Tuttimelon - Premium Frozen Yogurt

Original Tart: Small $2.98 Medium $3.98 Large $4.98
Other flavours: Small $3.28 Medium $4.48 Large $5.48
Toppings: One $0.98 Two $1.48 Three $1.88 Extra $0.38
Parfait $5.98

Restaurant: Tuttimelon - Premium Frozen Yogurt
Cuisine: Frozen Yogurt/Gelato/Desserts
Last visited: August 19, 09

Area: Multiple
#2110 - 8391 Alexandra Road, Richmond
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 3
Service: 4
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 3
Additional comments:

• Frozen yogurt franchise originating from San Francisco
• Healthy frozen yogurt, with a tang
• Non-fat (0% fat) yogurt
• Gluten free
• Generally more tart than Qoola
  
• Yogurt cultures exceeds 8X's the National Yogurt Association requirement
• "Tutti" means "all together" in Italian and "Melon" resembles "freshness from fruits."
• Also serves crepes, gelato & smoothies
• Sampling available
• Amazing gelato!
  

**Recommendation: I like the green tea or blueberry frozen yogurt and the gelato is pretty amazing. Really strong flavours that you can taste just from the sample. The no sugar added coconut is great (I didn't even know it was no sugar added), the Mandorla Tostata (almond gelato with almond slivers) is fabulous, and the maple walnut is the best I've tried!

The original is way too sour and tart. Blueberry is most popular, it's the sweetest (least tangy). I also really enjoyed the green tea. The mango is okay, but the mango flavour is a bit too subtle. I would go back only for the green tea, blueberry, or gelato. It really depends on what you like though. Overall the yogurt here is not bad, it's the tangy yogurt, not the TCBY kind. There are better places, like Pinkberry, it's comparable to Qoola, but 21 Choices is still the best. Qoola has better tasting frozen yogurt, but Tuttimelon does a better job with toppings (if you get the right person) - you do get quite a bit. The inside is trendy/cutsie - just like all the other frozen yogurt places that have popped up in the last little while. They also offer crepes, smoothies, gelato, and sorbet on the menu. Don't miss out on the gelato, it really is gourmet.

On the table:

• Green Tea 3/6
• Toppings: Mochi, Digestive cookies
• I like the chewiness of the mochi with the crunch of digestive cookies. Go during downtime and you get big pieces of cookie, when you go during busy times you get the crumbs. For me green tea and mochi go hand in hand.
• Green Tea 2/6
• Toppings: Mochi, Crunchie
• Together, not so great, but separate it was fine.
• Blueberry 4/6
  
• Toppings: Mochi, Dragonfruit
  
• Looks pretty, but dragonfruit doesn't have much flavour so it was more for the texture I added it. Mochi and blueberry is really good though. I'll try it with coconut and mochi next time.
• Green Tea 2.5/6
  
• Toppings: Almonds, Mochi
• I like the crunchy and chewy combination of almonds and mochi. But the person loading the toppings for this one didn't do a good job.
  
  
  
• Crepe w/gelato 2/6 (The gelato itself is 5/6)
  
• This is impossible to eat! They make the crepes upon order and you choose up to 3 toppings to put in it. They fold the toppings into the crepe and roll it up and serve it in a paper cone. Then they put a scoop of gelato (your choice) on top of the crepe. The way it's served it pretty dumb. It means you have to eat the gelato first before you can even get to the crepe and toppings - which defeats the purpose I think. I want to eat them together! It should really be served on a plate. It's so hard to eat.
  The crepe is soft and flimsy so how is it supposed to hold the gelato? It barely does! The gelato just melts and it gets really messy.
• The good: the gelato is really good. We had no sugar added coconut gelato and it was fantastic! You could never tell it was "no sugar added" - I actually didn't even know there was no sugar until the second time I went back and saw the label.
• The crepe is flavourless, but at least it's made upon order. It doesn't stay warm because the gelato makes it cold and crispy.

NU Restaurant + Lounge

Complimentary Mini Scone, Raspberry Jam & Hot Chocolate

Restaurant: Nu Restaurant + Lounge - Brunch review
Cuisine: West Coast/Pacfic Northwest/French
Last visited: June 6, 09
Area: Vancouver - Downtown
1661 Granville Street
Price Range: $20-30

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 5
Service: 5
Ambiance: 5
Overall: 5
Additional comments:

• Great view, contemporary and posh decor and furniture (futuristic/space-like/groovy feel)
• Relaxed atmosphere
• Creative dishes - West coast flavours, seasonal menus
• Housemade gelato & sorbets (seasonal/changing flavours)
• Complimentary mini scone with raspberry jam & hot chocolate for brunch starter
• Live Jazz music for Sunday brunch
• Free parking

**Recommendation: Dungeness crab benedict, Brioche French Toast

I've been to Nu a few times, twice for dinner and once for brunch (on my birthday). This entry will focus specifically on their brunch. I thought everything on the whole was really good. However they could have done a better balancing the sweet and savoury aspects of each dish.

On the table:

• Okanagan Apple & Pear Fritters with maple yogurt 4/6
  
• I liked this as a dessert. It had a cinnamon sugar sprinkle and a light batter which was nice, so I felt as though I was actually eating apples and pears rather than just batter. The yogurt was a nice complimen t too. Great presentation.
  
• Smoked salmon benedict 5/6
• This was really nice. The eggs were poached to a medium, if I was dining alone I would have requested it to be a bit slighter on the undercooked side. It came with a side salad.
• **Dungeness crab benedict 6/6
  
• This was one of my favourites. You get a nice amount of crab for what you pay for. A gourmet benedict
• Brie & Black Truffle Omelette 2/6
  
• Nothing too spectacular. I probably wouldn't order it again, although there was nothing wrong with it. Lacked a bit of flavour or felt like something was missing with the texture.
  
• **Brioche French toast 6/6
  
• This was another favourite! Brioche French toast served with caramelized pear wedges. A nice amount of pecans pieces - not crumbs - served on top! The maple butter and syrup was a great touch. Very rich and very moist. We enjoyed this as a dessert. Loved the texture of soft brioche with crunchy pecans. I think it would have been extra tasty is they spiced the pecans with one or two seasonings just to add another dimension in flavour.
• Tomato & red pepper frittata 2/6
• Good, but there's better on the menu. It came with a lentil and chick pea stew - tomato based stew. The stew was meh...but was a unique side to the frittata.
• Mimosa
• Standard, nice and refreshing with the fritters.
• Mint Syrup
  
• Nice complement to the fruit salad.

• Dessert:
• Chocolate souffle 4/6
  
• This isn't on the menu for the summer though. They replaced it with a flourless chocolate cake. This chocolate souffle was coked halfway so the inside was still gooey and lava like. Very rich and moist. It was served with a coconut gelato, which is a must otherwise its hard to finish it alone...it's really decadent.
• Frozen orange mousse 5/6
  
• Perfect for the summer! Nice, light and refreshing. Really unique dessert. Advice: with every bite of the frozen mousse make sure you dip it into the passion fruit coulis it comes with. That is really the part that tops off this frozen orange mousse. Really good with a Mimosa!
• Sorbets: They change all the time. Made in house too. About 7 flavours at a time. We had their red current (which was the fav), the pink grapefruit, and green apple. All were good, and REAL fruit flavoured!