Menchie's Froyo

Menchie's Froyo, a photo by zetoast on Flickr.


Today I went to Menchie's in the Hammock Landing's shopping center in Melbourne Florida.
Growing up in Southern California, frozen yogurt has never been in short supply. I remember, around 5 or 6 years ago, when these shops started popping up everywhere, I was freaking out, thinking that all yogurts tasted like Yoplait, something that I could live without. Then my friend Katelyn convinced me to go have some with her, and, since I never turn anything down before I try it, I went. I found that this was definitely no yogurt you would buy in a plastic tube! I was in love! The tart, almost sour, yet devoid of overly sugared flavor, was oh so lovely to the palate. This quickly became my newest favorite treat. However, since I moved to Central Florida a few years ago, I've found that the true "frozen yogurt" I was now used to became a rare delicacy. I had found a few places locally claiming to serve "frozen yogurt" but it was nothing more than soft-serve ice cream made out of yogurt - not the tarty goodness that I oh-so craved. I was determined, however, to find a real frozen yogurt place out here, so I began running in to every store claiming to serve "frozen yogurt". On my search, I did find that for every 4 places claiming to serve this treat, 1 would legitimately carry what I wanted. I did find, as well, that these were in the richer areas that took a decent amount of time for me to get to.
So, about a month ago, when I was visiting the outdoor mall down the street from me, and saw a sign for "Menchie's Frozen Yogurt", I had two reactions.
One. I had to try this.
Two. I was weary that it might be another soft-serve ice cream parlor in disguise.


So they finally opened a week ago, and I only just had the time to drop in today, with both my mom, and my mother-in-law (sorry hubby, you just weren't there at the time!).
Immediately when I walked in, the bright green and pink colors embraced me --- not in a retina-blinding way, but in a nice, happy blend of fun and happiness.
There was about 6 machines, each one holding 2 flavors, and with a middle knob to combine the two flavors together. I knew exactly which one I was headed for -- the Original Tart.
It's almost always a good sign that it's not a soft-serve ice cream place if they have "Original Tart", since the whitest Soft-Serve usually gets is Vanilla.


So, as I make my way over to grab a cup, the man behind the counter, more than likely the owner, greets us with a genuinely happy-to-see-you approach. He begins telling us how the process works, that the whole thing is pay-by-the-ounce (personally my favorite way to eat froyo), and informs us that they switch flavors daily (though I am assuming that Original Tart is a main-stay).


I grab a decent chunk of my tarty-treat and make my way over to the toppings-bar.
Personally, I feel that this was the place's only weakness. They have a decent selection of dry toppings, but their fresh fruit choices could be more plentiful -- this could, however, just be due to what fruits may or may not be in season.
Normally, I like to put blackberries, sour gummy worms, and almonds. Today I was feeling a little more fruity, so I went for Blueberries, mango chunks, pineapple, and sour gummy worms. I find the sour gummies freeze nicely in the yogurt, and give the tartness an extra amount of sour, which is something I particularly enjoy.


So up at the counter ready to pay, we paid as a group, and surprisingly enough, for 3 decent sized froyos, the total only came out to about $10. This, in my experience is quite reasonable, as I was expecting to go in with my hubby and with the two of us alone pay just that. Now, the price will definitely vary, depending on the amount of toppings/froyo you put in it, since it is pay by the ounce -- but if you can see from my photo, I am far from going light.


The spoons, as you can also see from the photo, are extremely cute, and not by any means cheap, yet they're the standard spoons. This is a lot nicer than some places, even back home, who just give you a flimsy white spoon to shovel into your mouth.


Now, the actual content:

• The yogurt itself was very nice. The consistency was exactly that of which I was expecting. There were a few more frozen chunks in it than the rest of it, but nothing that was hard, or wouldn't melt on your tongue on contact.
• The Sour gummies did exactly what was expected, freezing in the froyo, and adding a nice extra sour tang to the taste.
• The blueberries were really nice, some of them sweeter than others.
• The pineapple chunks were perfect.
• The mango chunks....I could have lived without. They were a bit...rubbery, and not very potent of flavor. I'd be willing to give them another shot, to see if they might be better, fresher earlier in the day, or if he might go for a different brand 

The store was also riddled with a whole bunch of merch for sale, including a stuffed plush toy of the face of Menchie's (the little swirly hat thing), which I will probably be getting at a later date, since I have a feeling Menchie's will become part of my monthly rituals. They also had pints of Froyo flavors you could take home with you,  t-shirts, pencils, and a bunch of other stuff.

You also get a club-card for free, one of those "if you spend/buy X amount of Menchie's Froyo you get X/amount for free/off" I need to read more into that --- plus you have to register it online.

Overall I give this a 9.7. It'd be a 10 if they had more fruit toppings to choose from. But I'll be back for my second review.