N Gelato Opens in Azusa

Fro-yo girl here. If you’re wondering whether N Gelato has frozen yogurt, of course it does. It has much more than gelato. N Gelato has customizable liquid nitrogen frozen desserts where you choose the base and the mix ins. The dessert is then blended together. Or, you can get soft serve froyo, gelato, and sorbet with or without mix-ins. You can also add toppings like cereal, candy, fruit, sauces, nuts, cookies and cheesecake bites.

N Gelato opened in late April, across the street from Azusa Pacific University and very close to Yogurtland. They took over the old Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt space. Tutti Frutti had different froyo machines and furniture, so N Gelato actually remodeled the place and bought their own Stoelting yogurt machines.

I haven’t tried it yet because I was full from lunch and I thought it was just a gelato place.

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

* N GELATO: 992 E Alosta Ave., Azusa, CA 91702

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.

626 Night Market Dessert Trends Report

Fro-yo girl here. I returned to the 626 Night Market, “the original and largest Asian-themed night market in the United States” with some friends during Labor Day weekend. They changed the layout again (the food trucks were outside in the parking lot) and they seemed to have as many vendors as ever, including plenty of new ones. The art section was much smaller though. 

The 626 Night Market is a showcase for new Asian food trends. This year some new foods included rainbow grilled cheese, cute bentos, cotton candy topped with bacon or a soft shell crab, shot glass cookies filled with milk and sushi donuts.

There were more Thai rolled ice cream and churros vendors than ever (ice cream rolls and churros were already at the 626 Night Market last year). The Blue Nova, SoCal's first ice cream rolls truck, just launched. Drinks continued to be very popular. Main Squeeze started the light up bottle trend last year. This year the drinks came in light bulb shapes with a mini lightbulb light) and giant light up baby bottles.

Desserts included fried ice cream, potted ice cream, fish waffles filled with soft serve, snow ice, Hawaiian shaved ice, churros (with ice cream), cronut ice cream sandwiches, cookie shot glasses filled with milk, Hong Kong egg waffles, funnel cakes, ice cream rolls, liquid nitrogen ice cream, grass jelly, dessert tofu, milkshakes, halo halo, and cotton candy.

While I didn’t see any froyo, A+ Tea House did offer yogurt drinks. The rolled ice cream places only had ice cream. Last year one place, Snow House, Tea Bar had strawberry froyo rolls. The trends didn’t seem as innovative this year. The only one that surprised me was the cotton candy topped with a soft shell crab from Cap’n Crispy. I wish they had higher end vendors like Sul & Beans, Honeymee or Beeline.

The 626 Night Market will presumably return next summer (given how popular it is, it should be back). 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.

New Frozen Yogurt/Ice Cream Shop: Sweet Lab in Rosemead, CA

Fro-yo girl here. Sweet Lab opened recently in Rosemead; they use liquid nitrogen and KitchenAid stand mixers to make your ice cream or frozen yogurt to order. One order gets you two scoops and they use cookies, nuts and cereal to make cute faces on your ice cream or frozen yogurt. You can get liquid nitrogen ice cream or frozen yogurt in a cup, waffle cone or Hong Kong style egg waffle cone (aka egg puffs, HK waffles), milk teas, and hot spicy dip (which I think it’s like a hot pot?)

There aren’t that many ice cream and yogurt flavors to choose from but the fruit flavors are made with real fruit. Froyo flavors ($5.50-$5.95): Double berry (strawberry, blueberry), Strawberry, Blueberry, Papaya, Mango

I recommend getting the egg waffles – they’re also made to order. The waffles look kinda like bubble tape. The bubbles are soft and the batter in between is crispier. People like the contrast between the warm waffles and the cold ice cream or frozen yogurt.
* Strawberry yogurt ($5.50): A little simplistic but natural tasting; imagine adding fruit to yogurt and freezing it. The frozen yogurt wasn’t too sweet and it was actually sour and tangy. The texture was soft and smoother than a mix in style yogurt. Some parts were firmer. 

* Egg waffle cone ($1): Very nice, the soft parts were soft, the crispy parts weren’t too crispy, the batter wasn’t too sweet and it had a hint of coconut, just $1 with your froyo or ice cream order, it’s totally worth it

I think my favorite part was the egg waffle cone but I don't think it would go well with soft serve froyo because the froyo would make it soggy.

$15 credit card minimum.

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

4 out of 5 stars

By Lolia S.

* SWEET LAB: 8526 Valley Blvd. # 112, Rosemead, CA 91770

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.