Cooldown at Qoola

My love and I have a sweet tooth (or is it supposed to be sour tooth?) for frozen yogurt.  We often get one for dessert after a big meal and have a constant urge to try out different yogurt places all over the country.  

From well-known yogurt shops like Red Mango and White Hat, lesser-known ones like I Heart Froyo and Fling, to even restaurants who added frozen yogurt to their menu like The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Pancake House, we've been there to taste these frozen delights.  I'll perhaps be populating this blog with more frozen yogurt posts in the future.

Our next stop and first frozen yogurt post in Captured with a Mobile, the Canadian-made Qoola.

Also known by its full name, Qoola Yogurt + Fruit, this place so far has only one branch located in Greenbelt 2 in Makati City.  Compared to the other yogurt places, this perhaps, was the most spacious one of all as it had no chairs or tables around the yogurt serving and creation area.  Only the yogurt machines, slushie mixers and rows upon rows of toppings can be found in the area with the cash register at the corner.  I loved that they had an environmental touch as well as they have trash bins that are segregated into biodegradable, non-biodegradable, recyclables, and others.  Plus, they offer free wi-fi, which is always a plus for any venue.

Don't worry though; they do have a dining area at their second floor as well as a few tables and chairs outside the restaurant.

Qoola's prices as shown in their lighted billboards

Their pricing and measurement differed from other frozen yogurt places in the country.  They used milliliters as measurement instead of ounces, and they opted to advertise their pricing per 100 ml instead of this peso amount per milliliter.  

Perhaps, this was a prime example of marketing strategy to disguise the fact that their prices were a bit more expensive than fellow self-service yogurt establishments like Tutti Frutti (20 per oz), Fruity Froyo (18 per oz) and Yogi Berry (15 per oz).  We just realized how expensive it was when we weighed our single cup of Qoola and saw that it was near the 200-peso mark.

Number crunching the prices says it all.

Qoola: Php 75 / 100 grams

  > 100 gr = roughly 3.53 oz

Tutti Frutti: Php 20 / 1 oz

  > 3.53 oz * 20 = Php 70.6

Fruity Froyo: Php 18 / 1 oz

  > 3.53 oz * 18 = Php 63.54

Yogi Berry: Php 15 / 1 oz

  > 3.53 oz * 15 = Php 52.95

We sampled their flavors they had, but opted to go back to the original, tarty flavor as we always felt that the essence of yogurt was lost when it tasted similar to ice cream or gelato.  Kids or people who do not like the sourness of yogurt, however, will indeed enjoy the sweet flavors of chocolate, strawberry and the like as these flavors tasted indeed like a premium brand.

Dozens and dozens of toppings!

Qoola had one, if not, the largest selection of toppings compared to the yogurt places here in the country.  Ranging from the sweet candies and chocolates that the kids would love to the fresh fruits for the health conscious, Qoola has a topping just for you.  We ended up getting banana, mochi and chocolate chips, three toppings that we often look for in frozen yogurt places.  I can't believe that despite the variety, they missed my personal favorite, coffee jelly, though.

The staff was very friendly and accommodating to all your questions.  I actually asked the sales clerk how Qoola differed from the other yogurt places.  According to her, unlike the other frozen yogurt places that use a powder base for their yogurt mix, they used a liquid base instead.  Due to this, Qoola was supposedly much healthier since yogurt is naturally liquid in form and therefore, no additional processing was done in order to turn it into powder and possibly burn off its nutrients.  I'm not sure how one can determine which ones are liquid or powder-based though.  At least texture-wise, it had no difference.  Maybe I'll need a magnifying glass or something.

Notice though that the yogurt is losing its frozen form fast!

Our spoons easily went through the Qoola yogurt as we took our first taste of our creation.  It was not as tarty as expected; it was actually light on the sour taste that we were looking for in yogurt.  Our toppings were actually pretty good as the banana slices were fresh, chocolate chips were semi-sweet, and the mochi did not taste like "palitaw", a sweet rice cake made here in the Philippines.  Yes, some yogurt places do offer palitaw-tasting mochi. I know they are both rice cakes but they taste different so please stop disguising "palitaw" as mochi.

Halfway through the cup, the toppings were practically swimming in liquid yogurt already.  Frozen yogurt without the frozen part was not what I wanted. I'm guessing due to its original liquid nature, Qoola's yogurt melted quite quickly as well. And no, it wasn't due to the temperature since we were in their air-conditioned restaurant while rain was pouring outside.

I believe I have to retry Qoola and plan which toppings to get so I can get to enjoy it in a more "intact" form.  Does Qoola have a list of toppings available somewhere?

Qoola beverages

We didn't get to try their other offerings in the form of beverages like their coffee and slush drinks, but it is worthy to take note that they offer other items as well apart from the Qoola yogurt.

My final verdict? Although its original tart flavor was not up to par with the other brands I've tasted, the small flavored yogurt samples I've tasted were quite good so those who like chocolates, green teas and other flavors mixed in their frozen delight will certainly have a treat.  Their topping selection is extensive enough to cater to all tastes, but do not take too long in picking these add-ons as you may end up drinking your creation instead of eating it.

The place is perfect for relaxing due to its spacious interiors and quiet atmosphere.  With wi-fi available, it's also perfect for surfers and bloggers like me.

QOOLA Yogurt + Fruit
Greenbelt 2, Ayala Center, Makati City

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* Captured with a Nokia N82