626 Night Market Dessert Roundup

Fro-yo girl here. This was my second visit to the 626 Night Market, “the original and largest Asian-themed night market in the United States.” It’s as crowded and crazy as ever but there is food everywhere and so many desserts. What’s nice about the 626 Night Market is that it has become a showcase for new Asian food/dessert trends. The trendy foods are the most popular.

Most of the desserts featured ice cream but in different forms and it was clear that the crowds appreciated novelty. Here’s an overview of the ice cream/froyo offerings: 

• Choctal: prepackaged chocolate and vanilla single origin ice creams
• Crescendo Ice Cream: nitrogen infused ice cream isn’t that novel any more but they also had Singaporean style “ice cream bread.” Ice cream bread features ice cream served with a slice of soft bread. You’re supposed to fold the bread around the ice cream. In Singapore they like using rainbow colored bread with a block of ice cream. Crescendo used plain white bread.
• Dolcissimo: ice cream macaron sandwiches – these were popular of course, the Cookies & Cream one sold out first.
• Frach’s Fried Ice Cream Truck: a decadent creation – ice cream in the middle, cake shell and a crispy fried batter
• Ice Cream Garden: I knew that potted drinks were a trend but now there’s potted ice cream. I don’t really get it. They’re cute I guess.
• Matcha Mochi: Froyo! Matcha Mochi had two flavors, matcha green tea and English Earl grey. You could get a cup ($4) or add toppings (Chinese chewy boiled rice balls, red bean paste, fan waffle cookie) for an additional $2. Both froyo flavors were nice – strong tea flavor, creamy, light texture. The yogurt flavor was overwhelmed though. 
• Melting Fire: crossnut ice cream sandwich (a croissant donut ice cream sandwich)
• Ridges Churro Bar: different kinds of churros plus churro ice cream
• Three Twins: organic prepackaged ice cream
• UniqCone: ice cream J shaped hooks – this strange looking double-ended creation features a corn puff cone that’s filled with soft serve vanilla ice cream (but could easily be filled with froyo). The design eliminates drippy cones. UniqCone makes its own cones and the soft serve machines are modified to make it easy to fill the cones. The J-shaped “Jipangyi” cones started on the streets of Korea…like so many food trends.

None of the dessert or boba places was as popular as Main Squeeze lemonade; people wanted the light up mason jars. RAMNUTS (ramen donuts made with horchata marinated deep fried ramen noodles, stuffed with cream cheese, chocolate or strawberry fillings, iced and  topped with sprinkles) and potato tornadoes on a stick were also extremely popular. 

On the savory side, shark tacos, frog fries, pig feet on a stick, and pho waffles sounded intriguing.

The next 626 Night Market dates are August 7-9 and September 4-6 at the Santa Anita Park (the racetrack). Free parking. Admission is $3. 

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.