The summer heat doesn’t seem to be letting up soon and with no grey clouds over the distant horizon, we subsidize on cold food and drinks in an effort to beat the heat. Enter Papa Diddi’s ice cream company.
Nestled in the busy Maginhawa street, Papa Diddi’s is a welcome treat from the rows of restaurants that fill the place. Named after the late father of owner Paul Perez, the place is a testament to the passion of the family’s patriarch: shelves were lined with encyclopedias and books were used in the light fixtures.
Near the counter was a flier that contained the story of Papa Diddi and the restaurant:
“My father, commonly known as Diddi, a dedicated lawyer, especially to rural folks, a passionate cook and my original foodie, experimented with his “garafinera” or ice cream maker as I remember him call it. During the summertime, one can only imagine how we counter the summer heat with luscious ice creams. Only the chesa – its tree towering over our backyard – was not touched by our father. I grew up therefore looking at ice cream as a labor of love and expression of gratitude for the farm blessings!”
Indeed, when you have a farm filled with bountiful fresh food sources, what can stop you from creating fresh culinary masterpieces?
Every ingredient in their ice cream is sourced from local farms and markets all over the country. Their sorbeteros can only offer a pint of ice cream and that they do not sell it by the gallon. This, they say, is because they only make all-natural ice cream flavors in small batches that are mixed and packed by hand. When we visited them last Friday, the flavors available were:
- Peanut Butter & Jelly – Our kids’ favorite snack made into an unforgettable ice cream!
- Mango Ginger – The country’s favorite fruit punctuated with ginger to make it a memorable flavor!
- Sweet Basil – An herb for many dishes is now our ice cream for many celebrations!
- Davao Meets Bicol – Davao’s pure dark chocolate meets its march with Bicol’s famous sili!
- Double Chocolate – The country’s most famous tableas: Batangas and Davao create a wonderful ice cream experience.
- Never Early for Halloween – Who would ever think squash can become a wonderful ice cream flavor?
- Roasted Strawberry – La Trinidad strawberries roasted to perfection.
- Tarragon – Used a lot for teas, but we made it into ice cream.
- Sweet P. – Sweet potatoes ice cream: a flavor you would come back for many times over!
- Roasted Forbidden Rice – Mt. Province’s famous black rice made into our signature flavor.
We tried the Mango Ginger, Never Early for Halloween, and Sweet P. and well, they all tasted delicious. One bite of their handcrafted creations and you can really taste the flavors – mango and ginger together, the squash that was a really sweet surprise, and one of our favorites so far, the sweet potato ice cream with marshmallow bits.
Price for their original flavors are as follows:
- Restraint (one scoop) – P55
- Treat (2 scoops) – P75
- Indulgence (3 scoops) – P95
- Pint – P275
Apart from their handcrafted ice cream, they also serve cookies, churros, and coffee. We’re thinking of going back every day, even just for a scoop! Visit them at 168 Maginhawa Street, Sikatuna Village, QC.
