Froyum: Frozen Yogurt in the Leicester Sun!

Edit: Now closed

Well the sun has had his hat on over Leicester this week, so what better time to start thinking about summer and road test some frozen treats? I headed down to Froyum, Belvoir Street’s latest addition to discover the first frozen yogurt bar in Leicester. Frozen yogurt, made fresh, isn’t that easy to get hold of in the UK outside of the major cities. The last time I had it was in California. So it’s good to see it here.

Why, I hear you ask? Because it is practically fat free. It still has calories, of course, but it’s more realistic for a regular treat than ice cream, because it tastes just as good as any ice cream but can actually be fitted into a regular, healthy diet much more easily. Having a little search around the internet, it sounds like 100g of frozen yogurt is the equivalent of 2 Weight Watchers points. To be fair, I don’t really know what that means, but it doesn’t sound like many.

One of the reasons why Froyum was started was because the two founders Tasneem and Zainab saw a gap in the market for healthy, fresh but tasty treats for their children and found the answer on their travels. They brought organic frozen yogurt to our town. And they are really slaying it! Vegetarian? Of course… Vegan? No problem, there is always at least one vegan froyo on offer. Coeliac? You know this stuff is gluten free, and you know what? So are the chocolate brownie toppings! Lactose intolerant? You can enjoy the same stuff as the vegan crew!

So I popped in today, in the sunshine, to try it for myself and I loved their absolute passion for their business. You can see that they really love what they are selling, and once I had got my mango and pomegranate/raspberry twist (a mix of the two flavours together) I could see why. The pomegranate and raspberry sorbet is the current vegan offer. It’s sweet and flavourful, but not crystallised like a granita, it’s smooth and delicious – and the fruit flavour comes through perfectly.

The mango froyo was the star for me though; creamy, fruity, smooth and satisfying. Trust me, you don’t know that the fat isn’t there. And of course then there are the toppings. Oh, the toppings.

They have 24 toppings on at any given time. You can let them know if there’s something you really like that they don’t have as well. They rotate them to suit the froyo flavours on offer.

There are fruit, nuts, seeds, chocolates, sweets – anything you might fancy. And if you are feeling a little squirmy that your frozen yogurt is a little too healthy then you can obliterate all good work with those yummy toppings. You don’t have to, of course – the fruit comes fresh from Leicester Market each morning and is carefully prepared for you, but I couldn’t resist the aero bubbles, pistachios and the gluten free chocolate brownies. The brownies are AWESOME! Just the right amount of deep cocoa bitterness with a great texture and enough sweetness. Cannot recommend any other toppings after having had those brownies. Eat the brownies. But you’ve seen the photos, I’ll leave you to decide.

So, where does Froyum go from here? Well, they have new machines coming at the end of the week and trust me, I have never seen people so overjoyed at the prospect of new technology arriving. Then they will have 7 flavours available. In fact I’m going back on Friday because I’ve heard a rumour that pistachio will be available and pistachio is my all time favourite flavour – more news on that as I have it.

And after that? Smoothies. Yep, your favourite Froyum flavour, mixed with the fruit of your choice, all fresh made. Organic, natural, tasty. I hope these lovely ladies go far. Go see them. #lovelocal