TCBY (The Country’s Best Yogurt – Frozen Yogurt)

Restaurant: TCBY (The Country’s Best Yogurt – Frozen Yogurt)
Cuisine: Desserts/FroYo/Ice Cream/Smoothies/Drinks
Last visited: July 1, 2011
Location: Burnaby, BC (Burnaby South)
Address: 4700 Kingsway Avenue (3rd floor)
Inside concession of SilverCity Metropolis Theatre at Metrotown Mall
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 5
Service: n/a (concession)
Ambiance: n/a (concession)
Overall: n/a
Additional comments:

• Since 1981
• Franchise
• Soft serve yogurt
• Concession in most Cineplex theatres
• Healthy dessert
• Smoothies
• Variety of frozen desserts
• 96% fat-free
• Low fat
• Small selection of cookies
• Accepts Interac/Visa/MC
• Opens at 9pm
• Closes around 10pm

**Recommendations: Whatever pleases your palate, just get one!

TCBY: The Country’s Best Yogurt. It’s a bold statement, and I must say that I am a major fan. I’m a fan of anything in the category of “ice cream” anyways, so whether it’s ice cream, gelato, or frozen yogurt, you can be sure that I’ll always have room for it.

TCBY is a frozen yogurt franchise that started in the States, but it’s expanded all across Canada although it’s not as popular in Vancouver. It only has one actual stand alone store in West Vancouver, and the rest of its locations are usually concession stands in Cineplex Odeon theatres. The location in West Vancouver has more variety and flavours, but if you see the locations in the States, it puts the Vancouver locations to shame.  The ones in the States just have lots more flavours, toppings and options.

TCBY is pretty much my “must have” anytime I’m going to the movies. Yes, I have a confession. I like it so much that I go to the movie theatre just for TCBY and don’t even watch a movie sometimes. I know, who goes to a movie theatre just for the concession stand? Who else, but me? (Although I have brought friends to do this with me and nobody ever objects to the idea).

So is it really “The Country’s Best Yogurt”? Well it depends on what you like. If you want your frozen yogurt to taste just like ice cream, then yes this is possibly one of “The Country’s Best Yogurts”, but if prefer the tart yogurt like Pinkberry and Qoola, then no, you’ll probably think this is too rich and too much like ice cream. I can honestly say that most people that try TCBY for the first time think it’s ice cream and never believe me when I tell them it’s not. It tastes just like soft serve ice cream and I’m absolutely addicted to it.

On this occasion I came to TCBY twice in one day. It was my dessert after lunch and my dessert after dinner. The funny thing is, is that where I had lunch and dinner was also at the same restaurant, which was Anatolia’s Gate. I know. It sounds ridiculous, but it’s true. I went to lunch at Anatolia’s Gate, then to TCBY, then back to Anatolia’s Gate for dinner to make a bigger dent in the menu, and then back to TCBY… but I also watched a movie the second time around.

Yeah, and that’s not all. Are you ready for some even more ridiculous news? I actually had 4 frozen yogurts in this one day. I guess you could call it a Follow Me Foodie self-guided tour to all the frozen yogurt available at Metrotown Mall. Metrotown Mall has three frozen yogurt places, so in order to complete my frozen yogurt research, I tried them all… back to back. Thank god they’re spread out though, the exercise walking to one from the other helped me make room, not that it was difficult.

So after Anatolia’s Gate I actually went to Qoola first, followed by Yogen Früz, and then TCBY. It wasn’t my intentions to save the best for last, but for me, it was. I actually really enjoy the self-serve Qoola as well, but they close earlier, so TCBY is always a great plan B. So later on that night I came back to celebrate my winner with another TCBY.

On the table:

**Vanilla Frozen Yogurt – 5/6

• About $3
• This is the most basic you can go, and I love it.
• The main ingredients are milk, sugar, and probiotics.
• It’s smooth and creamy, but not thick or as rich as ice cream so it’s not hard to finish like how some ice creams can be.
• It’s not as rich as Dairy Queen, Marble Slab Creamery or Cold Stone Creamery because of course it is frozen yogurt and not ice cream.
• It’s only 96% fat free as opposed to the 99% fat free yogurts so the texture is a bit creamier and closer to soft serve McDonald’s ice cream (which I love as well).
• The sugar content is maybe a 1/3 more than Qoola, so the yogurt is much sweeter and closer to ice cream.
• It’s not overly sweet though if you get the basic vanilla and chocolate, but if you add toppings, then of course it could get much sweeter.
• It doesn’t melt as fast as the fat free frozen yogurts as well because it has more dairy content as opposed to water content.
• It’s creamier and sweeter than Qoola and Yogen Früz, but also has more flavour and doesn’t melt as fast as both of those.

**Vanilla & Chocolate Twist with Reese’s Pieces – 5/6

• About $3.75
• This is my favourite.
• I’m not even crazy about Reese’s Pieces and never even really eat the chocolate bar or any of their candies, but for some reason they taste amazing with TCBY frozen yogurt.
• I can’t even look at the photo without wanting to make a drive out.

Skor Shiver with Chocolate Frozen Yogurt – 3/6

• About $6 (Large + 1 topping)
• The “Shiver” is basically a McDonald’s McFlurry or a Dairy Queen Blizzard, but less thick.
• I’m not a fan of Skor candy bars, because I find them too sweet and I’m not huge on toffee, therefore this is too sweet for my tastes. Yes, I love dessert, but I’m not a fan of things that are too sweet.
• They blend the Skor toppings in the frozen yogurt and then upon serving it they top it off with another spoonful.
• The chocolate doesn’t even really taste as chocolatey as how some other places can make it, and it’s not like it’s going to be made with the best quality chocolate, but it doesn’t bother me.
• This pretty much tasted like a Wendy’s Frosty with Skor pieces, or a frozen chocolate malt, but it’s perhaps a bit creamier and not as icy.

Blueberry Fruit Parfait – 3.5/6

• About $5
• I’m not a fan of their fruits here. They are frozen and thawed so they have a very wrinkly texture and I prefer them fresh.
• I’m also not a fan of the parfaits because of the shape of the plastic container. The bottom is completely melted by the time you get to it… and I eat fast!
• Of course the yogurt part is as delicious as ever, but the parfaits just don’t work as well.

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