The scoop
Favorite ramen shop dishes out outrageous new North Austin ice cream parlor
It bowled over Austin with ramen and made shabu-shabu a craze. Now, the Tatsu-Ya team is putting its signature spin on dessert. In a surprise move, the ever-growing restaurant empire will open DipDipDip Ice Cream on September 14.
Located in front of DipDipDip Tatsu-Ya at 7301 Burnet Rd., Ste, 101, the kiosk specializes in frosty treats made with hand-dipped mochiko (sweet rice flour) cones and locally sourced dairy. A touch screen allows guests to customize their creations with a variety of extra toppings, notes a release.
Chef and owner Tatsu Aikawa first developed the idea for the concept while working on DipDipDip Tatsu-Ya, which opened in June.
“I had this vision of fully composed funky ice cream cones and sprinkling in Japanese flavors and ingredients along with other unique additions,” Aikawa explains via release. “And with all of the dipping happening on the shabu-shabu side, I was inspired to have house-made dipped cones as the edible vessel.”
The menu will feature those flavors in sweets like the Cha-Cha Matcha with matcha ice cream, kuromame beans, azuki sauce, and whipped creme fraiche and Sum Yum Yuzu with yuzu mascarpone ice cream, strawberry black pepper meringue kisses, strawberry preserves, and shiso.
True to the Tatsu-Ya brand, DipDipDip also showcases unexpected flavor combinations like the Shroom of Doom with caramel, chocolate, shiitake mushrooms, sweet sherry vinegar, candied hazelnuts, and crispy parsnips. The Miso PB&J triggers nostalgia with miso croutons, candied peanuts, and Angelino plum jam.
To give the kiosk a unique feel from the shabu-shabu restaurant on the same site, Aikawa worked with graphic designer Mike Davis of Minneapolis firm Burlesque Of North America to create original characters and animations. The team dubs the graphic art “Sanrio on mushrooms,” after the famous maker of Hello Kitty.
The Tatsu-Ya team is still being typically tight-lipped on the debut of its next project, tiki bar Tiki Tatsu-Ya. The release only notes that it is still “opening soon.”
While waiting, Austinites can enjoy DipDipDip Ice Cream on Sunday through Thursday from noon to 9 pm and Friday and Saturday from noon to 10 pm.