Dragon's Breath S'more @ The Iscreamist

"Molecular gastronomy or molecular cuisine is the science of cooking but it is commonly used to describe a new style of cuisine in which chefs explore new culinary possibilities in the kitchen by embracing sensory and food science, borrowing tools from the science lab and ingredients from the food industry and concocting surprise after surprise for their diners." ~ from Molecular Recipes (http://www.molecularrecipes.com/molecular-gastronomy)

Quite a lot of words... However, I think I can simplify that and define Molecular Gastronomy as "Food + Science = A New Fun Way Of Eating!"

The Iscreamist is an ice cream shop that practices this 'food art' (or should I say 'food science') by making use of Liquid Nitrogen and 'flash freezing'. We've actually heard about the place a couple times and didn't really have time to visit. But then after helping my big brother move to their new place and we thought that we deserved a reward for our hard work, we decided to drop by on the way home.

LocationMap
Photo taken from Google Maps

This is a very small ice cream store located in Magiting Street near Maginhawa Street. In fact, it's so small that it can only accommodate about 10-15 diners at a time so a line of people waiting to be seated is inevitable. On the plus side, the place looks like a miniature laboratory where Pillow Legs (who is a chem grad) instantly felt at home. It also 'pumps you up' for the upcoming science-infused desserts.

Logo
The 'Tron-like' neon sign of the place

Warning
A fair warning...
Hours
Hours: 1:00PM - 10:00PM

Counter
Like I said, people tend to line up for this...

So what do these food scientists serve? Well, first off, they serve 'flash frozen' ice cream (Php110 - roughly US$2-3 - per serving). These are basically ice cream that are frozen using liquid nitrogen. Yes, you read this right, they flash freeze the yummy delights right before serving. The downside though is that they melt REALLY fast. And I don't mean the 'enjoy-the-moment-and-have-a-leisurely-talk-while-eating' kind of fast... rather the 'OMG-eat-quickly-it's-melting' kind of fast. That goes without saying that they serve a very delicious variety of ice cream though.

Menu
The Periodic Table Of Frozen Treats

LNitrogen Tanks
Huge liquid nitrogen tanks... smoky! XD

What we decided to try the Nutella ice cream first. The only way I can describe this is it's 'heaven in a cup'. It wasn't too sweet, nor was it bland. It was just right. And since the treat was flash frozen, it instantly melts in your mouth once you take a spoonful in. Coupled with little hand-torched marshmallows, this treat is definitely one of the best ice cream treats that I've tasted so far. It didn't matter that the ice cream was quickly melting in our cup as we couldn't stop eating it! We almost didn't notice that our first serving was empty... seconds please! :P

Hand-torched marshmallows
Smore2
He looks so happy making them

Nutella
Nutella Ice Cream
(Php110 - roughly US$2-3)

Next up was the Red Velvet Cake ice cream. PillowLegs is a fan of anything Red Velvet... cupcakes, cheesecakes, cakes, pretty much anything that says red velvet, she wants it. Anyway, the ice cream really caught the 'Red Velvet' concept. It has these bits of what I think are real Red Velvet cakes that adds texture to the frozen delight. Also, the cream cheese like base seals the deal. Everything just instantly melts in your mouth when you taste it!

Since the ice cream experience has been so good here, we decided to try a third one. We got the Malted Caramel ice cream. No, that is not a typo of 'melted'... it actually says 'malted'. Why you ask? Well it's because the ice cream comes with a Maltesers like flavor. Add caramel to that and you have a heavenly day care center for your sweet tooth... I'm not kidding. It has that creamy, little salty flavor from the base but when the caramel kicks in... it's all sugar party baby!

RedVelvetCake
Red Velvet Cake Ice Cream
(Php110 - roughly US$2-3)
MaltedCaramel
Malted Caramel Ice Cream
(Php110 - roughly US$2-3)

After all the ice cream delights, we decided to try what The Iscreamist is known for... the Dragon's Breath (Php65 - roughly US$ 1-2). This interestingly intimidating, medieval sounding treat is actually a collection of small snacks that get dipped into a cup of liquid nitrogen before being eaten which causes you to breathe smoke like a dragon. Hence, the clever name.

Unfortunately, the only available snack for this treat at the time of our visit are the S'mores. They're cutely served in an ashtray stuck with popsicle sticks. Also, they gave us instructions on how to eat these treats before serving. They said that we're supposed to dip the s'mores in liquid nitrogen for about 7-10 seconds and eat it immediately after. So we did... and it was really fun! =)

Smore1
S'more - Dragon's Breath
(Php65 - roughly US$1-2)
Smore2
The liquid nitrogen is in that styro cup...
Smore3
Smoky treats cleverly served in an ashtray!

Besides being fun, I bet you want to know what it tastes like. Well, I'll start off with what the s'mores are made of. They're basically marshmallow and wafer sandwiched between a pair of graham crackers. Very normal in a sense that it's not really the type of snack that you'll drool over on a Sunday afternoon. However, all of that changes when you dip it in the liquid nitrogen...

First off, the 'cracker sandwich' freezes to the point that it would shatter into pieces when you bite into it (really, it brings new meaning to the word 'crunchy'). In addition, once into your mouth, it almost instantly melts which is interesting as it gives off a sort mushy, marshmallowy texture to it. Oh, you have to be careful, the treat tends to stick into parts of your mouth at first as it is super frozen so you would basically end up juggling it a bit before it melts (which I think is part of the fun).

SmoreBefore
Before Liquid Nitrogen...
SmoreAfter
After Liquid Nitrogen...
PillowSmore
Dragon in 3... 2... 1... ;)
ChubbySmore
Dragon's breath indeed...

Overall, The Iscreamist provides you with a new way of experiencing an all time frozen favorite. It also brings out the kid in you by using science AND sweets. However, due to the fact that we've tasted other ice creams from other shops that rival the flavors that this shop offers at a cheaper price (plus the fact that there is virtually NO parking space at all for anyone who brings a car here), we can't really give it a high rating. So if you want to experience something new and are willing to shell out a bit for it, then we would definitely recommend you to try what this shop has to offer. Other than that, we give them a rating of 3 out of 5 stars.

Rating
Overall Rating: 3 stars out of 5
After
After the carnage...




The Iscreamist
46D Magiting Street, Teacher's Village
Quezon City, Philippines
Hours: Mon-Sun 1:00PM - 10:00PM
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/TheIscreamist




(Date of Visit: July 29, 2013)

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