- As summer kicks off in the city, we have an important question to answer: which is the best convenience store frozen treat?
- Join us on Instagram live every Friday as we taste and compare the best sweet treats that 7-Eleven and Circle K have to offer
It's the ultimate Game of Cones ... and there can be only one winner.When you walk into a breezy 7-Eleven or Circle K shop, a brightly-lit freezer beckons you towards its sweet treats, but it can be difficult to choose just one.
Luckily for you, we’re launching an ice cream showdown to find the ultimate convenience store frozen delight in Hong Kong. We’ve done all the hard work – researching, pre-tasting, and debating contenders to come up with our Great Eight!
How we chose the contenders
- There had to be eight, because “great” doesn’t rhyme with nine.
- Each ice cream could not cost more than HK$30, sorry Haagen-Dazs.
- All contenders had to be easily available, eg from 7-Eleven or Circle K, so readers could taste along with us.
All tasting is done at your own risk. Young Post is not liable for any claims of brain-freeze, stomachache, sugar-rush, or uncontrollable glee.
So, without further ado, heeeeere’s the YP Cream Team!
Eat your way to a cool Hong Kong summer
Drumstick
I. C. Parker invented the classic Nestle Drumstick in 1928 in Texas, USA. He had the sweet idea of covering vanilla ice cream with chocolate and peanuts. His wife, Jewel, thought it looked like a chicken leg, hence the name Drumstick!
The West End Factory in Australia improved the cone by lining it with chocolate, oil, and sugar to prevent it from getting soggy, so we can thank them for that delicious chocolatey last bite.
You can't go wrong with a classic.
Magnum Classic
You can’t go far wrong with vanilla ice cream coated in a thin shell of Belgian chocolate.
Magnum is a pretty iconic ice cream, and of course also comes in an array of flavours such as almond and white chocolate. But the original stands the test of time. It may have been created in 1989, but it’s still a go-to choice today. Classics are classic for a reason.
Oh man, this is going to be a tough competition.
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Melona
If vanilla or chocolate isn’t your thing, Melona might be more up your street. Despite being a fruit-flavoured confection, it is still delightfully creamy, with an almost chewy texture. It has been described as “gelato on a stick”.
Korean company Binggrae first introduced this fruity ice cream stick in 1992. While it’s called Melona because of the original melon flavour, it now comes in strawberry, mango, and coconut, too.
This fruit-flavoured treat is still delightfully creamy.
Samanco
Inspired by the traditional Japanese snack, taiyaki, the Samanco is a fish-shaped frozen treat filled with vanilla ice cream and red bean paste. Binggrae transformed the warming winter street stall snack into a cooling summer treat in 1991.
An updated spin on a classic warm-weather delight.
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Oreo Ice Cream Sandwich
Although this is a relatively new addition to convenience store freezers in Hong Kong, the Oreo Ice Cream Sandwich has been around for longer than you might think.
It was brought to supermarket shelves in 1986 by the Canadian company Christie. It’s a larger version of the original biscuit, with a thick slab of vanilla ice cream between two chocolate cookies – this delicious hockey puck of frozen confection is indeed ice cream’s favourite cookie.
But is it our favourite ice cream?
Kit Kat Ice Cream Stick
Kit Kats have been around since 1935, but this ice cream stick only started appearing in Hong Kong shops earlier this year.
Turning the original four-stick bar into an ice cream coated with Kit Kat’s iconic chocolate and crispy wafer bits has elevated its snack status from fine to fantastic. Who wouldn’t want to “Have a break, have a Kit Kat” ice cream?
The Kit Kat Ice Cream Stick is a fairly new entry to the ice cream game.
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Mochi Ice
If you’ve never had a Mochi Ice, you have not had the full Hong Kong experience. The ritual of peeling back the foil, piercing a plump frozen mochi with the tiny fork, and taking a powdery first bite is a rite of passage.
Kowloon Dairy introduced this staple snack back in 1989, inspired by the Japanese dessert. Their original recipe offer a perfectly plump scoop of ice cream, encased in a delightfully chewy mochi layer. Even better, you get two in each pack.
What's your favourite Mochi Ice flavour?
Tiger Sugar Boba Ice Cream
In 2019, Taiwanese company Tiger Sugar took their famous brown sugar bubble tea to the next level by turning it into an ice cream stick.
It’s thick and rich, with brown sugar syrup and tapioca pearls swirled into each bite. Despite being frozen, the pearls still retain their chew. This could be the best way to get your bubble tea fix this summer.
Mmmm frozen bubble tea.
Every Friday at 11.30am, tune in as Young Post’s Cone Rangers, Esther Cheung and Amalissa Hall, taste and compare each ice cream live on Instagram.
Then vote for your favourite contender out of our Great Eight, in our story or on a weekly online article!
After four weeks, we’ll have an answer to Hong Kong’s best ice cream!