Fro-yo girl here. I stopped going to 626 Night Market in Arcadia because of the pandemic. Going anywhere with crowds just seemed unappealing. But I returned this year because I saw that at least one vendor was going to offer frozen yogurt. The last time I went was in 2019. I reread my 2019 post and it sums up how I felt about the 2025 edition. It was far less crowded than in prior years, but maybe that’s because I went on July 4th. They’ve added more tables and benches for you to sit.
I saw many trends, but most have already been offered elsewhere (e.g., Labubu dolls, Dubai chocolate cups, tanghulu, charms, crochet dolls, freeze-dried fruit). It felt like there were fewer food vendors and fewer food trucks. They used to have better food trucks and more Chinese food. There used to be at least two stinky tofu vendors. This year, I didn’t smell stinky tofu once, and there were more Japanese food vendors than Chinese. You can still find adventurous foods like balut, pork blood cake (so delicious), and durian smoothies.
But, frozen yogurt returned! MOJO had fried yogurt skewers, aka thick-cut yogurt. The yogurt is poured onto a freezing pan and sliced into bite-sized shapes after freezing. Some shops add fruit, nuts, seeds, and grains.
MOJO had three flavors of fried yogurt: mango, strawberry, and pitaya. The cubes were made with yogurt and fruit. Each skewer had three cubes. Two skewers were $7. The strawberry yogurt cubes were creamier than the pitaya cubes. The pitaya yogurt had more tang. The cubes were very firm. The yogurt was lightly sweetened. Because the cubes were so plain, it felt like something that I could easily make at home. But, it was nice to see a frozen yogurt treat at the night market.
There were a few things that I wanted to try, including the Japanese fried sando from Sandoitchi and the Japanese egg-shaped cakes.
Free parking. Admission is $5.90 (presale), $6.93 general admission.
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.
Fro-yo girl here. I started noticing new froyo cube shops opening in Asia and Australia in early 2022. The first one in the US that I knew about was in Seattle. For a history of the thick cut yogurt cubes and slices trend, read IFYA’s post, New Froyo Trend: Froyo Cubes and Yogurt Slices. Froyo cubes and slices are made on freezing pans in one piece and then cut into shapes after the freezing process.
I found a local milk tea shop that started offering froyo cubes in 2022. L2 Tea Club opened in November 2021 in San Gabriel, CA. L2 has six flavors of fried yogurt. The available flavors were: Jasmine Lady Meteor, Rose Lychee O’hara Garden Meteor, Mango Diamond Meteor, and Osmanthus Peach Wonderland. One order is $11.95 and comes with 6 big yogurt cubes. One yogurt cube was about 3” length x 2” height x 3” width. I was told that the yogurt cubes were made earlier that day.
They were out of Sun Galaxy and Moon Galaxy yogurt cubes.
Rose Lychee O’hara Golden Meteor Fried Yogurt Cubes: I was pleasantly surprised! The yogurt was very flavorful and very tangy. It’s dense and icy but refreshing. Also, the cubes did not melt quickly. The top of the cubes had dried rose petals. The cubes had bits of lychee and also chewy mochi. Rose and lychee are such complementary flavors.
Bring a friend to share an order because you get a lot of froyo in one cup. I wish they had a smaller size and also allowed you to build your own cup by selecting multiple flavors. The cubes were huge too. I’d prefer a cube that was bite-sized.
You could try making froyo cubes at home with ice cube tray.
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
* L2 TEA CLUB: 1635 S San Gabriel Blvd, Unit D, San Gabriel, CA 91776
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.
Fro-yo girl here. The last 626 Night Market of 2015 is this weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) at Santa Anita Park. While some vendors from the August night market returned (e.g., Ice Cream Garden, Ridges Churro Bar, Dolcissimo ice cream macaron sandwiches , UniqCone) there were also new dessert vendors. The handpulled noodle stall (China Tasty) was new and they had a guy making noodles on the spot.
New Desserts:
Nimo Yaki: Nimo Yaki is a a fresh fish shaped waffle (taiyaki) served plain (with red bean, $4) or filled with ice cream ($6). The soft serve ice cream is available in two flavors, vanilla and chocolate (or you can choose both). The wide mouth fish is made on a waffle iron. Red bean paste is added to the batter. The fish is stuffed with soft serve ice cream, then garnished with sprinkles and a wafer roll cookie. The vanilla ice cream wasn’t a high quality ice cream and the garnishes were run of the mill. The fish is a doughy waffle. It’s novel (and inspired by Korean street food) but the execution was disappointing.
Snow House Tea Bar: They had frozen yogurt! It was called fried yogurt with fresh fruits. You can get strawberry yogurt or mango yogurt ($8). The yogurt is poured in a thin layer on a cold metal plate and then scraped with spatulas and shaped into rolls. I tried something similar years ago at a place called Ice Pan in Los Angeles (it closed) and I wasn’t a fan.
Go late (it’s open till 1 AM) to avoid the long lines for food. The longest line is for ramen burgers. Free parking. Admission is $3.
http://www.626nightmarket.com/
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.
