Now that the weather is at least trying to get warmer, it’s time to start christening those classic sunny day activities. Whether it be frisbee on Palmer Lawn, a never-ending chain of free barbecues on campus, or outdoor seating at most of the restaurants in Hoboken, spring is actually coming and it’s time to embrace it! As such, one of those activities is the enjoyment of frozen yogurt. Hoboken has several choices for frozen yogurt all over town, and there’s only way to settle the battle between them: a froyo crawl!
The first stop on the tour was Love & Yogurt, located on Newark Street across the street from the downtown CVS Pharmacy and Papaya Dog (for another day). My first observation going inside was that the lighting was on the darker side. Everything was pretty new, as Love & Yogurt (like many things in Hoboken) had opened recently. With about 10 different flavors at any given time and a couple of couches, it is definitely the smallest establishment I visited, but nonetheless one of my favorites. I decided to split between chocolate brownie and banana frozen yogurt, then dressed up my cup with cheesecake bites, gummy bears, mochi (my favorite topping), and a generous helping of hot fudge. After remembering the hardening effect of frozen yogurt on gummy bears, my first stop was a pleasant success!
The next stop, and possibly Hoboken’s biggest chain frozen yogurt restaurant, was Red Mango. Located on Washington Street, Red Mango offers a wide variety of frozen yogurt flavors, as well as smoothies, parfaits, and other yogurt-based creations, which I haven’t seen from other local establishments. With a comparable number of flavors to Love & Yogurt, their machines have the additional feature of blending paired flavors together. Seeking something fruity, I opted for a blend of their coconut and mango flavors, then piled my creation high with pineapple and strawberry. Digging into my most recent concoction, I was surprisingly disappointed, as the fresh fruit reacted strangely with the frozen yogurt, creating an icy membrane between both elements. Additionally, the mango frozen yogurt came through very strongly, almost acidic. Maybe it was the fruit, maybe something else, but I was unfortunately left disappointed by Red Mango, and will probably keep to the smoothies in the future.
Finally, the last stop on the tour: Hoboken’s perennial favorite, 16 Handles. Nestled in the super-ritzy upper waterfront of Hoboken, 16 Handles is surrounded by high-end buildings like Maxwell’s and Shipyard. With sixteen different flavors and a large facility with lots of seating, it’s the perfect place to take a large group (and once it’s nice out, Maxwell Place Park is right outside). As another nice feature of 16 Handles, they offer cup dividers if you want to enjoy two different creations without them mingling and mixing flavors, something I haven’t seen anywhere else. Wanting to finish off the tour with something sweet, I went in two different directions.
For one half, I went with toasty marshmallow frozen yogurt topped with chocolate, graham cracker crumbles, and whipped cream, for a s’more effect. For the other half, I’d heard great things about the birthday cake frozen yogurt, which I piled high with candies and whipped cream. Between the two, I definitely enjoyed the toasty marshmallow more, but both were pretty good!
I learned quite a lot touring Hoboken’s frozen yogurt landscape. I learned that when you go for some around dinner time, all of the small children in Hoboken want frozen yogurt for dinner, though the family small dogs typically accompany them, which makes it better. Also, that frozen yogurt is apparently analogous to a clubbing experience, complete with the laser lights and pop music. And third, that 16 Handles offers the best frozen yogurt experience in Hoboken, followed by Love & Yogurt. Once it gets completely warm, frozen yogurt and Italian ices will become a regular routine, so if you’re willing to make a trip to Hoboken’s uptown or downtown end, the trek is certainly worth it whichever direction you turn.
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