Malaga Cove is now home to a frozen yogurt shop better than Yogurtland?? This was my thought after hearing raving reviews about Neptune’s Frozen Treats online, fawning over this adorable new small business in a tiny corner of Palos Verdes, and claiming that it was somehow better than what I had grown up begging my parents for on Friday nights. I had to test this one out, for research, of course, and to be honest, it’s not all that.
Yes, it has a beautiful location, a super bougie feel, and decent quality soft serve, but it just did not live up to the hype. It was incredibly expensive, I’m talking $11 for a pretty conservative serving of frozen yogurt. I only tried two flavors: vanilla and cookie monster, which I intentionally gave myself very small amounts of to see how much it would cost. I similarly topped my cup with a few toppings, choosing the hazelnut crunch and some sprinkles because not many were appealing and the selection was pretty slim, and placed the final product on the little golden scale to check out. I won’t lie, my jaw dropped a bit at the price, my expectations for the taste reaching impossible highs, and I walked out cradling this cup like it was the Holy Grail.
It was a fun experience dining outside with my friends, and as I mentioned before, this frozen yogurt was pretty good. It was smooth and addicting and the best part: they had those color-changing spoons that switched from pink to purple when you put them in your mouth. This made up for any guilt I had about the price; I would pay five whole dollars for just one of these spoons, no questions asked. They are so fun. This and the location, which almost felt like I had left the US entirely for a small Italian town in the countryside, built up to what I can only describe as the Disneyland versus Six Flags Magic Mountain analogy.
With Neptune’s and Disneyland, you should always expect to pay an extreme sum for a magical experience, one that is intended to make you feel far away from your life and appreciative of every little detail that has been carefully added to make it worth your while. With Yogurtland and Six Flags, you get more bang for your buck: some amazing coasters and flavors that feel endless and as though you could visit every month and always find something new. Here, you know exactly what you like, yet there is so much room to explore and somehow no way to go wrong. I definitely know many people who prefer Disneyland and can justify the price, but Six Flags will always be my favorite for a fantastic time.
Another slight disappointment I found was the minuscule variety of flavors at Neptune’s. If I remember correctly, there were 10 different options, all relatively basic and lacking originality. And this is coming from someone whose favorite flavor is usually vanilla. Apparently, the flavors rotate seasonally and whatnot, but I just felt a bit of shock walking in and seeing a bunch of different variations of Plain Tart, Vanilla, and Strawberry Something. I was hoping for some signature phenomena, some creative combination of expensive-sounding flavors, but all I got was a broken promise.
That brings me to my next point: I was told by my friends that this place had Ferrero Rocher chocolates as a topping. These would have made everything perfect. I would have gotten a loan or something for the price, no problem. I would have giddily chomped down each basic flavor they had. I would have never even thought about going to any other shop for a sweet treat again. I would have sat down to write this very review with a beaming smile on my face to beg anyone reading to run to Neptune’s immediately. But as I reached the topping section, no delightful hazelnut truffles graced my presence. If you can’t tell, I absolutely love Ferrero Rocher chocolates, and even though it cannot possibly be sustainable for a small business to sell them by weight, this was so sad for me.
From what I hear, the shop is still booming with customers and gaining lots of popularity online, which I love to see from a small business. So go try for yourself, especially if you are the type of person who prefers Disneyland over Six Flags for some reason.
