Nothing is quite like the pain of brain freeze from licking ice cream, but it's a small price to pay compared to the frozen delight that follows.
In celebration of World Ice Cream Day and American National Ice Cream Day on the third Sunday of July, Guru By Bangkok Post scoops up on a list of ice cream parlours that thinks outside the cone, serving freaky-licking-good flavours, for you! Well, not that you need a special excuse to eat ice creams, anyway.
SCOOPS OF SURPRISES
Moodaengs Amphawa
Moodaengs Amphawa (fb.com/moodaengsamphawa) seems like your average food stall at the night market. But when you take a closer look at its ice cream menu, you may double take for it offers a seasonal menu of savoury flavours that you usually find at a rice-curry stall. Originating in Samut Songkhram, the ice cream shop branched from its original canalside location at Amphawa Floating Market to downtown Bangkok at Jodd Fairs, a bustling night bazaar near Rama IX Intersection, a few years ago. Having been scooping for 17 years, the long-standing shop is among the pioneers in making homemade ice cream with local ingredients, namely local fruits for its signatures like mamuang nam pla waan (sour mango with sweet fish sauce). Most flavours change regularly but daring foodies must give its savoury scoops a try. Recently, it took lickers down South with a frozen batch of southern-Thai favourites like phat sator kung (stir-fried stink beans with prawn) and khua kling moo (stir-fried dried curry pork) flavours—completely meat-free, to everyone's surprise!
BIB (Break In The Box)
Making your way to Lalai Sap Market in Silom for a lunch break? Save room for ice cream from this newly-opened restaurant. Tucked away on the side of Trinity Mall in Silom 3, BIB (fb.com/BIB.BreakinBox), which stands for "Break In The Box", serves contemporary Thai fare within their box-like eatery — just like the name suggests. Though their gourmet offerings are a bit on the pricier side compared to the pocket-friendly street eats outside, it's worth splurging for their creativity. Think of a frozen dessert that you can scoop up with corn chips, like their ice cream version of guacamole. Another snack-turned-icy-scoop is the summertime favourite pla hang tangmo (dried fish with watermelon), which offers an unusual combo of sweet and savoury.
Omakanesh
It may have seemed like an April Fool's Day prank, but to everyone's surprise, Omakanesh (fb.com/omakanesh), a Japanese seafood importer, actually launched an uni ice cream flavour, with the help of the gelateria Molto.
JingJing Ice-cream Bar and Cafe
To get the real taste of Yaowarat, skip the guidebooks and head straight to this ice cream parlour in Charoen Krung 14. With a striking tiled shopfront, JingJing Ice-cream Bar and Cafe (fb.com/JingJingIcecreamBarandCafe) connects lickers to the rich and diverse culinary roots of Yaowarat through its housemade ice cream. True to its name, "JingJing", derived from the Teochew word for "genuine", the tagline here is fresh and natural flavours, with a focus on locally-sourced ingredients. As flavours get rotated on a regular basis, be sure to keep your eyes on the monthly special. A couple of months ago, the brand joined forces with one of Yaowarat's oldest shops, Kan Kee Namtaothong, to serve a series of Chinese herbal ice creams. Exclusively crafted for July, Chinatown's favourite street food, bua loy kai waan, has found its way to become a frozen dessert as a cured-egg coconut-based ice cream served with chewy flour balls.
Rintaro Thailand
In Phra Khanong's W District (the other branch is in Ari), Rintaro Thailand (bit.ly/3OgwHsB) is a crowd favourite for many good reasons. From its commitment to sugar-free gelatos to the oh-so-crunchy experience of enjoying a freshly-baked waffle cone with each serving, the gelateria has captured the hearts and palates of ice cream enthusiasts far and wide. Breaking from the mould, the ice cream shop is putting a boozy spin on its artisanal ice cream offerings, introducing seasonal delights like the strawberry prosecco scoop with 2% alcohol. For a mocktail option, the piña colada flavour takes you on a blissful tropical journey with its creamy coconut and fresh pineapple.
10010 Dessert Bar
10010 Dessert Bar (fb.com/10010dessertbar) in Charoen Nakhon 10 returns with another batch of innovative flavours after its holy water, nam mon in Thai, ice cream left customers in a freezing epiphany. They’re doing all your favourite classics, such as vanilla, rocky road and Thai tea, plus you can always trust them to get a little experimental. Previously, fish sauce, cough syrup and floral garland found their way into frozen desserts, while the new set of innovative flavours is more relatable-ish, featuring options like Sriracha sauce, bai bua bok (pennywort) and red wine that all are ready to be enjoyed in scoops.
Kintaam
Never tried spicy ice cream? You need to. In the world of frozen delights, sweetness isn't always the go-to route, as aptly proven by this Chiang Mai-born ice cream shop, Kintaam (fb.com/kintaaam), whose spicy chocolate sandwich ice cream knows how to shake things up. A chocolate scoop comes squished between fine layers of salt-and-chilli biscuits, leaving your taste buds with a delightful blend of heat and sweetness that make you question everything you thought you knew about ice creams! They're setting up a pop-up at Hom Duan in Ekkamai and gearing up to open a new branch in Sathon 11 soon.
BREAKING THE MOULD
Emack and Bolio's Thailand
Emack and Bolio's Thailand (fb.com/emackandboliosthai) has rolled out a made-to-order menu of food-inspired ice cream cakes, drawing inspiration from Thai favourite social dinings: moo krata and shabu shabu. While it may not compete with the quirkiness of a salmon sashimi cake, just imagine the sheer joy on your friend's face when they get a hotpot or round grill-shaped ice cream cake as a birthday surprise, complete with an assortment of veggies and meats that they can actually pick it up and eat by chopsticks.
Icedea
The clever name itself, Icedea (fb.com/icedea), already grabs attention, just like their ice cream bars that bark and meow with adorable faces of fluffy friends. Located on the fourth floor of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC), this cute ice cream parlour has cat's and dog's faces on offer on an ice cream stick, with flavours building around the beloved four-legged companions' characteristics. Think of cookies 'n' cream for Dalmatian and charcoal milk for Siberian Husky. Speaking of its hyper-realistic cuteness, if you find it hard to wolf down the pet-shaped ice cream, this creative scoop shop also has other offerings that are carefully shaped to look like mangosteen, durian and corn, or even a dessert-inspired one like the half-mango and half-sticky-rice ice cream bar.
Shakariki 432
"Banana" split, anyone? It depends on how dirty your mind is with this quirky sundae from the Japanese chain restaurant Shakariki 432 (fb.com/shakariki432). Available at Sukhumvit 26, 21, Thong Lor 9 and Ekkamai 12 branches, the Chinko parfait, which directly translates to a pee-pee ice cream, comprises vanilla scoops and an banana that is placed standard. The dish comes with two choices of lubricants — sorry, toppings — including condensed milk and chocolate sauce. Slightly NSFW, but heavy on #foodporn.
Arun Café
If food wasn't Thailand's soft power, what would it be? Near Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan, Arun Café (fb.com/ArunCafeCoffee) lets visitors sink their teeth into the beauty of the Temple Of Dawn with their ice cream. Dubbed the “Flower At Dawn”, the 3D ice cream bar showcases an intricate flower pattern that delicately replicates the ceramic tiles adorning the temple's main prang (stupa). Flavours, including Thai tea and butterfly pea-infused, candle-scented coconut milk, pay homage to Thai favourite drink and cooking ingredient. After licking off the ice cream, you'll find inspirational quotes on the stick, serving up a fortune cookie vibe with a delicious twist.
