The name Eighteen Below, as you can probably guess, alludes to the exact subzero temperature at which the store's ice creams are kept. This temperature is, in fact, colder than the average -4C because the Hua Hin-originated shop does without a few components of typical commercial ice cream: artificial colours, flavour essences and emulsifiers.
What's left, might you wonder? Real flavours. At any given time, there are 20 au naturale flavours in the vats. You can always count on Dark chocolate and Vanilla to be there for you, but perhaps you'd like to have a go at a beverage-inspired sorbet such Pink lemonade or dessert-derived ice cream flavours such as Rice pudding, Ginger cookie dough and "Hokey Pokey", based on New Zealand's honeycomb toffee treat. There are also local flavours like Thai tea and Coconut, made with real fruit from Prachuap Khiri Khan.
One scoop costs B99. If you want it in a cone, add another B30. Toppings, such as hot fudge, marshmallow fluff, pavlova and nuts, cost B30 each. If you're going to spend that much, you might as well consider one of the sundae combos, such as Waffles & Ice Cream (B195) or Churros (B195), which comes with bits of churros and hot fudge. The ice cream flavour in the sundae is always up to you. Eighteen Below also offers baked goods, which you can enjoy with or without ice cream. Cakes come all the way from the main kitchen at Hua Hin every two to three days.
The trade-off of ice cream being more natural than usual is that you can't spend more than a minute taking photos of it. So snap a photo quick and be confident about it while you enjoy the delightfully delicate taste.
Find Eighteen Below's three-coned logo in EmQuartier's Helix Building, 5/F. Custom cakes are also available for order. Call 081-951-2685.
