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.

Unofficial Meeting 2

Location: Bom Dia, Hiroshima station, Hiroshima
Members present: Kristin, Kelly R.
Parfaits tried:
1 Chocolate Brownie Parfait ¥530
1 Fruits Yogurt Parfait ¥530

Ingredients:
Chocolate Brownie--On the top layer was both chocolate and vanilla ice cream, a small amount of whipped cream and chocolate syrup, and also several slives of brownie. A chunk of pineapple adorns the top with a mnt leaf. Below this layer is a chocolate cereal and then more ic cream. On the bottom is a layer of coffee and jelly cubes.
Fruits Yogurt--Mango, banana, kiwi, and orange slices surrounding vanilla softserve with strawberry syrup on top. Second layer was corn flakes, and yogurt and strawberry jam at the bottom.

Reviews:
Kristin--Chocolate brownie. I found the contrast in the parfait to be amazing. Finally something with crunch, cream, and something special--the jelly cubes were fantastic! I also thought the coffee taste at the bottom was unique and fit well. It was a good size for a good price. The brownies were also very good--not too crispy, but not soggy, either.

Kelly--I had the fruits yogurt parfait. It was absolutely the best one I've had so far as part of this club. The fruit was all fresh except for the mango, which was frozen. The parfait was presented beautifully and contained a wonderful mix of flavors. Corn flakes in the middle provide a nice change of texture, and the yogurt at the bottom was a wonderful way to end. It had just enough sweetness when eaten together with the strawberry jam, while at the same time not being overly sugary, so it leaves your pallate refreshed and cool.

Independent Parfait 1

Location: Tottori--Cafe in Covered Shopping Arcade
Members present: Kelly O.
Parfaits tried: Mocha Parfait ¥480
Ingredients: Whipped cream with cherry, wafer tube sticks, vanilla ice cream, mocha-flavored jelly cubes, pineapple, banana, kiwi, mandarin orange.

Review:
The parfait itself was only so-so, I thought. The big problem was just with the jelly-cubes, though. There were somewhat icy, and I'm not sure that I was crazy about that particular combination of textures. The fruit, however, was very good--fresh-tasting, not watery, and delicious. The did have a fruits parfait, too, so maybe that would be preferable.