Frozen yogurt gamblers are betting on Shanghai. Christopher St. Cavish and his Tasting Team check them out.

1. Céfiore

Opened: June 2008

Los Angeles’s Céfiore has the best location, a super-bright glass corner on the refurb side of Wujiang Lu (and come August, Xujiahui’s Metro City), serving up pastel-colored “Italian non fat yogurt” in four flavors: raspberry-pomegranite (our favorite), green tea, blueberry, and original. Toppings are mostly fresh fruit and the pink-and-silver vibe here is graphic designer meets teenage girl – “they should have Apple computers here”, said a touring taster – but the airy, mild yogurt is good. It’s a bit grainy because it’s non-fat (fat equals creaminess), but the lightness is pitch-perfect for the street – exactly what you want after munching spicy chicken wings on the other end of Wujiang Lu.

Verdict: 3/5
Price: ¥24

2. California Balance

Opened: November 2007

California Balance is a 3-store veteran, with a fruit theme. But they’re more like the old grandparent you stuff away in the attic than a wisened yogurt yoda. The store is well-designed, with inset computer terminals to surf the internet and floppy pink keyboards, but the crappy location on the third floor of the dead-quiet Loft means the staff don’t get a lot of practice. Add a complicated layout and ordering method, and it’s all a bit confusing. Here’s how it works. First choice: flavored yogurt or original? If you want original, pick from the case of fruit toppings. If you want flavored, pick from the case of frozen fruits: sour cherries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, red currants, black currants, and (suspiciously small and currant-tasting cranberries). The staff plops your fruit and a frozen puck of packaged yogurt into a corkscrew-like, pyramid press, and, boom, you’ve got flavored frozen yogurt. Sour cherry is the best.

Verdict: 3/5
Price: ¥19

3. Berry Fresh

Opened: June 2008

Here’s a funny comparison: Pinkberry.com and Berryfresh.com.cn. The first is from the US’s most successful froyo vendors; the second is in Hongqiao, a complete rip-off down to the green-and-pink colors, the spot motif, and the swirly fruit logo. And you know what? It’s the best in town, even if it’s just a hidden takeaway out in Hongqiao with no seats. Berryfresh gets the balance spot-on between sweet and sour, creamy and grainy, and they’ve got good toppings to boot: gummy bears, granola, and mochi (eh, cough, eh, Pinkberry). If they’re gonna borrow the idea, at least they’ve borrowed from the best and done a very good job at recreating it. Now they just need to move downtown.

Verdict: 5/5
Price: ¥19

4. Aloha

Opened: May 2008

Here’s why Aloha might not go out of business: central location, relatively cheap, and a fun concept borrowed from the US’s Yogurtland: self-serve, pay-by-weight. The give you a paper cup and point you to the dispensers (inset into the wall like ATM machines), the counter of toppings, and an employee with a scale and a cash register. But it’s only fun until you try the frozen yogurt, which comes in a variety of harsh, chemical flavors like green apple, banana, chocolate, green tea, and strawberry.

Verdict: 1/5
Price: ¥12 per 100g

5. Froyo Farm

Opened: June 2008

Everything at this tiny store out near East China Normal University is fake: the acrid, terribly artificial frozen yogurt, the toppings that look like rocks and ball bearings, and even the “ice” that’s supposed to be keeping the fruit toppings cold. It’s a self-serve, pay-by-weight store with three flavors – coffee, green tea, and original – but it’s cheap and cheerful and cheap. And that’s the point.

Verdict: 1/5
Price: ¥9 per 100g

6. SweeTart

Opened: May 2008

Pink! Blasting hip-hop! Angry employees! The three most important things we took away from the far-away SweeTart, a self-serve, pay-by-weight kind of place. It’s made for teenage girls – if you don’t want to pull the offensively artificial frozen yogurt and add the QQ Dots topping yourself, the staff will make you any of a menu of set combinations, like the Lemon Samba, Strawberry Hip-Hop, the Black Currant Rumba, and the Kiwi Streetdance. The worst part? It’s not even that cheap.

Verdict: 1/5
Price: ¥15 per 100g

7.Yodio

Opened: May 2008

Yodio is next to a Y+ Yoga, near Xintiandi, and it looks like it. It’s super-slick and stylish, with loungey bed-seats near picture windows overlooking the lake and a very clear idea of what it is: remarkably creamy frozen yogurt that comes in just one flavor, plain, and a sprinkling of toppings that could be fresh mango and granola just as easily as hot fudge and candy. (They’ve also got a sandwich and wrap or two, but they involve neither freezing nor yogurt). The frozen yogurt is outstanding, so creamy it baffled our panel of tasters (including two professional pastry chefs) and just a touch sour. It baffled our Tasting Kids, too, though – this is frozen yogurt for adults.

Verdict: 5/5
Price: ¥26 

Directions

Aloha, 1/F, Yalong International Plaza, 500 Jinling Dong Lu, near Xizang Lu, 6326 8577
金陵东路500号亚龙国际广场1楼 近西藏路
Céfiore, 169 Wujiang Lu, near Shimen Yi Lu, 6267 9298
吴江路169号，近石门一路
California Balance, 3/F, The Loft, 508 Jiashan Lu, near Jianguo Lu, 5465 9232 
嘉善路508号尚街3楼，近建国路
Berry Fresh, 1/F, Brilliance West Shopping Mall, 88 Xianxia Lu, near Hami Lu, 5219 4399
仙霞西路88号百联西郊购物中心1楼 近哈密路
Froyo Farm, 400B Zaoyang Lu, near Jinshajiang Lu
枣阳路400B号，近金沙江路
SweeTart, 2/F, Nonggongshang 118 Plaza, 1685 Jinshajiang Lu, near Zhenbei Lu, 5830 4601
金沙江路1685号农工商118广场2楼 近真北路
Yodio, 2/F, 2 Corporate Avenue, 202 Hubin Lu, near Huangpi Nan Lu,
6340 6966
湖滨路202号，企业天地2号楼2楼，近黄陂南路