Kem CoBa

Swirled Homemade Coconut and Florida Orange Soft Serve Ice Cream

According to the endearing blog-style website Kem CoBa has up online, the name of the restaurant means “third auntie’s ice cream” in Vietnamese. That right off the bat tells you that it’s an operation that takes family into consideration. And it shows. The cheery little shop is run by the co-owners and husband and wife duo Ngoc and Vincent who have managed to create high quality, interesting products that just keep you coming back for more. It helps that the shop is very noticeable; decked out in bright, beautiful colors – the hot pink and neon green beckon outsiders from all over the block. Not to mention the cool floating-water-bubble display across the wall…

Masala Chai and Lime-Mint

With flavours that change weekly to bi-weekly depending on the chefs’ moods and creative bursts of energy, Kem CoBa is almost always bumping, especially on the hot days. It isn’t uncommon to see a line spilling out the front steps and onto the sidewalk. You’re in luck though, the line here usually moves quite quickly. Going on several occasions and merging those photos into this one post, we had an amazing experience each time we’ve gone so far. The first time around we had the soft serve flavours swirled together in a cup. The flavours were coconut and Florida orange sorbet. Fresh and light, with a sweet and citrusy kick, these flavours were twistedly delicious. Second time around, we had a combination of a few flavours. I would have gone for the soft serve again but two weeks hadn’t yet passed since I last went. What can I say? I counter hot days with cold ice cream. You should too!

Passionfruit and Masala Chai

We had the passionfruit, masala chai, lime-mint and mango all mixed and matched together from the sorbet and gelato section. Each one was mouthwatering in its own way but my favorite of the bunch here is the masala chai for its uniqueness and its gingery, spicy and very unique taste.

Cherry and Almond Milk Swirl

Most recently, we went back for the newest edition of Kem CoBa’s soft serve: cherry and almond milk. Of course, we got them twisted together – an interesting and unique combination at the least. It was nice to see an ice cream that was cherry flavored in full. Usually you see ice cream with chunky cherries in it or something similar where cherry is present and sort of in the background but never the main star. Kem CoBa took it to the next level, kept their faith in the flavor profile and went with it. I think they did well. Mixed with the light almond milk flavor, it was just perfect.

Is it just me or does it feels like Kem CoBa is quickly becoming my third auntie as well? I’m probably going to go back tomorrow…

UPDATE: MAY 5th, 2013
Summer is back, folks and Kem CoBa is ready and waiting. Here are some of our scoops from this summer so far.

Mango Sorbet, Twisted Lemon and Strawberry Soft Serve, Masala Chai + Salted Butter Ice Cream

Twisted Lemon and Framboise Soft Serve

The lemon and strawberry soft serve is simple, but it does the job right. Sometimes the simplest things can be the best and in this case, I would have to agree.

Masala Chai and Salted Butter Ice Cream

The chai you already know about, but the salted butter is a new flavour for us. I didn’t particularly like it, but to each his own. I would taste test this flavour first before committing to ordering it into your cup or cone. Maybe not for everyone.

Mango Sorbet

It’s worthy to note that the mango sorbet is ridiculously mango-ed out – it’s dense and so flavourful that each bite almost tastes like you’re actually eating a cold, melt-in-your-mouth real mango, just in a different form. I don’t know if this makes sense, but it’s legit.

Needless to say, hop on your bike and get over there!