Debuting a couple of weeks ago in the front-facing strip of the Dun Huang Plaza at 9889 Bellaire Boulevard, Twisted Love joins a growing number of ice cream and sweet shops like Aqua S US (the Sydney import famous for its blue-colored sea salt soft serve — also located in the Dun Huang Plaza) that make you want to go visit in part because you can pictorially document the encounter on social media.
Designed by owner Tina Chau, the tiny hole-in-the-wall welcomes you with a green wall, pink neon heart-shaped signage, and white benches adorned with pink and white pillows. “We chose the grass theme because me and my husband are nature people,” says Chau. “When we travel, we always take out one day to be with nature. I created green wall for people like us who are always working and don’t have time to be outdoors. They can come here and relax as if it’s their own garden.”
On Instagram, the bright green foliage provides a great backdrop for the shop’s soft serve ice cream, which comes in a unique array of colors and Asian-esque flavors. Twisted Love will offer six different flavors at a time, Chau says, all made with fresh ingredients and a milky cream base.
Currently, the six on offer are durian, black sesame, matcha, ube (a purple yam), watermelon and fruity pebbles. “I puree the durian for the durian flavor,” says Chau, who also grinds black sesame for the black sesame flavor, and whisks matcha for the matcha, and so forth. Everything is made fresh daily in small batches.
In fact, she had just run out of a batch of the matcha when I visited around 5 p.m. last Monday. While I waited, I also ordered the pandan made-to-order waffle, one of the crossover menu items from Coco's Sweets. Crisp in the outside, with a mochi-like chewy center and fragrant pandan aroma and flavor, it was incredible - definitely something I'd order again.
"One in a Melon" is made of fresh watermelon filled with watermelon soft serve, studded with watermelon candy ($6.50).
Photo by Mai Pham
The base soft serve cone, which you can order in single flavor or half-and-half combos, rings in at an affordable $4.75, to which you can add fun toppings like Korean rice crispies, pocky stick, and matcha kit kat at 50 cents a pop. I opted for a signature creations called “I Love You So Matcha,” which came with azuki red beans, matcha cake crumbs, and korean rice puffs, for $6.50. The ice cream, once I got it, was excellent — dense and creamy, with a bright matcha flavor and just the right amount of sweetness. I sampled all of the flavors as well, and liked the ube the best for its pleasing nuttiness and purple color.
Chau says she’ll be rolling out new flavors once a month, and that upcoming flavors she’s planning include pandan, guava, and gluten-free pineapple. She’s also working on a couple unicorn-themed cones, which she says will come out in the next month or two. For Halloween, she wants to do something with activated charcoal, and will roll out holiday-themed creations in the spirit of that particular holiday.
While I chatted with Chau, I spied another customer ordering a slice of watermelon with pink watermelon soft serve inside it, cut in a wedge like a watermelon sandwich, and could not resist. I ordered that, too. You can bet I took a shot of it for Instagram.
