Parfait Club Tenth Meeting

Location: ポムの樹 (Pomme no Ki)
Members present: Kelly R., Kristin, Kelly O., Owen
Parfaits tried:
Chocola-brownie ¥472
Cheesecake and berry parfait ¥472
BIG Chocolate parfait ¥819
BIG Pudding parfait ¥819

Ingredients:
Shokola(chocolate)-brownie--chocolate syrup, walnit pieces, brownies with walnuts, whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, more brownies, fruit salad (cherries, pear, mikan), corn flakes, more chocolate syrup

Cheesecake and berry parfait--blueberries, pears, peaches, whipped cream, cheesecake pieces, strawberry syrup, vanilla ice cream, cornflakes

BIG Chocolate parfait--vanilla softserve, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, wafer cone, filled with ice cream, BIG pineapple slice (plus leaf), cherry, peach slices, cereal, fruit mix at the bottom

BIG Pudding parfait--pudding, vanilla ice cream, pineapple, fruties, whipped cream, cone

Reviews:
Kelly R.--Chocola-brownie. Here's a surprise coming from me: the whipped cream was delicious and there was just enough. The brownies were also excellent. The fruit would have been better if it were fresh rather than from a can. The chocolate syrup at the bottom made the cornflakes too soggy. Overall, the top half was delicious, while the bottom half was disappointing.

Kristin--Cheesecake and berry. A good size and at a great price! The blueberries were great and fruit other than tangerine was a fun change. The cheesecake was Japanese style and spongey. Not to my taste, as I am more attracted to New York Style. However, it was a sweet and filling treat. The restaurant offers a nonsmoking section and has a friendly atmosphere. Sophisticated, but not too stuffy.

Kelly O.--BIG Chocolate Parfait. If I had known it was that big, I probably wouldn't have tried to take it on by myself. Still, I'm kind of glad that I did. ^.^ The fruit was very fresh, and the ice cream was pretty good. I dunno. It was amazing in quantity-over-quality sort of way.

Owen--BIG Pudding Parfait. This parfait was ok and big. If you want more than that, go someplace else.

Independent Parfait 2 + Guest Blogger

Location: TEA Cool, 天文館、Kagoshima
Members present: Kelly R., guest blogger Wayne
Parfaits tried:
Chocolate Parfait ¥550
Banana Parfait ¥600

Ingredients:
Chocolate Parfait--pear, chocolate pudding, mikan, 1 slice kiwi, vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup

Banana Parfait--bananas, mikan, whipped cream dollops, 1 slice kiwi, chocolate syrup, vanilla ice cream

Reviews:
Kelly R.--Chocolate Parfait. The fruit has a good flavor. The chocolate syrup is not very good. The dollops of chocolate pudding are tasty. The vanilla ice cream is very sweet--more like a pudding flavor than ice cream. After the layer of fruit, it is basically just vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup all over, and not very good.

Wayne--The kiwi is teeny and tart. The bananas are generous but the chocolate sauce does not combine well with them. There were ice crystals in the ice cream. It is too small a parfait for ¥600. After waiting for months for this guest parfait, it is a major disappointment. The chocolate sauce is just ordinary Hershey's, there is a lack of ingredients and surprises and layers, and just ordinary vanilla ice cream. This parfait was a dud. I wouldn't want it again even if it was free. By contrast, the display parfaits have bountiful fresh fruit in vibrant colors, bursting up and over the top and sides, layered in a festive display of joy.

Parfait Club Ninth Meeting

Location: ST☆R, near Teramachi-dori, Kyoto
Members present: Kelly R., Owen, Kelly O., Kristin
Parfait tried: 1 Crazy Big Parfait ¥3680 (split 4 ways)
Ingredients: Vanilla/strawberry swirl softserve, corn flakes, whipped cream, berry syrup, strawberries, 3 waffle cones, 3 giant matcha pocky.

Reviews:
Kelly R.--Amazing! Not the best ice cream quality of the bunch, but a good combo of flavors. Worth it even just to see the thing in all its glory.

Owen--What are you doing reading this? Go get one now!!

Kelly O.--Recipie: Take God. Put him in a bowl. Top with strawberries. Stab with spoon. Seriously, this was quite possibly the most amazing thing I've ever eaten. The ice cream was just plain softserve, but in this case, I think quantity is an acceptable substitute for quality.

Kristin--I am completely full and suffering from too much sugar--and it was fun! I feel accomplished for some reason, and the parfait itself was pretty tasty (even had that good cereal crunch at the end). Fast service and in a good area of Kyoto for shopping. Take your friends (at least four of you)!

Break Time!

This week we took a break from parfaits and got specialty frozen drinks instead. Why the break? Well, we all had various appointments to keep, and were already a good month behind in updating our reviews, so we decided to make it a catch-up day. We did, however, still write reviews! Today's post is our thoughts on the freezy drinks we purchased.

Location: Kansai Gaidai Campus--McDonald's and Seattle's Best Coffee
Members present: Owen, Kelly O., Kelly R., Kristin
Parfaits Drinks tried:
3 マクド Matcha McFlurry
1 Seabest Strawberry Yogurt Javakūla

Ingredients:
Matcha McFlurry--Vanilla ice cream with green tea... mix... stuff... and Oreos.
Strawberry Yogurt Javakula--Strawberries, frozen yogurt, yummy things.

Reviews:
Owen--Matcha McFlurry: It's sweet. Other than that I could leave it.

