Nectars of the ice cream gods
Belgian and Ugandan chocolate conspire to keep the queues long at Magnum Cafe
When consumer giant Unilever relaunched Magnum last year as a premium ice cream, Thais responded wholeheartedly, sucked in by the tsunami of 60-second, prime-time TV advertisements and celebrity endorsements via instagram and Facebook – that saw favourite actors and actresses proudly wearing chocolate moustaches.
Magnum Cafe has also swept Bangkokians off their feet since opening early this month at the newly renovated Siam Center, with long queues forming every day. Although it’s only a pop-up store and will close on May 31, this is a real restaurant built with attention to detail and offers not only sweet ice cream treats but also tapas, pizza and pasta, desserts and drinks. You can’t book in advance, which explains the long but good-natured waits.
This is the fifth Magnum pop-up store and follows successes in London, Paris, Edinburg and Jakarta. Occupying an area of 400 square metres, Bangkok is the largest outlet and can seat 170 people. The interior design by hot designer Charif Lona is done in surrealistic vintage glamour with chocolate hues predominating.
Right at the entrance is the Magnum Bar where customers can create their own ice cream bars. At a convenience store a Magnum stick sells for Bt40. Here you pay Bt80 and can choose to coat the naked vanilla with either milk or dark chocolate plus your choice of three toppings from more than 20 options, before drizzling the entire concoction in dark, milk or white chocolate sauce.
Customising your own stick is a fun option to eat in or take away. Among the toppings are dried coconut, chilli flakes, marshmallow, brownie, corn flakes and sea salt. With such an extensive selection, you may find it hard to choose on your first visit. Relax: the best way to go is to opt for one of the four recommended creations, which offer just the right concoctions of ice creams and mix-ins.
Among these are the Mint Crunch – Magnum milk chocolate with the toppings of red velvet crumble, mint candy and silver candy ball – and Sticky & Chewy – milk chocolate topped with brownie, pistachio nut and marshmallow.
Chef Samual Edward Wickson – or Sam as he prefers to be called – has been commissioned to create both savoury and desserts, in which chocolate, ice cream cone and almond are the main ingredients, to bring out the character of this ice cream brand.
“I try to incorporate chocolate in savoury dishes to enhance the perfect flavours. Bacon and goose liver are among the ingredients that go well with dark chocolate. While Magnum ice cream uses Belgian chocolate thanks to its creamy and sweet properties, I opt for Ugandan dark chocolate which is hard and bitter, to obtain a perfect combination,” says Sam, whose own restaurant Tachang, next to Thammasat University’s Tha Prachan campus, closed four years ago.
His Magnum Rocket (Bt160) is a rocket salad with balsamic dressing and sun-dried tomatoes plus shavings of almond and Ugandan chocolate while the Magnum Foie Gras (Bt190) features goose liver with a mix of dark chocolate terrine, served with Melba toast and brandy marmalade. Seared beef carpaccio with chilli (Bt120) comes with dark chocolate dressing.
For a sharp taste, try Royal Somtam (Bt190), spicy papaya salad with Alaskan king crab and radish slices or Magnum California Cones (Bt160), salmon tartar served in wasabi ice cream cones.
If you fancy something heavier, Benedict Breakfast (Bt320) is a good choice. It is a pizza of poached egg, smoked salmon, spinach and cheese with Hollandaise sauce. Another tempting dish is Spaghetti Bolognese with 70 per cent Belgium chocolate (Bt160).
The highlight of the sweet treats is Green Tea Stogie (Bt140) featuring a brownie with a Magnum vanilla stick dusted with green tea powder. It’s served in a glass with a hooded cover and when opened, the smoky aroma of the Hickory bark is pleasantly strong. Another mouth-watering treat is Windsor Breakfast (Bt210), which offers pancakes served with caramelised bacon and maple butter.
A wide selection of drinks is available from smoothies and mocktails to spirits and cocktail. The smoothies – Bt120 each - have Magnum vanilla ice cream as a base. Snow White, for instance, has ice cream with fresh melon, apple and mint syrup while Red Riding Hood offers fresh strawberry, topped with dark chocolate syrup. Blue Royale has blueberry with milk and lychee.
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>> Magnum Cafe is on the first floor of Siam Center and open daily from 10 to 10 until May 31. Call (02) 252 9871.
>> Discover more with The Nation’s video at www.NationMultimedia.com/video and on the “Sunday Leisure The Nation” Facebook page.
