Black Scoop Café
101 Maginhawa Street, Teachers Village, Quezon City
Contact: 0917-522-2256
Open daily from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
(SPOT.ph) There's a big chunk of the global population that can count the number of desserts they like with one hand, if at all. Many of us are usually dreaming about sushi, pizza, or fries—cake and ice cream? Not so much. That said, Black Scoop Café might make you start counting the fingers on both hands.
The fanfare doesn't begin until you get inside, because the exterior (at least, at the moment) is pretty deceiving. Maginhawa, while still popular, isn't necessarily the most roaring part of Quezon City, and on the face of it Black Scoop Café fits right in.
Push the doors open, though, and you get the whole story: It's massive, as far as ice cream parlors go, and the wood table in the center has banquet written all over it. But this isn't where you're going to want the feast to be. Forget '80s mullets—this place gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, “Business in the front, party in the back”.
For all that, dairy is the real star of the show. Ease your way in to this new addiction with a Plain (P80) ice cream cup. Pick your poison of either a Mascarpone or Milk Tea base—that's right, milk tea—and shovel the stuff in your mouth. The milk tea was going to be good anyway, given that the people at Infinitea are behind this concept, but that mascarpone is something else. Ice cream can get pretty sickly-sweet, leaving that gross film at the back of your throat (get your minds out of the gutter), but this volcanic-looking swirl does no such thing. There's a teeny hint of salt, just enough to cut through it and hit that which people in the food industry are always seeking: The ever-elusive, stuff-of-legend bliss point. It's true, folks—we found it in QC.
Alternatively, you could go Supreme (P125) by adding one Topping at P20 a pop, or a couple of Crunches for P25 each, which thankfully aren't of the exercise variety. We loved the addition of white chocolate, cookies, and crushed Graham crackers. Our favorite Classic (P95) cup—that is, with a single topping—included crushed Oreos. Gym? Who’s she? We don't know. We can't read suddenly.
But it doesn't stop at ice cream and sprinkles. There's a wide array of coffee, tea, and everything in between to help you either warm up or cool down, whatever the mood or season calls for. We love the look of the caffeine-free Brown Sugar Latte (P110) almost as much as we love the depth of its sweetness; meanwhile, look at those cups! Medium sizes come in pink, like the Signature Hot Chocolate (P100), but going large means literally going green, modeled by the gorgeous Cappuccino (P110).
However—however!—there’s a special place in our piggy little hearts for the Cream Cheese Lattes, particularly the Wintermelon (P90) and Cocoa (P100) ones. It just overshoots the bliss point in the best way, but it should really come with a health advisory. It's so good that you immediately know it's bad for you.
We could go on, and if we weren't all on a 21st century schedule, we absolutely would, but the main point is this: You need to haul your ass over to Teachers Village, and keep your eyes peeled for more branches of Black Scoop Café to come. Just try not to get your whole week's dairy intake all in one go—we learned this the hard way!
Photos by Patrick Martires