Review: Western Family "Ultimate Raspberry Jubilee" Frozen Yogurt

After a quick poll, seems like a number of people wanted to see a frozen yogurt review, so today we present to you this review of Western Family Classics Ultimate Raspberry Jubilee Frozen Yogurt, the house brand of Save-On-Foods. I feel that I need to preface this review by saying that, unlike some other bloggers, I really appreciate a true yogurt taste in frozen yogurt. You know, that tartness, that tang that is reminiscent of real yogurt. However, I realize that not everyone appreciates this, and that many people go to frozen yogurt over ice cream because of the fat content. So I will try to put my prejudice aside for this review and judge it as a dessert, not according to my yogurt bias. :)

Those of you who have been reading this blog for a time should remember our Chapman's Raspberry Sorbet fiasco. You can probably understand why, when I opened the carton and saw this colour, I was a bit apprehensive. The "raspberry ribbons running through ... raspberry flavoured frozen yogurt" were evident, and I was somewhat comforted by the fact that this did not have the distinct odor of kool-aid that the aforementioned sorbet possessed. Overall the texture of this was soft, and while it was evident that some stabilizers and gums were used, it wasn't noticeably gel-like. 

I am still not 100% sure of where I stand on this product. Every time (and I mean every time) I begin to eat a serving of this, I think to myself "Geez, this is awful, why did I start this again?" But then about three bites in I think "This isn't half bad, I could keep doing this" and by the end I am left wanting more. Seriously, this happened every time I ate this through the entire carton. It's totally bizarre, and makes me wonder what kind of crazy drugged raspberries were put in this thing!

I will start by saying that I feel like the ribbon, as far as taste is concerned, is fairly unnecessary. This yogurt errs on the sweet side and the ribbon threatens to push it over the top on occasion. Well, that and it just doesn't wow you in terms of flavour: pretty nondescript, and I think making it slightly more tart would have added another dimension to this product. The yogurt itself is, again, sweeter than I would want for a frozen yogurt (oops, sorry, was trying to keep my bias out of this!) but not offensively so. On first bite (here goes that weird effect again), it tastes not entirely natural, but as you continue to eat it the flavours of real raspberry do come through. So even though this calls itself "raspberry flavoured", I would say they did a good job of capturing the flavour of the fruit (unlike some others I could mention). Overall, the flavour of this product reminds me a lot of a raspberry jam. And I mean that in a good way. Is this really the "ultimate" raspberry frozen yogurt that the name suggests? No, not by a long shot, but it's still a good product.

Recommend to a friend? If you're not expecting a totally true-to-life but still natural-tasting raspberry frozen yogurt, and don't have my tart yogurt preference, I'd definitely recommend this.

Repurchase? This doesn't fit my vision of frozen yogurt, but given that I was always left craving more (for some strange reason), I could see myself buying this again.

Nanaimo: Yorway Frozen Yogurt Bar

It's taken a while to get this review live (we're already 6 stamps into our frequent customer cards!), but since these guys were nice enough to let us take photos all over their establishment, we owe it to them to bump them up our queue a bit!

Yorway Frozen Yogurt Bar is located in Nanaimo North Town Centre (formerly known as Rutherford Mall) right across from the London Drugs, which is actually kind of a shame because NNTC has a bit of a reputation as being a pretty "dead" mall. Hopefully this place, with the addition of some key anchor stores, can breathe some life back into the place.

Yorway is a frozen yogurt bar that has preset flavours of frozen yogurt in soft-serve machines and a selection of toppings to be added, unlike somewhere like Yogen Fruz where fruit is chosen by the consumer and mixed directly into the yogurt as it is being dispensed. B has previously visited Pinkberry (at its first and only Canadian location in West Vancouver), which also employs the flavoured yogurt +toppings method, and it was pretty bomb. However, Yorway gets the upper hand for one reason and one reason alone:


Self serve.

Three different machines that dispense six flavours at a time, with the middle handle in each dispensing a twist of the two flavours in that particular machine.

Fresh fruit toppings and sauces

Dry toppings like nuts, coconut, candy, and cereal.

Unlike Pinkberry, where they have certain sizes that are priced in increments, and the employee will add toppings for you at cost, at Yorway, you pay by weight. I'm sure the Pinkberry employees were consistent in their distribution of yogurt by size, but something about being able to decide EXACTLY how much or how little yogurt and toppings we want just tickles us the right way. These guys are smart though: the cups they provide for putting your creation in are massive and B always ends up putting in more than intended...not that it goes to waste!

Since only six flavours can be available at one time, they are rotated. So far we have seen country vanilla, chocolate, new york cheesecake, original lemon tart (our favourite!), cookies n' cream, raspberry-pomegranate, peach-mango, and no-sugar-added strawberry-banana. We also saw green tea in their pre-packaged mini freezer, but not in the machines yet (maybe soon, please?). You dispense this into a cup or a cone (with the cone they provide a stand for weighing and subtract the weight of the stand from your total), and then add however many toppings you desire. As you are paying by weight, you are getting your money's worth, not wondering if maybe someone skimped on a standardized amount while you pay full price.

At our most recent trip, J decided to try out cookies n' cream (which had a weird grey colour, but an interesting chocolatey taste) with blueberries and oreo cookie pieces, while B had original lemon tart with a variety of fresh fruit (would have added shredded coconut to this too, but it was not available at the time). Both were pretty awesome.

For frequent buyers, there is a stamp card where, if you collect 10 stamps by buying creations worth $5+, you will get an eleventh yogurt free (up to $5 in value). We would keep coming here even without the card, but it's definitely a nice gesture!

When we asked the employee who was working there at the time we visited what they would want potential consumers to know about Yorway Frozen Yogurt Bar, they said that one of the most important things people should know is how healthy the yogurt is. All the flavours are reportedly nonfat, and they well exceed the minimum requirements for active probiotic cultures. And we don't think this is BS either, because B (who is lactose intolerant) experiences a significantly reduced reaction to the dairy in this yogurt than she does with ice cream, which can most likely be attributed to the bacterial cultures that aid in digestion. More information on these cultures is located on the company's website.

In conclusion, we feel that Yorway Frozen Yogurt Bar is a refreshing addition to Nanaimo North Town Centre, and if you can find a way to get yourself out there, you should try it at least once. Ha, as if you could resist going back for more...