I don’t watch a lot of YouTube and I’m not on TikTok. I don’t really care about the latest makeup or the newest dance craze. But as a foodie, I admit to a little FOMO when it comes to viral food trends.
So when I found not one but two viral foods are available right here in Augusta from local establishments, I had to check them out.
First up: Videos are all over TikTok featuring Chinese ice creams shaped and flavored just like fruit. The most popular varieties include darling miniature mangos, lemons and — perfect for Augusta — peaches.
I heard that at least a couple local Asian groceries had them — and would usually sell out in a matter of hours. So I felt a little giddy when the clerk at Cha Ba Mien in the West Town shopping center pointed me toward the frozen food section all the way in the far right of the store, and it was packed with boxes and boxes of the frozen treats. Each flavor comes in a pack of three for $10.99; naturally, for tasting purposes, I had to grab a box of mango, lemon and peach.
Back at home, I took a mango treat from its orange box, which was printed with the words “Full of Happiness.” Inside a clear plastic carton was a perfect mango, delicately green and pale red. I realized it’s actually ice cream on a stick, and you have to pull the carton open and push the stick out of a notch in the plastic — be careful, as I almost dropped mine as I was working it out of the plastic.
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The ice cream is enrobed in white chocolate that’s beautifully colored to look just like a small mango. And the first bite didn’t disappoint — it’s a thick shell of white chocolate with a rich and creamy ice cream beneath. Like many Asian desserts, it wasn’t super sweet, but it didn’t need to be because the ice cream and even the chocolate had that sweet and fruity mango flavor. Both the lemon and peach were similar, shaped like the fruits they tasted like; the lemon was probably the most delicate of the flavors, while the peach was the most intense.
In fact, we liked them all so much, my husband bought another box of the peach ice creams the next day!
I’d originally learned that the viral ice creams were available in Augusta through Facebook, which pointed me to another viral treat here in Augusta: Dubai chocolate. Invented by a chocolatier in Dubai in 2024, it’s a chocolate bar filled with pistachio cream and crisp kadayif, which is finely shredded filo dough. My daughter had heard about this one and even showed me a video, which is why the Facebook post caught my eye. Whipped Creamery, which has locations in Grovetown and Martinez plus a food truck, makes the bars from scratch. They’re not always available, but you can order one with 24 hours’ notice.
The owner also has offered other Dubai specials, including a Dubai chocolate strawberry cup that I’ve heard is to die for. But once they post on their socials that these specials are available, you have to act fast—usually it’s only a two-hour window.
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The Dubai chocolate bars are available in small ($10), medium ($25) or large ($50) — and for my family of three, I chose medium. (There’s also a cookie butter flavor available.) When I picked it up, the server mentioned that her mother is the one who makes them!
My daughter was with me, and she could hardly wait until we got home to try a bite. But the server suggested we give it a little time to warm up for optimum flavor — she’d pulled it straight from their cooler.
The medium is a generously sized bar, maybe about as big as one of the large Hershey bars but much thicker. I used a butter knife to cut off one square for each of us. First was the taste of creamy milk chocolate, which had the rich sweetness and complex flavor of quality chocolate. Then, the pistachio cream, nutty and a little sweet, with the kadayif, which had the honeyed crispness of baklava. It was rich, indulgent and unlike anything I’ve ever tried before.
If you want your taste of these viral treats, make sure to follow these shops on Facebook or call ahead to check if the items are available. (Breaking news: I just checked Whipped Creamery’s page, and they’re offering the viral ice creams too!) They’re perfect for an end-of-school treat, party sweets or just a sweet treat for a summer afternoon — no FOMO necessary.
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Make your reservation
Viral Ice Cream
Cho Ba Mien Asian Market
3830 Washington Road (West Town Market Square)
Beauty Smile
4113 River Watch Parkway
Dubai Chocolate (and Viral Ice Cream)
Whipped Creamery
514 Oxbow Dr., Grovetown
353 Fury’s Ferry Rd., Martinez
