Dairy Queen

The young kids that have grown accustomed to seeing Dairy Queen as a "hip" or "mod" mall-based ice cream store will be quite surprised to know that the brand has been around locally since the late sixties, as stand-alone ice cream parlors.  I remember queuing up at their store along Buendia Avenue (now Senator Gil Puyat Avenue) in Makati with Kong Kong, and it was really a treat to taste their ice cream.  Even to this day, they serve ice cream in cones upside down, which meant that the ice cream was firm, and wouldn't melt easily.  I understand that the company is now owned by the legendary stock investor Warren Buffet, and the current local franchisee is the Araneta group (developers of Cubao).  Ice cream cones are reasonably priced at P40, and other specialty mixes (e.g. banana splits, parfaits and Blizzards) go up to around P120.  One other thing about the store is that one can find ice cream cakes!  If you recall, Nestle decided to close the old Magnolia ice cream plant along Aurora Boulevard, and for a time, ice cream cakes were no longer to be found in the metro.  Take your pick--all these treats are of top quality, and now easily available in most malls around town.  Truly, this brand of ice cream is surely one of the all-time faves of both myself and Monique.