Freshly-made froyo at Poco Cafe

Froyo is all the rage nowadays. Korean tart frozen yogurt shops now litter the streets, offering tangy treats topped with even tangier fruits and mochi chunks that provide a refreshing and welcome break from the overly sweet American fare.

Poco Cafe in San Jose, however, sells neither kind of yogurt.  Instead, it sells something much more interesting -- fresh frozen yogurt, freshly blended with fresh fruit chunks, using this intimidating machine:

This thing blends together a plain yogurt base with any fruit of your choosing.  The machine itself is a wonder to behold, and is reason alone for you go to and see this antique and charmingly primitive monster in action.  The resulting yogurt is not artificially tart, like the currently-hip Korean variety.  Make no mistake -- it is tart nonetheless, but the tartness comes completely from whatever fruit you choose.  Like other snacks that depend on fresh fruits, the flavor and sweetness varies from day to day; we've had good luck with blueberries, peaches and pineapples, and less with mangoes (bland) and raspberries (sour).

They also sell shaved ice, which is not quite as impressive.  They do not shave their ice on the spot; instead, they pack pre-shaved ice into a box, which means it comes to your plate very coarse and very icy.  You have your usual choice of toppings, and their red/green beans and peanuts are all very yummy.  In my opinion, they use too much toppings for the amount of ice they give you, but some prefer it that way.

I haven't tried their tea drinks, but my friend has tried their jasmine green tea, and he assured me that it is excellent, with a very strong tea flavor.

Overall, this place has quickly become one of my favorite dessert places.  If you're in the mood for yogurt, and are put off by the typical trendy, high schooler infested froyo places out there, Poco Cafe is an excellent choice.

Address:

1688 Hostetter Rd. #C

San Jose CA 95131

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