Ours is an experience of a different kind, a craving to indulge in something exquisite. Our shopping spree in a mall is a combination of shopping necessities, would be programs of shopping and window shopping. There is one more new term we coined to add to the mall event, window slurping. With mall culture catching up, real estate inside it has become too pricey and so many cafe, juice lounges find a place to put a kiosk in the open areas in the mall to cater to the elite shopping crowd. Now with the cinema theatres finding their way into the malls, people from all walks of life find the mall interesting as a hangout.  Coming to the main topic, window slurping taken after window shopping is having a look at those upmarket food brand kiosks with exclusive menu items and whopping price tags and the people having a go at it. Pricey restaurants always get a visit when there is a celebration and it is a way we made sure our window slurping is converted to yummy tummy without those pangs of guilt.

There was this place we had in our agenda but never could bring ourselves to make it because it was an exclusive ice cream shop. Spend as much that we would for a buffet lunch or dinner in ice creams was not something anyone of us could accept. So every time it would be featured in the list, only to be struck down after much of deliberation. After a strike off this time, I decided whatever may it be, this is going to be my target this weekend. Just for information, this ice cream outlet belongs to Haagen-Dazs. For those curious to know what the name means, a Google search revealed it means nothing.

The moment I talked about my decision to my family, there was a huge scream and a jump from my daughter and a hurried let’s go mummy and a quick raised eyebrow questioning from my husband. After all the blah about what it takes to have a rendezvous, life of a woman and a bit more on self worth, he relented with a mild nod and all this time, I could see my daughter closing her eyes and praying for a yes from him.

Now to our family experience with Haagen-Dazs. Haagen-Dazs serves ice creams, sorbet, fruits, and Patisserie with sauces and the finest of ingredients. Having decided to splurge, we checked out on the menu and decided to try out the one that covered all aspects of their offering and chose Haagen-Dazs Fondue. They call it brunch and it is served between 11 AM and 12.30 PM. Though we understood that the item has all the elements we wanted to try, we were not clear how good it is from the point of a brunch.

Haagen-Dazs Fondue was served with a tea candle and Belgian chocolate, maple syrup on the top and assortment of fruits, ice cream, waffles, brownie, chocolate, macaroons and crepes. Sufficient portion of each were served in a beautiful arrangement. Please see pictures for more details.

As we were busy analyzing the Fondue, my daughter was busy clicking and updating her social accounts with her pictures with Haagen-Dazs display at the background. We had quite a time in pulling her back to what was in front of her. The portions were sufficient for 3 of us and it did fill our stomach. We had 4 flavors of ice creams – strawberry, Belgian chocolate, cookie and blueberry, 4 mini scoops each. Strawberry ice cream was too good and gave us the real feel of strawberry. It tasted quite different and I would recommend this to anyone who hates strawberry ice cream sold by local brands.

We had adequate slices of fruits and the spread included apple, peach, strawberry and pineapple.

When it came to Patisserie, we felt the macaroons were too sweet for Indian palate and the waffles a bit dry. Crepes were good and so were the brownie, though we felt the presentation can be a bit better. Maple syrup and Belgian chocolate sauce were extremely good and we experimented with the sauce and syrup with every item and surprisingly it all tasted good.

For an Indian palate accustomed to wide range of cuisines, it is not easy to draw out appreciation but we must accept that ice creams of Haagen-Dazs were worth it. For those interested in knowing what they offer as brunch combos, we have a few shown here –

If you are interested in trying out this place, the Haagen-Dazs outlet I visited is located in Phoenix Market city, Velachery, Chennai. It cost us Rs. 2500 + taxes for the Fondue and an average brunch combo costs Rs.420 (those shown above). Ice creams start at about Rs.175 per scoop and the price varies according to flavors,  combinations etc.