath (we don't have Costco or Genki Sushi yet, so I'm not optomistic). So, like everything else, I feel the need to overindulge myself in frozen yogurt every chance I get when I go home.... Looking forward to the next couple of weekends since I'll get my next fix! OK- so here are the frozen yogurt places I've tried so far... If you know of other good ones to try, please let me know the name and approximate location so I can try them out when I'm in the area. Yogurtland (University): This is the first one I heard of and now I know why all the buzz. The yogurt is very creamy and very Penguin's like. (Please note that I will be comparing them to my favorite Penguins!). They had a pretty good selection of topping and flavors to choose from. I went with my Aunty after a long day of craft shopping and it hit the spot! I had strawberry and coconut and cookies and cream. She had pistachio and a couple of other flavors that I forget, because the pistacio flavor stood out. If you get a chance, choose that one! Yogurtland was one of my favorites! Plus its conveniently located near all my scrapbook store stops when I go shopping. Perfect for a cool pick me up in the afternoon. The only junk thing for me was that I wanted to buy some to take to my BFF's house but they didn't have any that were pre-packed. You had to make it yourself- I guess that's not such a bad thing. The other downside is the lack of parking. If you go when its crowded, you may not find any. I have no idea if there are any other yogurtland shops- maybe Linda or Edward knows?? Menchies (Ward Warehouse): Menchies was recommended to me by my BFF. The location is good since there's lots of parking. This was actually the first frozen yogurt place I tried, so of course I thought it was awesome! Now that I've tried some other places, I think its fallen in ranking, but I'd still go if it was nearby. Its been awhile since I've gone there, so I can't remember what flavors I tried, but I remember it was not as creamy as some of the other yogurt places. They also have several workers there at a time, so I always got good service. Yogurt Mama (Kailua): This is my other favorite frozen yogurt place! Not only is it in my hometown, so its very close to mom's, it also has the cutest logo (made by TGF creator Marie). I must say that their yogurt is very creamy and yummy! The first time I went there, they had a toasted marshmallow flavor. I haven't seen it since but if you ever do, I highly recommend it! The only downside is the parking lot is small and shared by a bunch of businesses. We were always able to find parking though- so maybe its not that big an issue. Orange Tree (Kailua): This place just opened in Kailua, but I hear that they are all over the island. We stopped there after a hard day of cleaning the yard and before going to the Bon Jovi Concert. It was very refreshing, but the texture reminded me of Menchies. Still good, but not as creamy. I had the green tea, which was excellent- I would definitely get that flavor again if they have it! They have a parking lot in the back of the building, so you shouldn't have any problems finding parking. Overall, I am thrilled to have the option of having frozen yogurt again! It totally brings back good memories for me but has an updated flair. Can't wait to go back and have some more!! Please let me know what your favorite frozen yogurt place is so I can try them out too!