Along Maginhawa Street in Sikatuna Village, Quezon City is a newly-opened ice cream parlor called Papa Diddi’s Ice Cream Company. It just opened two months ago – March 11, to be exact – but it has already gained a loyal following of people who come back and spread positive feedback about the new ice cream place in town.
Hello there, Papa Diddi’s Ice Cream Company!
It’s just a small ice cream parlor, but it has a cool interior design.
Many of the customers ask the owner, Paul Perez, whether he is Papa Diddi, but the shop is actually a tribute to Paul’s father, Papa Diddi, who was a lawyer and an ice cream maker. It’s also fun to know that their family is from Tuguegarao City, the hottest city in our country (hence, the ice cream).
Papa Diddi has a small portrait on one of Papa Diddi’s Ice Cream Company‘s book shelves. Those law books were his.
Paul Perez, the son of Papa Diddi and owner and ice cream maker of Papa Diddi’s Ice Cream Company.
What makes Papa Diddi’s Ice Cream stand out is its homemade, all-natural ice cream, the ingredients of which are all proudly locally produced by farmers from Mountain Province, Nueva Ecija, and Laguna. The flavors are creative and original, as well— flavors that would probably make you raise an eyebrow at first sight until you try them, such as the Backyard Farm Tarragon (an aromatic herb) and Roasted Forbidden Rice (made from black rice). Surprisingly, these two are some of Papa Diddi’s bestsellers.
Paul said making ice cream has been a family activity for him and his wife, together with their eight children. He attended a short intensive course for ice cream making in the University of Pennsylvania mainly for the operation of Papa Diddi’s Ice Cream Company.
Now, he makes small batches of ice cream for his shop with some help from his small staff every now and then. He crafts ice cream daily (at midnight to be exact) to ensure its freshness and quality.
Mango ginger ice cream, anyone? 🙂
Papa Diddi’s Ice Cream Company can also give you a free taste of their ice cream, so you won’t regret missing out on what could be your new personal favorite flavors. My fellow WhenInManila writer, Myk, and our friend, Fidel, tried the following flavors:
Davao Meets Bicol finds the perfect balance between Davao’s cacao and Bicol’s sili. Both flavors complement and contrast each other at the same time, creating a party inside your mouth. It’s not too spicy and the bitterness is just right. The spicy kick in the aftertaste? Genius. As a chocolate and spicy food lover, it’s a favourite, no doubt!
The Indulgence size (P95) comes with three flavors of your choice. This one has Dulce Gato, Davao Meets Bicol, and Peanut Butter and Jelly.
Dulce Gato is Papa Diddi’s take on vanilla ice cream. However, since we don’t have locally produced vanilla, Dulce Gato is made from carabao’s milk! Tasting it makes me remember my childhood when we’d go to Hagonoy, Bulacan for vacation and drink carabao’s milk for breakfast. Dulce de Gato has that natural, milky goodness.
Peanut Butter and Jelly in ice cream form is a childhood dream come true. It’s a bit sweeter than the others, so this is perfect for people who have a sweet tooth, especially the kiddos.
The taste of authentic strawberries stands out in Papa Diddi’s Roasted Strawberry ice cream. It’s a mix of the mild sweetness and tangy flavor of La Trinidad strawberries. I guess you could say it’s… straaaw berry good!
Roasted Forbidden Rice, Roasted Strawberry, and Backyard Farm Tarragon on an “ice cream nest” made of rice crispies. Yum!
Roasted Forbidden Rice is also my favourite. It has black rice bits that give the ice cream a unique texture. Believe it or not, it works really well as an ice cream flavor. Once you go black, you’ll always come back! (I am honestly going back for this.)
The Backyard Farm Tarragon tastes weird in a good way. It’s admittedly my first time to taste this herb, and I can tell why it’s one of Papa Diddi’s bestsellers. It’s refreshing to the palate. The closest flavor I can think of is peppermint-flavored ice cream, but trust me: it’s NOTHING like Tarragon.
Sweet P. is sweet potato-flavored ice cream. Just when you thought sweet potato couldn’t taste any better, it just did. Minus the gas. You better try this yourself when you visit Papa Diddi’s because I have no words to describe this one. It’s Fidel’s favourite!
Combining coconut and lemongrass made the Coconut and Lemongrass Duo burst with rich flavors. I think I’d want this especially when I’m at the beach.
Churros con Tsokolate with Double Chocolate Ice Cream made out of the famous tableas from Davao and Batangas on top of three flower-shaped churros!
Me wants cookie and ice cream!
Chocolate chip cookies with Peanut Butter and Jelly ice cream (P95)
Other intriguing flavors includeAvocado Rum, Star Anese, and Coffee Addiction. I expected that eating a lot of ice cream would eventually make my throat sore , but it didn’t because Papa Diddi’s ice creams are not too sweet. They are just flavorful enough to enjoy.
It is quite noticeable that all of Papa Diddi’s ice creams look a bit paler than your average ice cream. Paul explained that this is because he does not add food coloring to the ice cream, staying true to Papa Diddi’s commitment to all-natural ice cream.
Their menu will also vary from time to time since they depend on the harvest time and seasonality of their ingredients. I think this challenge only adds appeal to the ice cream shop as it will keep customers intrigued by the new flavors that Papa Diddi’s will offer.
Due to popular demand, they now have pint-sized ice creams for take-out! (P275)
Reasonable prices for delicious, fresh, and organic ice cream!
This mango shake is flavorful, thick, and creamy. It’s blended with mango ice cream, too!
Health-conscious folks love Papa Diddi’s ice creams because they are organic. Even children who turn their backs on veggies come to love Papa Diddi’s ice cream flavor made from squash called Too Early for Halloween.
All in all, eating at Papa Diddi’s Ice Cream Company was bliss, knowing that we we were eating healthy ice cream with locally-produced ingredients. I also couldn’t help but think about the many small poor farmers that Papa Diddi’s Ice Cream Company helps through this business while I was eating. I wish to see more of Papa Diddi’s Ice Cream Company, hopefully in other places so that others who are far from Maginhawa St. can taste the pure goodness of Papa Diddi’s ice cream flavors, as well.
Papa Diddi’s Ice Cream Company
168 Maginhawa Street, Sikatuna Village, Quezon City
434-3784
https://www.facebook.com/papadiddis
Twitter/Instagram: @papadiddis
