It wasn’t until a trip to Toronto that I realized Orlando had a very pitiful showing of local ice cream shops for a city in the center of the Sunshine State. Why was a city in Canada, with freezing temps for a large chunk of the year, brimming with fun, innovative local creameries while Orlando sat with mostly Twistee Treats and a few mostly chain-supply ice cream shops. I never got an answer to my question, but I knew how much Orlando needed more than one local ice cream business dominating the market.

Enter Marie Mercado of Greenery Creamery and now Sampaguita.

Sampaguita stands out from the Greenery Creamery because this is an entire ice cream shop focused on bringing more Filipino flavors to Orlando. Don’t go there looking for Cookies N Cream or plain Vanilla; instead, be ready to experience flavors like Ube, Pandan, and, yes, Soy Sauce. If you are naturally an ice cream lover, I think you will be delighted with allowing your palette to be more adventurous.

THE VIBE

Is Sampaguita just another Instagram-worthy spot? Absolutely not. While it has all the trimmings of a modern space, complete with greenery, neon signs, and pops of colorful terrazzo-style table tops, it delivers much more. While the space gives a lush tropical getaway feel that is gorgeous and worthy of your photos and selfies, the overall ambiance fits and compliments the experience of popular Filipino flavors like jackfruit, banana, coconut, and Ube.

What starts as an open space with warm wafts of sweet waffle batter when you walk in leads down a narrow corridor with more seating, including small booths. There is ample seating for an ice cream shop, but at peak times, you may still have to wait for a seat or take your treats outdoors.

THE ICE CREAM

At the first sample scoop of Champorado, I knew that the rest of the flavors wouldn’t disappoint. 

What flavors I got:

• Champorado - Dark chocolate ice cream with chocolate-covered puffed rice crunch and sweet condensed milk swirl. Contains dairy, egg, gluten.

• Pineapple Cake - Pineapple cake batter ice cream with macerated pineapple and cherry compote swirls. Contains dairy, egg, gluten, soy lecithin.

• Sampaguita - Almond vanilla bean ice cream perfumed with a hint of jasmine + lychee jellies. Contains dairy, almond.

• Soy Sauce Butterscotch - A brown sugar and vanilla ice cream with umami notes of soy sauce and a hint of Maldon salt. Contains dairy, soy, gluten.

• Ube Latte - An espresso-forward flavor. Sweet purple yam ice cream swirled with French roast ice cream. Contains dairy, caffeine.

• Buko Pandan - Pandan coconut ice cream with young coconut shreds. Made from coconut. Contains coconut

Every single flavor was good. If I had to choose a favorite top placement, I would go to Soy sauce butterscotch. Don’t let the name fool you into thinking it will have a strong soy taste; it didn’t. It gives a more sweet and slightly salty caramel, and I found it very rich and pleasant. 

Although the vegan flavor was not as creamy as the others, the Buko Pandan was a bright spot, and I am a big fan of coconut. Thanks to the puffed rice crunch, the Champorado was also a rich and chocolatey flavor with a great textural feel.

But truly, I loved all the flavors and can’t wait to return and try more.

We also got toppings, both an Ube Whip and an Ube syrup, we added to all the flavors after trying them all alone. If you are a big Ube fan, this is a must.

WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

• You are allowed four flavor samples before making your final decisions.

• On my visit, I purposely went close to their opening time during the week of 2 pm and had no issue with service, seating, or parking.

• The six-flavor flight that I shared with a friend was $23. We easily could have shared with another friend as we didn’t finish it all, so if cost is a concern, I would suggest splitting a flight with friends.

• Parking will be an issue (welcome to Orlando) if you go a peak times. There is a lot behind the space as well as some street parking.

• If you aren’t adventurous, but you want to go with friends, they do have premium soft serve (both dairy and vegan) you can have and add toppings. They also make shakes.

• You can get your ice cream in a cup, cake cone, waffle cone, dipped waffle cone, or the flight.

• The address is 1233 East Colonial Drive, Orlando, FL 32803.

All ice cream was paid for personally, and this is not a sponsored or hosted post.