2014
Passionflower is the ice cream place of my late high school, early university days. Indeed, I hadn’t been back since my first year of university, which is now over 6 years ago. It fell off my radar for a long time because I was nowhere near Town Hall, which is where I spent most of my time in the city after uni for most of my degrees. But now that I work closer to Central, I’m back again.
Lychee rose (bottom right) – I’ve had lychee gelato and sorbet before, but never ice cream. There’s a good balance between the lychee and rose here. It’s definitely more rose than lychee, but the rose doesn’t overwhelm. Unlike the Thai milk tea, which hit you with its flavour at once, the lychee rose is one you’d want to eat slowly to savour the subtlety of the flavours.
Wild lime (top) a sorbet rather than an ice cream. Lime gelato is one of my favourite so I thought I’d balance the Asian inspired flavours with something decidedly Western. The wild lime surprised me with its bitter notes – it tasted as if they’d used the pith (the bitter part of a citrus) – but it was something I quickly got used to and the sourness countered the sweetness of the lychee rose well.
Thai milk tea (bottom left) – this looks, smells, and tastes exactly like the Thai milk tea you have at Thai restaurants. I’ve always wondered as to the distinctly intense brown/orange colouring of Thai teas generally, and it turns out to be from strongly brewed Ceylon tea. It’s a tad less sweet than my (overly sweet) experiences with Thai milk tea, which is perfect for me.
Passionflower sells mostly Asian inspired ice cream flavours, so it’s probably just as well that I’ve only just returned – Asian inspired flavours are an acquired taste for me.
2017
Passionflower has been around for a long time as far as the life span of dessert parlours are concerned. Over time, they’ve evolved from a changing menu with adventurous Asia-inspired flavours, like wasabi, to an more permanent menu of crowd favourites and expanded their offerings of waffles and parfaits.
This is the Geisha San ($15.50) with ‘green tea and lychee rose ice cream lavished with lychee and orange’.
The lychee and rose ice cream at Passionflower is one of my favourite flavours with fresh notes of sweet lychee and mellow floral notes of rose. The matcha ice cream is also a standout, having a bright green tea flavour without being overly sweet or milky. The pieces of lychee flesh went well with the ice cream, but the acidic pieces of orange were neither here nor there in the flavours of this parfait.
And the Traffic Lights ($7.50 each). Red is Talk to the Hand, a watermelon and lychee fizz with lime sorbet. Amber is Play if you Dare, a peach and mango bitter fizz with lime sorbet. Green is Easy Come Easy Go, an apple and kiwi fizz with lime sorbet. The staff made some unsolicited changes to these drinks: they came with mango sorbet and not lime sorbet, and the Red Talk to the Hand came with strawberries instead of lychees. I’m not terribly fussed by the changes, but I’d have appreciated some acknowledgement.
These drinks were lightly carbonated and taste much like their base syrup of watermelon, peach and apple, with the added fruits adding flavour only upon eating them rather than to the liquid itself. The strong flavour of the mango sorbet overwhelmed and did not complement the flavours of the watermelon or apple, and went well only with the Amber, which already had mango as a component. The zesty citrus notes of a lime sorbet would have made for a more refreshing beverage.
Asia inspired flavours of ice cream are Passionflower’s strength, and it’s what I always return to enjoy.
Passionflower is located at Shop G12, Capitol Square, 730-742 George Street, Haymarket NSW 2000.