ShekouDaily | April 28, 2019
Those of you who were here about ten years ago may recall one of the most devastating moments in China’s western fast-food history… the end of McDonald’s chocolate hard shell ice cream cones (aka: the dipped cone).
The end didn’t come instantly; however, as one store after another would dissappoint you with “meiyou” until they all eventually ran out and were never restocked. Many die-hard shell ice cream fans out there still make their way to Dairy Queen for their version; but locations are limited and just aren’t as convenient.
That’s why, we were very excited when news broke that McDonald’s was bringing this illustrious topping back to China… at least for now… and with a twist, of course.
According to Will Foster, former Crew Trainer at McDonald’s (2016-2017), who answered a question posted online about the lack of dip cones in the U.S., McDonald’s didn’t require their franchisees to carry these so many didn’t as he explained, “they were in a pain to make”. One of the biggest pains he mentions was a direct result of the dipping. Apparently, inverting the cone to complete the dipping process would often result in the ice cream falling into the fudge.
Luckily, with modern technology and innovative thinking, they finally found a solution to avoid the risk of dropping the ice cream… pour the fudge sauce on top. It doesn’t end up looking as pretty as it used to, but it works… kind of.
To be honest, I was quite dissappointed with my first one. I actually looked around for a trash can to dump it in when it was first handed to me as I thought the chocolate hard shell looked terrible. Luckily, it started to smooth out and harden up before I could find one so I decided to keep it and give it a try.
If you’ve never had a dipped cone before, this may be a fantastic dessert, as-is; however, for those looking to return to the glory days, you may need to put in a little work. For example, although I like nuts, they were not part of the original dipped cone so in my opinion, they have to go. Second of all, who eats a hard shell ice cream with a plastic spoon? I’m kind of hoping McDonald’s gets one of those “chopstick” backlashes for that move but I guess it’s not culturally inappropriate enough. Anyway, these two issues are easily rectified so you can have it your way (oops, sorry, wrong slogan).
1) Ask for no peanuts
Here’s how to ask them to not put peanuts on it. Actually, the direct translation is: I do not want peanuts.
我不要花生
Wǒ bùxiǎng huāshēng
2) Ditch the spoon
Without the peanuts on the ice cream, we are free to enjoy the ice cream cone the way it was meant to. I would go into more detail but I’m not exactly sure how to describe that without being accused of making sexual innuendos. If you’re environmentally conscious, you can help reduce plastic use by refusing the spoon altogether when placing your order.
我不要勺子
Wǒ bùxiǎng yào sháozi
3) Free the ice cream
In order to properly get at all parts of the ice cream and chocolate without the spoon, I suggest tearing down the wall (aka: waffle cone) as soon as you get it. If you’ve handled this probably and didn’t drop it by the time you’ve finished, you’ll have a funky-looking but delicious hard-shell ice cream cone to enjoy. It’s by no means perfect, and the staff usually mess up pouring the fudge, but at just 15 rmb you can’t to complain.
TIP: Most of the fudge often pours right past the ice cream to the bottom of the waffle cone so its worth it to bite down to the very end (after getting rid of the paper wrapper of course).
Unfortunately, these are only here for a short time so get em while they last…. at participating locations across mainland China until May 14th, 2019.
Oh… I almost forgot!
While you’re there getting your ice cream, you may also notice they have a couple of new burgers.
I’ve only tried the bacon burger so far and it was worth it, despite being a bit dry (I didn’t notice any of the sauce pictured above on mine so it may have been a mistake). What really excites me about this though, is that it’s the first time I’ve noticed a quarter-pounder-patty at a McDonald’s here. These burgers are only available for a limited time, while supplies last (no specific end date), but I’m really hoping that they see a demand for these and keep them on the menu. The range of quarter pounder burgers available in the states would be an awesome addition to any McDonald’s here.
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