There’s a new ice cream outlet in town and even a significant dip in the mercury could not deter us from trying it out. We heard that at Stikstof Ice Cream Cafe, you can have your scoop of creamy delight in a setup that reminds one of a spaceship! The parlour, tucked away in Madhapur, might look unassuming from outside, but as we entered, we were greeted with intimidating machines — tubes and wires, releasing clouds of smoke. That, coupled with blue LED lights and pristine white chairs, created a rather dramatic look. Meanwhile, co-founder Rakesh Balireddy spotted and ushered us in. “The technology used here is from Germany,” he informed, adding as stikstof literally means liquid nitrogen in German.
Hong Kong to Hyderabad
“Our ice creams are made from scratch only after a customer places his order,” says Rakesh, who co-owns the dessert café with his brother Hareesh. The brother duo did more than two years of research before they zeroed in on the apparatus and flavours. “On one of our trips to Hong Kong, we saw a nitrogen ice cream parlour, and we were impressed. We were determined to set up something similar in Hyderabad,” says Hareesh. There are no additives or preservatives in these ice creams and one has to be prepared to wait for 15 to 20 minutes before they can dig into the desserts. However, it is worth the wait, as we discovered!
Go bananas
The first ice cream arrived in a rather dramatic way — a grey scoop in a tall glass, peeking out of plume of smoke. The Coconut Charcoal — a combination of charcoal infused in coconut milk — is easily one of the creamiest ice creams of its kind in town. The best bit though is that the sweetness isn’t overwhelming, since stevia is used instead of sugar. The pronounced taste of coconut only makes it better. The vegans could opt for this one. After that, we moved on to the Choco-Zella. Strictly for chocolate lovers, this is an Instagram-worthy dessert with chocolate and hazelnut ice cream in a tall glass, topped with Ferrero Rocher.
Towards the end, we scooped up the Nana Banana — a delicious mix of Dulce de leche, topped with squarely-cut banana chunks and sprinkled with digestive biscuit crumbs. The last ingredient catches us by surprise as the humble biscuit crumbs make all the difference to the dessert! With that, we ended this ice cream sojourn, but not before we tried their dairy and sugar-free Beet and Carrot Sorbet. What’s better than a sweet treat that’s guilt-free as well?
Price for two: Rs 350 onwards.
Pics: Vinay Madapu