Okay, this isn’t really Asian but Deep Fried Ice Cream is something I first had at an Asian restaurant and it seems that mainly Vietnamese & Japanese restaurants offer this. Some Mexican restaurants also have their own version too.
Saigon VIP
1850 Ste-Catherine O
It’s expensive at $6 but they give you a large scoop of hard vanilla ice cream encased in a nice batter. The large ball comes cut into four quarters for you to facilitate easier consumption. It’s drizzled with some sweet syrup (not chocolate, possibly maple syrup but I honestly couldn’t remember, it was sweet but not too sweet). It’s topped off with a bright red preserved cherry. For me what makes or breaks fried ice cream is the batter. I would say this is one of the better batter coatings I’ve encountered, maybe could’ve been a bit thinner and less hard but good enough for me.
Zenya
486 St. Catherine O
It’s listed on their dessert menu as Ice Cream Tempura and costs a whopping $7.95 although you do get a large scoop of deep fried ice cream deliciousness. I couldn’t tell if the batter actually used tempura but it does contain corn flakes or a similar type of cereal. It gives the batter a subtle sweetness which I liked quite a bit. You have a choice of three flavours of ice cream: vanilla, green tea and mango. I chose mango. The fried ice cream came cut in four quarters and was accompanied with blueberries and slices of strawberry. There wasn’t any syrup but that was fine by me. I think the best way to consume this type of dessert is to wait until the hard ice cream melts a bit and softens the batter as I found it just tasted better that way. This is probably my favourite one so far.
Sumo Ramen
1007 St Laurent
It has mango ice cream deep fried and topped with strawberries, whipped cream and chocolate sauce drizzled over it. It’s a great combination but I don’t like the batter which is exactly the same as the batter used for their fried seafood or tofu. It confused my tongue and almost ruined the dessert for me. If they changed the batter, it would improve the dessert immensely. I forgot how much it cost.
Cinque Epices
80 Jean Talon O
Instead of the ice cream being encased in batter it is wrapped with a deep fried crepe. It was drizzled with a very sticky syrup (which seemed to have a subtle honey flavour) and dark chocolate sauce that had a hint of liquor in it. Not bad but the sweetness of the crepe overpowered the ice cream. It also wasn’t cut apart so breaking it apart with only a spoon becomes a clumsy, messy affair. I should’ve asked the waiter to leave the knife. Price was $4.50 which is fairly cheap for this type of dessert.
Kinoya
4250 St. Denis
Le Fou D’Epice
300 Mont-Royal E
Kashima
1232 Greene
