Written by Kevin Choa / Photography by Paolo Pareno

Summer has officially begun in the country. While temperatures in the 30s aren’t something to smile about, a lot of beach bums out there are more than happy to celebrate this time of the year. It’s about time they get to show off their fresh beach and bikini bodies, because why not? If you spent a lot of time, effort, and money while making sacrifices in the eating department, why not appreciate and reap the rewards you’ve rightfully earned?

Let’s be honest, though: eating clean to achieve that body isn’t easy, especially during the summer. There are tons of temptations out there ranging from gigantic milkshakes to towering sundae creations to the weirdest flavors of ice cream everyone lines up to try for the first time. Even on cheat days, eating or drinking any of them without significantly punishing your gut is almost impossible. Either you eat something really good today and gain 5 pounds tomorrow, or you eat a barely edible and bland version of these cold and sweet treats and feel cheated out of a cheat day. It’s so frustrating, am I right?

Enter Froozy Snow Bar. As they say: “low sugar, low calories…snow worries!”

Froozy was born out of a couple’s passion for delicious yet dainty desserts, good value for money, and healthy eating.  Built on their take on various shaved ice desserts in Taiwan and Korea, there’s nothing this bar can’t do in providing one of the best cold treats in Manila right now. By providing cool and clean alternatives to traditional ice cream and milkshakes, Froozy truly raises the bar and sweetens the deal with the endless possibilities on its menu.

Froozy’s menu can be split into two parts: either create your own sweet treat, or go for their takes on other classic desserts. Either way, you can never go wrong with this formula. With that said, let’s take a long, drool-filled look at their unique spins on classic desserts such as halo-halo, s’mores, and red velvet cake. These stand out as the best ones on their current list, but owners Jen and Edouard hint at more combinations in the future!

Modern Halo-Halo

One of the best cold treats anywhere in the country, halo-halo still has a bad reputation for the health-conscious. It’s either too sweet, too rich in fatty toppings, or both. This take avoids both and is one of the best cold treats I’ve ever tasted.

Even with more toppings than the average bowl in Froozy (seven versus three or four), it doesn’t affect the flavor and presents a clean and crisp version that still pays respect to the traditional version. Thanks to the relatively light ube-flavored base and the right balance of the different components, this modern halo-halo offers everything we love and less of what we loathe about it.

Summer Camp S’mores

One of the highlights of this bowl: marshmallows torched to order

The owners say this is the most popular of their special combinations among kids. After seeing this creation, it’ll be tough to disagree. This combines a lot of food many of us loved as kids: vanilla ice cream, chocolate brownies, graham crackers, and torched marshmallows. These photos don’t do justice to the flavor combination of this bowl. It manages to pull in some of the most indulgent and sweet ingredients available, but still makes it appear light and edible on a daily basis. The s’mores bowl looks heavy, but feels light: a great sign for those trying to eat a bit cleaner.

Red Velvet Crunch

A typical red velvet cake can be summed up in one word: heavy. With all of the thick layers of chocolate cake and the dense and sticky addition of cream cheese frosting or icing in-between, it’s clearly a no-man’s land for someone aspiring for a bikini body.

While Froozy’s version isn’t exactly something those people should be eating daily, it’s nevertheless a tastier and healthier alternative compared to the traditional version. It still has everything people look for in a good red velvet cake: the actual cake, the cheese (this version has it in cake form), and the overall sweetness.

The secret to this version is not just its lightness, but also a hidden aspect of crunch thanks to Froozy’s freshly made white chocolate cornflakes. Didn’t expect that one, did you? Round it up with some light Madagascar vanilla snow as the base and you have a treat that’s better than both red velvet cake and ice cream.

As much as these three bowls have been great, the best desserts are the ones you make yourself. From being a much healthier alternative to traditional ice cream to being a solid option for picky eaters, Froozy fills in yet another gap in the crowded field of cold treats.

From a wide array of toppings ranging from fruits to cakes to syrups, the possibilities are endless. What separates it from other chains, though, is that most of the toppings are freshly made everyday.

With that in mind, here are our picks. Note that each of us chose a flavor of “snow” (the base), three different toppings, and a flavor of syrup.

Here’s my creation, my Strawberry Cream Sundae Pie.

Forget apple pie. Strawberry pie à la mode is one of the best desserts I’ve ever tried in my life. This creation starts off with a light Madagascar vanilla base like the ones used in the S’mores and Red Velvet Crunch bowls, then gets lined up with pie crust, fresh Baguio strawberries, and torched marshmallows before being topped off with fresh strawberry syrup.

Pies normally have a bad reputation for so much butter and eggs being used in the crust, so this is my cleaner alternative to an otherwise heavy dessert.

Here’s Paolo’s creation, his Caramel Overload.

Paolo was clearly down with the brown on this one. We start off with the same vanilla base, but he instead goes for every single topping with caramel in it (except that he ditches the salted caramel popcorn for cookie dough).

With leche flan, caramel bars, cookie dough, and salted caramel, this creation serves as a testament to the lengths Froozy can go to satisfy almost any interested eater. As for the taste, it’s definitely the sweetest one we had; but a dessert isn’t a dessert without being sweet, right?

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: you can never go wrong at Froozy. Not only does it cater to different tastes; but also provides a cleaner, tastier, and healthier alternative to ice cream. While I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have ice cream ever again (always treat yourself once in a while), this is probably the best place to grab tasty cold treats that won’t punish your gut. (P.S. We heard a bigger location will be opening in SM Fairview very soon!)

Froozy Snow Bar

Level 2, Veranda, Robinsons Galleria, Ortigas Center, Quezon City

Sundays to Thursdays: 10AM to 9PM / Fridays and Saturdays: 10AM to 10PM

0917 154 1223

https://www.facebook.com/froozyph