Food Junkie Chronicles: Menchie's Yogurt

I was invited by the lovely Mary Luz Mejia from Sizzling Communications to the first ever "Menchie's Blogurt Fest" held at Menchie's first Toronto downtown location on 511 Bloor St. W. last Saturday. Bloggers (15 teams in total) were invited to create their own Menchie's Fro Yo combination where a panel of judges would select three bloggers with the most delicious Fro Yo combo. Awesome prizes include the iPod Shuffle (1st prize), a whole month's supply of Menchie's [a maximum of 10oz per day] (2nd prize), and $50 worth of Menchie's (3rd prize). I will start off by saying that I did not win *BOO* However, I met a lot of great bloggers, tasted a lot of yummy Fro Yo, and took home a cute Menchie's apron ^_^

Before last weekend at Menchie's, I had two unforgettable fro-yo experiences: the first one was at Yogurtland in the States:

The second one was at yeh! in Montreal (see my blog post here).

For the longest time, I was waiting for Toronto to open a yogurt place just like Yogurtland or yeh! - in all honesty I am actually surprised that it took us this long! People nowadays ask for more than just good tasting frozen yogurt, you know? We demand a fun and interactive experience too!

I remember it was so fun standing in front of the yogurt dispensing machines, just like a little kid at a candy store, knowing that I had the choice of whatever flavor of frozen yogurt I wanted. It was about having that control that made it so satisfying (maybe i have control issues hehe). Anyway, my prayers were answered by this fella.

Every Menchie's Canadian shop will serve a daily rotating selection of 18 flavours. Their Fro Yo is made with real milk (instead of powdered bases). Menchie's also contains healthful live and active cultures as required by the National Yogurt Association, is fat-free, Kosher (as certified by the “Kashruth” Council of Canada”). Dairy free sorbets are offered as well as no sugar added flavours (suitable for diabetics), and calorie-reduced options. Menchie’s regular flavours are only 112 calories per 100 gram serving, with zero grams of fat and 24 grams of carbohydrates (the same size portion of vanilla ice cream from a typical ice cream retailer would have 230 calories and over 14 grams of fat).

The Menchie's store is bright, colorful, and fun =)

Menchie's proudly presents their "Menchiewood" wall. Celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Shia Labeouf, Jennifer Garner, and Jamie Foxx seem to all adore Menchie's Fro Yo. Even Justin Bieber stopped by one of the locations! In cities across the U.S, plain neighbourhood folks line up for Menchie's too.

So how does this all work? Simple. Only 3 steps to it: MIX, WEIGH, PAY.

You have a choice of a regular bowl or a waffle bowl.

Next....hm... just read the sign below.

After you're done with choosing the frozen yogurt flavors, you face your next challenge: choosing the toppings. You’ve got over 40 from which to choose from including mochi, granola, graham crumbs, gummy worms, sprinkles etc (really too many to list)

and also fresh fruit slices.

Don't forget the sauces for the finishing touch: chocolate, strawberry and caramel.

After all that fun stuff you get to weigh your creation and then pay for it (I guess the last part is not that fun).

This was my creation:

BEACH PARADISE (yes I wish I was in Mexico still)

Fro Yo Flavors: Pina Colada, Peach Sorbet, Green Apple Tart (I had a lot of Pina Coladas in Mexico)

Dry Toppings: Graham Crumbs, Toasted Coconut (to imitate sand)

Fruit Toppings: Pineapple, Kiwi, Banana (tropical fruits)

Fun Toppings: Trolli crawlers, Sprinkles (fun in the sun)

Judges included food specialist from the Canadian Living Test Kitchen, Adell Shneer, and food director of Canadian Living, Anabelle Waugh.

Like I said, I did not win, but I did get this cute Menchie's apron =D

I am so thrilled that Toronto finally has fully self-serve Fro yo! Can't wait to go back to Menchie's to try their waffle bowl and of course, the endless possibility of Fro Yo combos.

A list of bloggers who attended Menchie's Blogurt Fest:

Irene Ngo - Kitchen Mischief

Diana Mancuso - Toronto Teacher Mom

Jenny Tryansky and Neil Faba - Communal Table

Joel Solish - Community Foodist

Julia Suppa - A Pinch of This, A Dash of That

Miranda Keyes - Little Piggy

Jennifer Hamilton - The Domestic Goddess

Stacey Fowler and Mark Rodas - Tasting Toronto

Christine Cooper - Coopspeak Eats

Jenn Hall - The Fashionista Foodie

Carrie Brunet - Kitchenvixen.ca