Mama, Bar B Q Plaza, Jolly Bear, S. Khonkaen, Arsenal, Maepranom, Roza, Golden Mountain, and Takabb have long been staple brands in Thailand. Last Friday, Bangkok’s beloved ice cream store Guss Damn Good launched a collab with these local favs, available until the end of August. 

 

Some ingredients like jolly bears and cookies are thrown into the treats, while other kitchen essentials like chili paste, soy sauce, and tomato sauce might raise a few eyebrows. But Guss Damn Good is no stranger to innovative flavors and BK is here to give you the lowdown on which product should remain on the shelf and which is worth a shot. 

 

We’re starting off the journey with a middle of the road pick. The base reminds us of vanilla ice cream with an extra sweetness from coconut sugar. But when you get to the defrosted caramelized pork floss—which will get a bit soggy like when left a little too long in your porridge—a strong kick of saltiness gives your tongue a bit of emotional whiplash. 

 

This one is for the Bar B Q Plaza diners who always ask for a soup refill even when the meat is gone. The restaurant’s distinctive savory sauce coupled with honey molasses is enough to make you feel your arteries clogging up. But it’ll undoubtedly be appreciated by your sweet tooth and teleport you straight to the front of the grill.

 

The least shocking and most accessible flavor of the bunch, Arsenal Cookies pack a generous amount of cookie dough at the bottom and kind of taste like dunking the treats into a cup of malt chocolate. If you’ve opened their tin cans at your grandma’s house only to find her sewing kit and never actually tasted the cookies, here’s a fun way to do it.

 

Strange…is an understatement for this one. Inspired by the famous Thai Mama Tom Yum, the texture leans toward a lime sorbet with sprinkles of chili flakes, as well as chunks of peanut. And, get this, some of the bites actually have broken off instant noodles (which miraculously maintains its crunchiness). It isn’t mixed super well, so some of it will feel like a bite of pure msg. But we think that’s part of the charm, like how a lot of us prefer to consume our Mama: shake the seasoning right in the packet and have it dry.

 

This Jolly Bear flavor reminds us of those yakult pipo jelly shakes. The tiny chunks of jelly come in a range of flavors like orange, pineapple, and grape and culminate into an overall fruity flavor. You’ll still get that chewy jolly bear consistency, but unlike the ones in the packet, the jellies in the ice cream have less flour coating, so the starchy after taste you usually associate with this brand has been reduced.

 

Cleverly paired with a rich salted egg and condensed milk base, Maepranom’s chili paste is welcomed into the realm of sweet and savory dessert with open arms. Though you can see the chili polka dotted on the surface, they’ve actually steered clear off the heat. There’s also a distinct kapi (shrimp paste) taste that lingers at the back of your tongue.

 

Take a break from the wild cards to experience this sorbet based on Roza’s popular ketchup sauce. Already giving that juicy acidic sweetness, they added strawberries to further lighten the profile. The combination of these two reminds us of another snack cemented in Thai kids memories: the penny-sized Chinese haw flakes.

 

The best way to describe this one is salted caramel with a bit of funk (in a good way!). Out of all the sweet and savory flavors, we think this one came out on top. It adeptly balances the saltiness of the soy sauce with the crunchy custard brittles. And it gets better as it melts which, of course, furthers the addiction.

 

If you’re marathoning the new flavors like us, it’s best to close off with a palate cleanser. “And what better way to do it than a bit of cough spray”—is a sentence you probably won’t hear at the end of every meal. Its soothing herbal ingredients like lotus root and rock sugar provide a much needed mintiness. Chunks of the round anti-coughing pills are actually thrown into the mix which might be weird for foreigners, but if you’re familiar with their game, you’d know that, in sickness and in health, you’re popping these just for fun. 

 

You can try the 9 new flavors at Guss Grocery Store, Central World. However, the other branches only do takeaway options at present. A single scoop is priced B119 while the entire set with a goodie bag goes for B999.