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2011-01-08
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Having been trained in making desserts for an old job, including frozen ones, and with a trained palette for the ingredients, I thought I should start a few knowledgable reviews of these "froyo shops" recently new to Hong Kong, especially since I've tasted at Pinkberry, Yogurtland and about 20 slightly more well-known chains around the world. Also (in case anyone reads English reviews here) it should help some local people see the difference. Unfortunately, it seems that most of the reviews I'
My second stop was Yogo. I liked that this shop had more choices than many others that seem to stay with an original tart or sometimes add a green tea. I like variety, so I asked to have just a little of each. I didn't want much. The server (an Asian guy who spoke decent English) told me that there was a minimum so I asked for the minimum amount, but when he dispensed it, he put on 150 grams more than the minimum. This made me very upset, since my yogurt should have only cost $20-25 because I asked for around 150 grams, but was given over $35 worth before toppings!
Still, there's more. The yogurt taste and texture was melting already when it got into my hands. Possibly, the yogurt was not ready, because when I first asked for the yogurt, the staff pumped the machine, but nothing came out and liquid dripped out first, not frozen yogurt. When I ate it, I could taste the milk, and possibly some actual yogurt was contained, but there was a powder taste and slight icy ,which I didn't like. Plus, the flavoring didn't really taste totally natural, but still tasted acceptable. I can tell that this shop is using more milk than is good for you to eat and so it reduces the healthiness, especially compared to places like Yo Mama.
And here's what happened afterwards, I got sick, and yes, I'm a bit lactose intolerant, but this doesn't happen when I eat McDonald's soft serve. I had bad stomach problems and had diarrhea after eating this "froyo", if you could call it that. This is a further evidence of the overabundance of milk in the product and the absence of sufficient real, fresh yogurt, which contains lactate so it counteracts the lactose. Real yogurt is what you get in places like Pinkberry and Yogurtland in the US, NOT in Hong Kong though. But not to worry, I did find about a few shops here that use a bit of real yogurt with live, active probiotics (this was originally supposed to be one of the main reasons people eat yogurt), rather than dead yogurt cultures in a powder. Will discuss those in my next reviews.
I have to say that the staff are nice and actually speak to you, but this does not make up for poor-quality product and bad handling of OVERCHARGING customers. I saw quite a few students there so it's sad that youth in HK care more about "trendy" than about real quality. Other pay-by-weight I visited did not force me to spend more.
I even told them that I felt overcharged and the staff didn't seem to care. But maybe some bad reviews will help them fix their policies.
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