Tried It: Durian Froyo

Fro-yo girl here. I’ve smelled durian before but didn’t dare try it…but then it became a froyo flavor. I knew that you could get durian froyo in Hong Kong but I was surprised to find it in the US. I spotted it at Kirin Buffet, the Asian all-you-can-eat seafood buffet restaurant at Santa Anita Mall in Arcadia.

Kirin positions itself as a healthier buffet and that includes offering froyo for dessert. The froyo is self-serve and they have four flavors. I’m not sure how often they change flavors but it doesn’t seem like they change frequently. There are a few dry toppings available: cookies, sprinkles, dried fruit, marshmallows, chocolate chips and peanuts.

The flavor signs are in English and Chinese. They say that the yogurt is made with real strawberry, blueberry and durian.

Flavors of the day:

* Blueberry

* Green Tea

* Strawberry

* Durian: I’m not a durian fan and I haven’t even tried it before. This flavor was icier than the other three. It smells really bad (unless you like the durian scent) like gasoline mixed with dirty socks but fruitier. It tasted like it smelled…so I couldn’t eat much of it.

The frozen yogurt is not the tangy kind. It’s the sweet kind that tries to taste like soft serve ice cream. The flavors were muted/bland except for the durian but I suspect that a tiny bit of potent durian goes a long way. The best flavor was the green tea, followed by strawberry and blueberry.

They have other desserts that you could add to your froyo, like mochi, Hong Kong egg puffs, cheesecake, cream puffs and cake.

Lunch is $12.95 Monday-Friday from 11:30 AM – 4 PM and $19.95 on weekends.

P.S.  The Sweet XO at Santa Anita Mall closed. They  used to have milk tea froyo, which tasted a lot better than durian froyo.

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

* KIRIN BUFFET & GRILL: 400 S Baldwin Ave., Ste 440, Arcadia, CA 91007

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