Kelly O.--Matcha McFlurry: They really should bring this "limited time flavor" thing to the States. The McFlurry itself is definitely not very high quality (even in Japan!), but it's still very exciting to try the new flavors.

Kelly R.--Strawberry Yogurt Javakula: Not a parfait! But delicious! Very good flavor, and it's nice that they left in the bits of whole strawberry. Back to proper parfaits next week!

Kristin--The oreos were neccessary! Without them it would have been boring. It tastes just like green tea ice cream.

Parfait Club Eighth Meeting

Location: Hirakatashi Station
Members present: Owen, Kelly O., Kelly R., Kristin
Parfaits tried:
1 Chocolate Pail (split) ¥880
1 Strawberry Pail (split) ¥880

Ingredients:
Chocolate Pail--Chocolate syrup (and lots of it!), vanilla softserve, whipped cream, banana, fruit-salad-type fruits, corn flakes. Topped with an ice cream cone and a cherry. (hoshii)

Strawberry Pail--Strawberry syrup, soft serve, whipped cream, strawberries, corn flakes, melty vanilla ice cream, strawberry juice, and more strawberry pieces on the botton.

Reviews:
Owen--Chocolate Pail: If God was to have a Parfait, this would be it.

Kelly O.--Chocolate Pail: My only regret is that I did not try to take it on by myself. Also, because it's so big, it was very melty but the time we finished. Still, the ingredients were well-balanced and good quality. I'll have to go back for my own.

Kelly R.--Strawberry Pail: Absolutely delicious. Good quality ice cream, good quality fruit, plus a nice contrast of crunch under the first layer, and mixed into the really melty ice cream. It was the perfect size and price to split between two people.

Kristin--Strawberry Pail: I want to go back! Good price for its size, and the size is excitingly enormous (but still small enough to eat on your own). I loved the strawberries. Good parfait to split two ways. It was kind of soggy because it took a while to make, but still delicious.

Parfait Club Seventh Meeting

[Photo coming soon]
Location: Jyankara (Jumbo Karaoke), Hirakata
Members present: Kelly O., Owen, Kelly R., Kristin
Parfaits tried:
1 Ice Mango Parfait ¥380
2 Yoku Bari Chocolate Caramel Nuts ¥380
1 Chocolate Manhattan ¥380

Ingredients:
Ice Mango Parfait--Whipped cream, frozen mango bubes, chocolate cookie, mango ice cream, vanilla ice cream, mango syrup, corn flakes, and more vanilla ice cream on the bottom.
Yoku Bari Chocolate Caramel Nuts--Chocolate cookie, cream puff, chocolate syrup, whipped topping, chocolate ice cream, cream puff, pecans, walnuts, chocolate corn flakes, caramel syrup, vanilla ice cream.
Chocolate Manhattan--Chocolate cookie, chocolate ice cream, chocolate syrup, chocolate powder, chocolate-covered corn flakes, caramel syrup, vanilla ice cream.

Reviews:
Kelly O.--Yoku Bari Chocolate Caramel Nuts: An excellent combination--chocolate, caramel, and nuts, yummy! Plus the price was perfect. ^.^ Very crunch, too, which was nice, and the cream puff whas a nice addition. My only complaint: It should have been bigger!

Owen--Chocolate Manhattan: The chocolate in this parfait was nice. However, the corn flakes were a bit much and coule have done better with more ice cream.

Kelly R.--Ice Mango Parfait: The flavor was so-so. The whipped cream was too sweet. The mango was tasty but not the best. Fun to have during karaoke, and cheap, but don't go there just for the parfait.

Kristin--Yoku Bari Chocolate Caramel Nuts: This was such an exciting parfait! There was a cream puff on top and crunch, savory nuts that gave it such a rich contrast. It had corn flakes and a good amount of ice cream. Good price! Great to go along with Karaoke. ^_^

Parfait Club Sixth Meeting

[Photo coming soon]
Location: Anonymous cafe near Makino station
Members present: Kelly O., Owen, Kelly R., Kristin
Parfaits tried:
1 Banana Royal ¥530
1 Chocolate Parfait ¥530
2 Fruit Parfait ¥530

Ingredients:
Banana Royal--1 banana, 1 slice kiwi, 1 slice pear, 1 fig. Vanilla ice cream scoop. All topped with whipped cream.
Chocolate Parfait--Cherry, banana, pear, apple, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce on top. Vanilla ice cream more whipped cream in the middle. More pear, mandarin oranges, and something that may have been melon syrup at the bottom.
Fruit Parfait--Cherry, banana, bear, apple, whipped cream on top. Vanilla ice cream scoop with fruit sauce and pear in the middle. Mandarin oranges on bottom.

Reviews:
Kelly O.--Chocolate parfait: I liked that there3 were a lot of different kinds of fruit, and the melon syrup was interesting, but it definitely needed some crunch. Also, it wasn't very chocolatey--the only real differece between this and thr fruit parfait was a tiny amount of chocolate sauce. Still, iw was a quaint littls place, close to home, very cozy. I would like to go back and thry their other tasties. <3

Owen--Fruit Parfait: This was by far the best usage of fruit in a parfait I have come across.

Kelly R.--Banana was yummy. Pear was more yummy. Kiwi was most yummy. Ice cream pretty good too. Not quite worth the price.

Kristin--The pear was new and tasty, but it did not taste fresh--it was sugary from canned syrup, which tastes too candy-like for me. It was a good price, however, so I would get it again. I just wish it had some crunch.