(Tatabánya) Three sausage or spaghetti bolognese-flavored balls… in Hungary, the ice cream bar is causing a sensation this summer, filling its cash drawer with its menu of confusing flavors.
“We tested the taste of beer and potato pancake in mid-July to create a publicity stunt and the customers were amazed,” Robert Reinhardt, the manager of this store in Tatabanya, 65 kilometers west of Budapest, told AFP.
After receiving more or less crazy requests from amused Internet users, he got into the game and created all kinds of recipes based on local dishes like goulash or chicken with paprika, or international ones like scrambled eggs with bacon or carbonara sauce.
This is not just a “joke” marketing initiative. I realized that you could get very good flavors,” says the facetious 44-year-old boss as we enter his patisserie, called “Roberto”.
So tripe stew, minced meat, pickled cucumbers? Those looking for a gourmet refreshment are worth their salt.
PHOTO ATTILA KISBENEDEK, AGENT FRANCE-PRESSE
Roberto’s Glacier offers several meal-based ice creams inspired by Hungarian specialties, such as goulash, tomato soup or fermented cucumber.
Especially the youngest: 10-year-old Zeteny Kiss, whose “tongue is used to sweets”, pouts as she tastes a cone with her lips.
His father Krisztian Kiss, a 43-year-old lawyer from the other side of the country, would not have taken the detour on purpose, but they “had to test” this new phenomenon when they visited the area.
He is pleasantly surprised to really find the flavors displayed in these atypical ice creams.
Ildiko, a masseuse by profession who declined to give her last name, was given a free sample to try ten perfumes before making her choice.
“For me it will be tomato soup, sheep’s cheese with dill and breaded cheese,” she smiles, already planning to come back and taste these “surprising but delicious ice creams.”
“We are a little overwhelmed and we are constantly looking for staff because we did not expect such an explosion” present, offers Ena, M.me Reinhardt in town, in charge with her husband.
PHOTO ATTILA KISBENEDEK, AGENT FRANCE-PRESSE
A project for another store in the capital is already underway.
Building customer loyalty is what the happy merchants whose room is always full are hoping for.
The media were all talking about these creations, for better or for worse. On social networks, opinions are also divided, with some commentators calling them “disgusting” or recommending them “only for those with a strong stomach”.
Either way, the bet is successful: the TikTok videos posted by the ice cream parlor attract tens of thousands of views, even up to a million in a country with less than 10 million inhabitants.
At 500 forints ($1.91) per ball, revenue has more than tripled compared to last summer, and a project for a second store in the capital is already underway.
