Earlier this year, ice creamery Emack & Bolio’s opened up its first location here in Korea. Having sampled it before in Hong Kong I was rather excited to give it a try. I adore ice cream and was excited to try some more exciting flavours, however when I saw the prices I was soon put off. For two scoops plus a fun cone it was going to run around 10 dollars, which was just too rich for my blood. However after having dinner at Kiki Chanting last week, my friends suggested that we go there for dessert, so I decided to treat myself.
The shop is nestled in the back alleyways in behind McDonalds. Though the store is quite tiny, there is a small seating area for those who want to eat inside, which at this time of year is a pretty much a given. The menu is quite large and there are a whole host of flavours happening (around 25), although some have been discontinued because they have not proved to be popular with the Korean market which is a bit disappointing. The place doesn’t offer free samples which is a shame, so you will just have to figure out what you want from the menu. After choosing your ice cream you can then choose if you want it in a cone at an eye watering price, or a cheaper but more boring cup.
I decieded to say screw it and get the Rice Krispie Mallow Cone (2,500), while for my ice cream I went for one scoop of the Salted Caramel and Chocolate Pretzel (4,800). I absolutely adored this combo, the ice cream was rich and creamy and rippled with a salted caramel sauce and studded with chocolate covered pretzel pieces. It was the saucy, salty, creamy and crunchy treat I was lusting after. My cone was kind of nice, but honestly quite hard to eat, the crispy mallow was rock solid and I think I might have been better off going for one of the simpler cones.
My girls went for a Banana Fosters Icecream (4,800) in a Fruit Loops Cone (2,500) and a Chocolate Addiction (4,800) in the Rainbow Sprinkles Cone (2,000).The Banana Fosters was my favourite of the two, it was very flavourful without having that fake banana taste. While we really enjoyed the fruit loops cone, it was again a touch hard to eat. The chocolate ice cream was a bit rich for my tastes, but my friend adored it. So if you like chocolate ice cream give it a try.
Overall I did really really enjoy my actual ice cream. It was very tasty and reminded me a lot of the flavours we can get at home. The cone I felt was more of a novelty and only got it to make a more instagrammable picture. Their pints of ice cream are only 11,000 which is similar to the price of Ben & Jerry’s or Haagen Dazs so quite fair and this is probably what I will do next time. The array of flavours was really impressive and even though it is pricey there is no where else in Itaewon to get ice cream in these exact tastes so if you have a hankering, it will hit the spot.
Emack & Bolio’s is located at 10 Itaewon-ro, 16-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. To get there take a train to Itaewon Station and come out of exit 4. Walk straight until you reach the second set of traffic lights at Dilingers and take the stairs down to your left. Keep walking along the road that runs parallel with the main street, you will see a very small ally way to the left, Emack & Bolio is at the end. For more information you can cal them on 02-797-0814 or visit their website for more details.