Ramenologist: Eating where you normally wouldn't: PARADIS: Paradise without the "E"

Paradis has either spent too much money advertising on tv, or has gotten too much media attention yet managed to get few viewer response.

I've been looking at Paradis along Tomas Morato for the past few months but never found the urge to go inside. Maybe it has something to do with the unattractive facade, the green depressing color of the place, or the uncertainty of what the place is all about. Is it a restaurant, a coffee shop, a salon, and lastly, an ice cream parlor?

I saw Paradis featured in two of ABS CBN's lifestyle shows. Paradis is a high-end ice cream parlor that offers unique ice cream flavors, from wasabi, to malunggay, to squash. Their selling proposition caters to parents who would like to feed vegetables or healthy food to their children in a fun way, through ice cream that is.

It's really catchy! They even demonstrated how they make their unusual ice cream flavors in Rated K's segment last week. They incorporate the unusual ingredients to a base ice cream flavor. Like their tomato chocolate ice cream for instance, they candied the tomatoes to rid of the sour taste, and eventually mixing it with a rich chocolate ice cream base.

Their bestsellers are: Chocolate and Tomato, Wasabi, and the Red Beet and Orange. They also have Malunggay, Squash, Vanilla Milk, Strawberry, Agasojo, Thai Milk tea, Chili Choco with Saffron, Chestnut, Coco and Vanilla, Durian, Red Bean, Nutty Peanut Butter and Black Bean. Aside from these unique ice creams, they also serve pasta, sandwiches, teas and fruit juices.

I was fortunate enough to try some of their flavors. Here are my reviews:

I wanted to try the Chocolate and Tomato first because I saw how they were made on TV. The chocolate base was pretty good-rich and creamy.

While the candied tomato was good enough to make the ice cream sound different, it did too little to make a difference in taste. It was something that the ice cream could do without, but then again, where's the "unique" in that? But hey, I'd buy that chocolate ice cream by itself.

Wasabi is wasabi. If you're a fan of wasabi, and you like ice cream just the same, then this one will kill you. It's wasabi alright. The sting of the wasabi flavor will break the initial sweetness and coldness of the ice cream in your mouth. It's a fun experience actually. Just don't think of sushi while you're at it. That's plain gross.

Chili Chocolate with Saffron is too hot for an ice cream. It's like a mexican tsokolate turned dessert. You can actually smell the strong hint of saffron while enjoying this treat. Well, it's enjoyable while the chocolate taste lasts, or until the chili flavor starts kicking in. Is it the coldness of the ice cream? Is it spicy? Wait, is this ice cream spicy!? Wait...it is spicy! WATER! Then you take another bite. Repeat drama.

Nutty Peanut Butter is made to satisfy peanut lovers. It brought peanut butter to the next level by making it nuttier and creamier. Interestingly enough, halfway through my cup, the ice cream wasn't cold anymore, yet the thing in my cup was still intact. As if I wasn't eating ice cream anymore, but more like a chunk of butter, peanut butter cream butter nut.

Paradis is paradise without an "E", E for extra effort. I thought they did an excellent job in making their food unique, but unique is just one part of it. The challenge is to make the unique introduction escalate towards a climactic ending, or at least keep the excitement stable. Halfway into my cup, I was bored, and thought I could have done a better job buying a pint of Hershey's ice cream with my P110.

So share your small cup with friends! Order different flavors! I think that sharing will add to the unique experience that Paradis promises.

Price starts at P110-P400

1st Floor Unit B Kojack Bldg cor. Sct Castor, Tomas Morato Quezon City, Metro Manila