By Sarabeth Castro
“Nostalgia – a taste of home.” This statement is how the happy and inspiring couple Ailynn and Jason Wong describe Yelo’d ice cream + bake shoppe, the business they started in 2018. The name “Yelo’d” was derived from the Tagalog word “Yelo,” which means ice. The ‘d’ at the end is a creative way of adding desserts into the name since they also sell iced cakes and sweets like cookies. Ailynn started her career ten years ago as a baker; she used to own Whimsical cake studios. Their love and pride in celebrating Filipino ingredients made them decide to venture into an ice cream shop.
On a good day, they sell about 400 litres of ice cream, soft serve, and milkshakes. According to the owners, champorado, warm chocolate rice pudding, is the best selling flavor. It’s served hot with the customer’s choice of ice cream toppings.
Keso (Tagalog word for cheese) gets the most compliments because customers unexpectedly enjoy its taste. “Keso is not a common flavour in North America. Most customers are afraid to try it since it is cheese flavoured, but they get delighted when they try it,” Ailynn explained.
Ailynn shared that her favourite is “chocnut,” a peanut butter and chocolate flavour, but Jason’s is keso with ube (purple yam) cake.
In addition to the physical location on Whyte Avenue, the Wongs also own Sosyal Scoops, a fleet of luxury ice-cream trucks that travel to different events and festivals. The name, Tagalog slang for boujee, social, and friendly, sells Filipino inspired flavours not typically available at Yelo’d. Some of the offerings include Halo-Halo, Philippine shaved ice with jellies, coconut sting, jackfruit, cornflakes, and your choice of soft serve or scoop of ice cream. They will also be serving Halo-Halo milkshakes this summer.
The trucks returned to the streets on April 8th, headed for their first destination of Manchester Square on 107th avenue. The schedule is available on their Instagram page, @sosyal_scoops, or on their website.
