Today’s Food Friday is actually a pop-up shop that’s only in Toronto until August 30th!

[custom_box width=”60%” bgcolor=”#D5F2B6″ border_color=”#3F9F29″ text_color=”#3F9F29″ icon_url=”https://www.fionaman.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/knife-fork.jpg”]RESTAURANT: Magnum Toronto Pleasure Store
ADDRESS: 11 Bloor Street West Toronto, ON M4W 1A3
CUISINE: Ice Cream
WEBSITE: http://www.magnumicecream.ca[/custom_box]

Last week, I was taking a course in the area and kept on seeing line ups outside of Magnum Toronto Pleasure Store.  So after my course was over, I decided to call upon my best buddy, Andrea, to go give it a try!

For $6, you can get a chocolate covered ice cream bar with your choice of 21 toppings.  Now $6 is a lot of money for just an ice cream bar, but it’s really just for the novelty factor and experience.

I didn’t realize it but Andrea mentioned to me that it was a pop-up shop and they have been travelling around the world.  Rumour has it that their next location is either Australia or Montreal.

The reason why there is a long line-up outside is primarily due to the service.  Instead of self service like most yogurt joints, an associate takes your order and assembles your ideal ice cream bar.  Just to give you a ball park, if you’re lined up by the H&M doors, it’s approximately a 30 minute wait.  With 21 choices of toppings, it does take some time for people to decide on what they want and for the associate to compile it together.  It would have been better if a bigger sign was posted listing all the toppings so people could start thinking and make ordering a bit quicker.

The first time I went, it was about a 20 minute wait and the second time I went with my boyfriend, it was an hour wait.  We actually arrived at 30 minutes before closing.  The Manager realized that there wouldn’t be enough time to address everyone that had lined-up.  So she consulted the staff and honoured the existing line.  We actually waited an hour before our order was taken but honestly it was worth it because I wanted my boyfriend to try it.  It’s all about experiences in life 😉

So here is how you design your own Magnum:

1. Choice of Ice Cream – Vanilla or Chocolate
2. Choice of Chocolate Coating – White, Classic, or Dark
3. Choice of 21 Toppings categorized in 3 sections
   • The Specials – Goji Berries, Culinary Rose Petals, Dried Coconut, Dried Strawberries, Macadamia Nut Pieces, White Chocolate Vermicelli, Crumbled french Macarons, Canadian Maple Fudge
   • The Classics – Crushed Popcorn, Chopped Hazelnuts, Crumbled Biscuit, Chocolate Flakes, Chopped Almonds, Chocolate Rice Crspies, Honeycomb, Toffee Bits
   • The Experimentals – Popping Candy, Rock Sea Salt, Grape Nerds, Chili Flakes, Bacon Bits
4. Choice of Chocolate Drizzle – White, Classic, or Dark
5. If you ask for the “Golden Touch”, they will add gold flakes to your ice cream bar and a FREE gold nail polish (while supplies last).

I’m one of those odd people who aren’t fans of ice cream bars with hard chocolate and prefer fudgesicles.  When ordering, I went towards a more savoury approach and absolutely loved it!  The heat from the chili flakes and saltiness from the rock sea salt really counteracted the sweetness of the vanilla ice cream and bitterness of the dark chocolate.  My boyfriend has similar tastes to me, so you will noticed that our bars weren’t too different.  But he added way more chili flakes and loved it too!

Without further ado, here are our creations:

My Creation:
Vanilla Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate covered with rock sea salt, chili flakes, chopped hazelnuts, toffee bits, chopped macarons, and drizzled with white chocolate

Andrea’s Creation:
Vanilla Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate covered with roses, goji berries, white chocolate vermicelli, macadamia nuts, and drizzled with white chocolate

My Boyfriend’s Creation:
Vanilla Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate covered with rock sea salt, chili flakes, chopped hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, toffee bits, gold flakes and drizzled with white chocolate

Side Note: Unfortunately they ran out of the nail polish, but the gold flakes were still really pretty and there was no extra charge.

I apologize for the “last minute” post as there is only 2 weeks until Magnum Toronto Pleasure Store closes.  If you haven’t been, I strongly suggest that you do for the novelty factor!  But only go, if you do have time to spare due to the wait times.