10919 N. Wolfe Rd.
Cupertino, CA
(408) 516-6189
www.tuttimelon.com
Despite the high Asian population where my parents live, the San Jose/South Bay Area was slow to pick up on the frozen yogurt trend. I remember coming home on several occasions and being shocked that there didn’t exist a single Asian self-serve frozen yogurt chain. However, once it started, the yogurt places started to pop up like crazy. It got very competitive and you’ll find that most yogurt places charge .30/oz for the self-serve joints (whereas the average in SD is still about .38/oz)
On my last trip home, I’ve noticed that it’s become so competitive due to so many new stores opening, that a lot of the yogurt places are trying to come up with new ideas to distinguish themselves from the rest. One trend I noticed was the offering of fresh made gelato. As a big gelato lover, this is one trend I’m digging and I hope it catches on in San Diego.
Usually, I get my gelato fix from Italian bakeries. The Asian frozen yogurt joints offer a lot of “Asian flavored” gelatos like green tea, along with the traditional Italian offerings like hazelnut, pistachio, chocolate hazelnut.
I saw the new Tutti Melon on my way to Fantasia for my usual taro milk tea treat. I decided to stop by inside. The yogurt offerings included a lot of the more tropical fruits I enjoy such as passionfruit, papaya. However, they were all tart, and I’m not a big fan of tart yogurt. Instead, I opted to try the gelato instead.
After much debating, I decided to try the green tea and honey lavender. The consistency of the gelato was just right: thick, dense and creamy. The flavors were intense, as they should be with gelato. The honey lavender was dripping with honey that was almost chewy. I really liked the gelato here.
I’ve only been to the Mira Mesa location once, and I was kind of disappointed that it didn’t offer as many flavors and toppings as the one on Convoy. But .30/oz is tempting!
A couple of years ago, my friend who lives in the Peninsula area was visting here. She hadn’t heard of the self-serve frozen yogurt places that were starting to pop up all over SD at that time. I guess that area has caught up now!
I still haven’t made it to Yogurtland, but Yogurt World on Mira Mesa was charging $.30/oz last week.