Rita’s Italian Ice and Frozen Custard Opens in Manila

Rita’s Italian Ice is the biggest Italian ice concept in the United States with over 600 stores. Their signature products are the Italian ice(made fresh daily in store) and frozen custard. They will be opening their first outlet in V-Mall, Greenhills on Nov. 8, 2014, occupying the previous space of Milky Way. Plans to open 5 more are underway and should be completed by mid 2015.

They are still doing finishing touches on the store and it’s environs as they move to the soft opening on Nov. 8. The counter is clean and simple with knowledgeable staff to help you through your choices. You can’t miss the store as it is right beside the entrance to V-Mall, previously occupied by Milky Way and before that, Haagen Daz.

Their two main products are Italian Ice and Frozen Custard, both available as is or in a combination. The Italian ice is made fresh daily on premises with fresh fruit while the frozen custard is imported from the USA. They are hoping to manufacture this locally in the future. I’ve never tried Rita’s Italian Ice before so was quite excited to taste what the fuss is all about.

They had 14 Italian ice flavors available during our sneak taste yesterday together with 4 frozen custard flavors. Toppings available for that day include our local chocnut, Nilla vanilla wafers, Nerds, gummi bears

I would describe Italian ice as something like melted popsicle while frozen custard is similar in form to ice cream but it contains eggs and is thicker.

Here is their product lineup:

Italian Ice (P100/reg, P125/large, P250/quart)

Frozen Custard (P125/reg cone, P160/large cone)

Sundae (P160/reg, P195/large)- frozen custard with two toppings, whipped cream and cherry.

Gelati (P130/reg, P160/large) – Alternating layers of Italian ice and frozen custard of your choice.

Misto (P140/reg, P160/large) – Liquid custard mixed with Italian ice of your choice

Blendini (P130/reg, P160/large) – Frozen custard, Italian ice and one topping, mixed together.

Milkshake (P160/reg) – liquid custard and milk blended with one topping and whipped cream on top.

Frozen Lemonade (P120/reg, P140/large) – Alex’s Frozen Lemonade mixed with another Italian ice flavor of your choice.

Custard Cookie Sandwich (P60/plain, P70/with 1 topping). An Oreo cookie sandwich with a thick slab of frozen custard in between.

Lauren first tried a Chocolate Blendini (Chocolate ice + Vanilla Frozen Custard + hot caramel). Here’s how they make it.

They dispense the frozen custard into a cup.

Put in the hot caramel syrup.

Add the Chocolate Italian Ice on top, then moves it to the mixer to blend it all together.

Here’s the final product, the Blendini. I also got myself a Blendini but it was a combination of Banana Split Cream and Light Vanilla Custard plus chopped walnuts. I tried the light vanilla custard and it taste virtually the same as the regular just minus a whole amount of fats and calories. I also got to try a little of the coffee frozen custard and I really like it and would order it plain.

The final product is the perfect balance of icy and creamy so it goes down smoother and easier.

Lauren finally found her favorite, the Strawberry Italian Ice. She even said that she can now tell her mom that she eats fruits since Rita’s Italian ice is made from real fruits, you can see the tiny black seeds.

Here is a kiddie little frozen custard cone rolled in sprinkles. The custard is quite dense and does not melt easily even after more than 10 minutes of taking pictures.

This is a Cotton Candy Misto that another sneak taster ordered. I was not able to try it but it is the drinkable version of the Gelati.

I’m happy Rita’s Italian Ice has decided to add more cold treats to our eating landscape. We can never have too much of it in our warm tropical climate.

Rita’s Italian Ice

G/F V-Mall, Greenhills Shopping Center

Greenhills, San Juan City

Philippines

Facebook Page: Rita’s Italian Ice Philippines

Website: Rita’s Italian Ice

 

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