Tuttimelon HK Opens!

Yesterday I went over to the new shopping mall on Nathan Road in TST known as 'The One',  it just opened last week.  It will house an IT super-store and a movie theater, but they haven't opened yet. One of the few places open already is the new tuttimelonlocation.  Those of you from California may know tuttimelon, its a popular chain of Frozen Yogurt shops that started in the San Francisco Bay Area and has quickly grown to over 20 locations in California as well as branches in Vancouver and North Carolina.  Now the first HK branch is open!

Here's a quick review from my trip -

tuttimelon is a 'self serve' style frozen yogurt place. You get a cup on the left and fill it with as much yogurt from the different machines that you want (I think they have like 8 flavors available at any given time.  I opted for 'original' + mango + some guava.  (i'm not that much of a berry fan!)

Then you can do as much toppings as you want. They have dozens and dozens of things to sprinkle plus sauces to choose from.

OK,  I probably don't need to say this,  but in case you're eating frozen yogurt because you think ice cream is too fattening:  if you take frozen yogurt and cover it in Oreos and chocolate sauce... you MAYgain weight...

So how do they charge you?  You put it on a scale and they calculate based on the weight (so if you build the leaning tower of fro-yo,  expect to pay a bit more).  

despite the healthy amount I dispense, it only cost $44!  (compare that to the alternatives out there,  you'll find its a pretty good deal!)

Disclaimer (because Etchy likes being transparent) - because I know the boss, he hooked me up w/ the free comp. :-P

Here's my final combo - some melon, some cornflakes, some Oreos, some M&Ms... :-P

The real bonus on this whole experience is they have a nice open air courtyard just for their customers.  Even on an August afternoon,  when you've got a giant bowl of frozen yogurt on your lap,  it doesn't feel hot out here at all!  (actually I like it more than the over-done AC common in most buildings in HK... I've been here too long!)

Congrats to the tuttimelon team for launching their first (but definitely not their last) location in Asia.    From talking to the owners I can tell you that they're very serious about their customer experience and quality,  and it seems to be paying off.  Despite nothing else of note being open in this mall yet, the entire time I was there there was a healthy flow of customers stopping by to try it, and there were hardly any seats open in the store (I told them they'll probably need to add more seats outside to cope once the movie theater opens).

The only problem I see is that there are a LOT of similar shops opening in HK right now (at least two or three have opened up in other parts of town in the last week or two!)   But having an established brand and experience from the US certainly gives these guys a leg up on some of their competition.

Details on the store are here:

http://www.tuttimelon.com.hk/

Shop L308 - The One 100 Nathan RoadTsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong