Swensen's - The Best Ice Cream Parlor on Earth - is Finally in Manila!

Believe it or not, Swensen's did not ask me to write this blog post for them. In fact, I don't know anybody affiliated with Swensen's whatsoever.

The truth of the matter is that I lived in Bangkok for seven years. And, well, Swensen's played a huge part in my life during those years.

It was at Swensen's where I pored over Incubus' "Light Grenades" CD jacket and listened to the CD over and over on my discman (yes, we had discmans!), for example. It was also at Swensen's where I had one of my most memorable first dates with a guy. And it was at Swensen's where I generally grew a real love for ice cream.

Now, I'm not going to lie and say Swensen's tastes better than, say, Haagen Dazs or Ben & Jerry's. But, c'mon. If we're talking about both taste and price combined, then Swensen's will win this battle hands down! Swensen's is probably the most affordable ice cream parlor I have ever been to and their ice cream is actually downright delicious.

Well, guess what? The first Swensen's finally opened its doors here in Manila on September 15 and is located at the ground floor of the South Wing of SM Mall of Asia. Too complicated? Basically, it's right in front of Fully Booked. :p

Swensen's, my love, we finally meet again!

The exterior is basically just like every other restaurant in that general area of MOA, so you can eat and smoke outside if you wish. (Ice cream and cigarettes don't really go together for me, though.)

The interior is very clean and not too crowded and they have a lot of waiters/waitresses on the ready, so the service is very fast, as well.

Loving the sundae posters. Yum yum yum! Okay, now, let's get down to business... (to defeat... the Huns!!! *ahem*)

What I love the most about Swensen's is that you can pick out your favorite sundaes and then choose whatever flavors that you want to go with them. So, you can get one of the Cable Parfait or Chocolate Fantasy sundaes as pictured above, for example, and then just personalize it to your heart's content according to your ice cream flavor and toppings of choice. A lot of the sundaes already come with chocolate toppings, though, including Malteser's, Twix, Kit Kat, and Oreos.

The best news is that they have a lot of flavors and toppings to choose from. I have (literally) tried every single one of these flavors - hey, I lived in Bangkok for SEVEN years okay... don't judge! :p - and the ultimate must-try one would be Sticky Chewy Chocolate. For those on a diet, Almond Praline Delight is a great choice, too. :)

There are also Kid's Sundaes for the kiddies. Strangely enough, though, my dad always orders Mr. San's Babies. I'm not quite sure why...

Of course, every customer will also get a refillable glass of water in their trademark Swensen's glasses. We have around a dozen of these at home coz my dad bought them as remembrances in Bangkok. :p

While waiting for our ice cream, Henry decided to show off our finds from Fully Booked: cell phone socks with our names on it (Php150 each). Haha. Dorks!

I feel this is important to add to my blog because my friend Malvina says that I would never find my name on these things because apparently "Angel is not a name. It's a word." So ha! (Granted, I didn't find this in the name section, though. It was filed along with socks labeled "cute" and "sports fan". Lol.)

My order for the day! I was in a banana and caramel mood, so I opted for one of the simpler sundaes with the flavors that I recommended above. This was only Php115! Overall, I am very happy to announce that Swensen's here tastes exactly like the Swensen's in Bangkok. It is as cheap as the Swensen's in Bangkok, as well, and the wafer on the ice cream actually tastes better than the Bangkok wafers. SATISFIED.

Of course, Henry opted to get this monstrous thing with Cookies and Cream and Peanut Butter scoops for Php220. Oh, the calories!

Random anecdote: after this, I was actually headed to the L'Oreal presents Michael Cinco show for Philippine Fashion Week and I couldn't zip up my dress when I changed in the bathroom. Haha. Coincidence? I hope so! I got to zip it up eventually, though, thank goodness! :p

As of this moment, the only Swensen's branch available in Manila is at SM MOA. However, the Eastwood and SM South Mall branches are soon to open, as well. You can also like Swensen's Philippines on Facebook here. Try it! You won't regret it. :)