There is a brand new sweets shop in China Town, Eggloo. They offer “Hong Kong style egg waffles with a modern twist.” Basically, a large scoop of ice cream served on a soft waffle instead of in a waffle cone. They are having a big, Grand Opening on Feb 13th and 14th, and celebrating it with awesome “Buy One Get One Free” deal! So, in the freezing cold temperature, we decided to go try them out.

When we got there, they already had some line in front of the door. Their advertisement about the grand opening indicated that they will open at 11am, and we got there maybe 10 minutes after 11am. It was about 21°F degrees (-6°C) outside, and with the wind chill, if felt like 7°F degrees (-14°C). It seemed crazy that so many people (around 30-40 people) were waiting in this super cold weather for ice cream, but hey, it was BOGO!

But then, even more crazy thing was that they did not open on time… After few people on line gave up and left, they finally opened its door around 11:15 am. You might think 15 minutes is not that bad, but then, when you are standing the cold with wind chill of 7°F degrees, 15 minutes can feel like 30 minutes! We quickly learned that the inside is probably pretty small, since they only let about 10 people in the inside. They had a female staff to come out (and stay outside) to control the crowds. She kept checking the inside, and allowed few people in at a time. It was a nice way to manage the numbers of people in the inside at any given moment. She was really nice and helpful also. So, slowly, about 2-4 people were let in every 10 min or so. About the time we got in the inside, it was almost 12 noon…

So, the inside was pretty small, with half the space take up as the kitchen, and the other half is the space for ordering, waiting and very limited seating. I believe there were 2 tiny tables with 2 chairs each, and maybe 4 counter seats by the window.  Half the kitchen is taken up by 5-6  makers.

 

The basic order of waffle, ice cream and 2 toppings is $8. The ordering can be as simple or as complicated as you like. First, you choose the waffle flavor: Original, Chocolate, or Matcha. You could add “filling” to your waffle such as M&Ms and diced almonds, which will be mixed into the batter. The fillings are 50 cents each. Second, you choose the ice cream flavor; Vanilla, Strawberry, or Chocolate. Third, choose 2 toppings. There are currently offering 12 kinds of toppings, such as Fruity Pebbles, Condensed Milk, and Blueberries. You can add more than 2 toppings at 50 cents each. As you can imagine, if everyone in line can’t decide on what to order quickly enough, the line can get very long, and move very slow. So it got very crowded very fast.

Once we finally made it to the counter to order, we were told that if we wanted to have Matcha waffle (the most popular flavor), then we have to wait 30 minutes. Even though we had our hearts set on Matcha, we were not going to wait 30 minutes for that… so we ordered one with Original and another one with Chocolate.

On top of long ordering process, it takes a while for each waffle to be created. Mainly because they have to make the waffle with each order, and then they need to cool the waffle before putting the ice cream on top. There were many people waiting for their waffle creation, long before we got our orders in, so I thought it will take a while regardless… but then, our names got called within 10 min or so, before other people who has been waiting there for a while already. Then, staff yelled out that they ran out of their Matcha waffle batter, and that if anyone who has been waiting for their Matcha waffle should come up to the front to change to Original or Chocolate waffle. In exchange, they will be giving 1 extra topping. I could see they were not very prepared, for them to be running out of their most popular waffle flavor within 1 hour of Grand Opening…

Luckily for us, we didn’t wait too long before we had our waffles in our hands. The first one was with Original waffle, Strawberry ice cream, Mochi and M&Ms toppings. The second one was with Chocolate waffle, Vanilla ice cream, Mochi and Cookies & Cream toppings. I felt like the amount of toppings are much less than what I’ve seen on their photos… The waffles were still warm, which was nice on the cold day, but it also sped up the melting of ice cream. Within a minute or so, the vanilla ice cream was dripping on the floor from the bottom of the paper cone. The waffles were soft, moist and sweet, the ice cream scoops were nice big size. Toppings were nice touch, but nothing really unique or special. I did like the strawberry ice cream with chunks of strawberries in it.

They also have a couple of savory version of their waffles; Chinese Sausage & Chives, and Pizza.

Overall, I am not sure if I can say that I would go back to get another one of these for $8. It was great that we got the BOGO deal, but at the same time, we couldn’t get the waffle flavor we really wanted. Also, one of the owners were there, and he was not very nice (more rude than anything). So, with them not opening the door on time on a freezing day (made me think they don’t really appreciate their customers), running out of the most popular waffle flavor within 1 hour, and the owner being not respectful to his customers (other staff were much nicer), I am not sure it was all worth it. I am glad I got the opportunity to taste the new creation, but I would really like to see they show some love and respect to their patrons.

Eggloo – 60 Mulberry Street, New York, NY 10013