Ranu's Reviews

Spoon Me

216 Old Tappan Road

Old Tappan, NJ 07675

201-880-8171

I’ve been saying this for months and was even quoted in The Record in an article by Joan Verdon when she interviewed me about the importance of differentiation among the self-serve frozen yogurt places in North Jersey.

After spending over an hour at Spoon Me in Old Tappan with basically the keys to the fro-yo shop, I have to tell you that Spoon Me listened and they get it. This place is like no other self-serve fro-yo joint I’ve been to and you’re a forking fool if you don’t try this place for yourself.

Homemade Waffles and Fro-Yo—Enough Said!

While I do enjoy a good chicken and waffle combo, nothing beats waffles with ice cream—except maybe waffles and fro-yo. The waffles at Spoon Me are made-to-order and taste fantastic! Not only does the staff at Spoon Me make the waffles for you—they even put on four generous dollops of frozen yogurt of your choice and you don’t have to lift a finger—they do all the work. And it doesn’t stop there. Oh no, they will even put on whatever toppings you like for under six bucks.

In addition to the freshly-made waffles, Spoon Me also offers waffle bowls that fit right in your cup. Enjoy a waffle-cone experience with the fro-yo in your cup. These are just two simple concepts that are not unfamiliar to the frozen dessert industry, but are unique to the self-serve frozen yogurt places that I have visited. I applaud Spoon Me for thinking outside the cups.

Whip It Good

Spoon Me has a healthy frozen alternative “whip” that will make everyone happy. It’s 100% raw, 100% vegan, 100% unprocessed, all natural, organic, low calorie, low fat, gluten free and it’s even Kosher! You’re probably wondering what is in this magic recipe? Very simple. It’s just a frigging frozen banana, but it is whipped so good that it has the consistency of ice cream. It was almost like banana fluff.

I enjoyed the frozen banana whip, however, since it was so healthy I decided to add a little peanut butter topping. That made a good thing taste even better! Spoon Me also has a strawberry whip as well that was pretty good, but I preferred the banana.

Smoothies and Frozen Drinks Too

If you are still looking for something different or are in the mood for a frozen drink, Spoon Me has over a dozen different 16 oz. smoothies and they are all under $5. I tried a raspberry smoothie and have to say that it was quite tasty.

Spoon Me also insisted that I try their Frozen Hot Chocolate—not that they had to twist my arm or anything. This concoction was a most pleasant surprise. If you like hot chocolate, you are going to love Spoon Me’s Frozen Hot Chocolate. And just like the Banana Whip, I added a little peanut butter topping—so good!

The 411 on the Fro-Yo

Let me start off by saying that Spoon Me does not use the very popular YoCream brand of frozen yogurt. They have their own proprietary brand of fro-yo which was something nice for a change. Spoon Me’s fro-yo has a little thicker consistency and I will say that it is not as smooth as YoCream.

The fro-yo itself was good for the most part, but I wasn’t completely blown away. I think some of Spoon Me’s flavors were better than YoCream’s and vice versa. For me, I thought Spoon Me’s Cake Batter was their best flavor—hands down—it is even better than YoCream’s version. The Cappuccino was my second favorite and their Peanut Butter, Red Velvet and Very Vanilla are also worth mentioning. While I did like their Mint, I think YoCream’s tastes better.

The one recommendation I would have for Spoon Me is to be a little more mindful of the flavors they decide to pair together. Every other place I’ve been to has two flavors that go well together if mixed, so in essence they are creating three flavors per dispensing station (two flavors and one flavor of the two mixed together). While Spoon Me does have eight stations of fro-yo, I wouldn’t necessarily say they have 24 varieties. Some of the pairings, like Mango Sorbet & Pistachio or Peanut Butter & Coconut Cream Pie, are just combinations that I don’t find that appealing.

The Toppings

Spoon Me might not have the most toppings out of the competition, but I will tell you that their toppings were the neatest and most organized of the bunch. They have fresh fruit, nuts, candy and cereal.

Bonus points from me for carrying two of my favorites: marshmallow sauce and Nutella! They are also the only fro-yo place I’ve seen with actual hot fudge.

Inside the Spoon

There are quite a few things that Spoon Me does differently that are worth noting. The first thing I noticed was there is plenty of room inside the place. You are not the least bit confined and to me, that is a big plus because I am a big guy.

I also liked the fact that one of the owners was there the whole time overseeing everything and checking on the customers. Now, I don’t know if that was just because she knew I was coming, but regardless—it was still nice to see someone genuinely interested in the customers. Usually the staff at these type of places are more interested in texting than working, so it was a refreshing change of pace.

Spoon Me also likes to pay it forward. There are no tip cups in their store, but each month they do collect spare change and donate the proceeds to a different charity which is very cool.

Spoon Me also has the cups for the yogurt built right into the wall by the fro-machines. I thought that was a very effective use of space. And it is always a plus to have all the nutritional information right by each flavor so you know exactly what you’re getting in your cup—even if you choose to ignore the calorie count.

Another nice touch is having the scales flush with the counter. It gives it a more sleek and modern look. Speaking of modern, Spoon Me doesn’t even use cash registers—everything is done on an iPad. Very chic!

Last but not least, the bathrooms are immaculate and are covered with witty sayings on all the walls. I had to take a picture of my favorite and wish every bathroom in America had this on their walls.

Spoonwear

For a place that just opened in October of 2011, I have to give them credit for having quite the clothing line of Spoon Me branded merchandise. T-shirts, sweatshirts, yoga pants and even underwear if you dare. Yeah baby!

The End Result

Spoon Me in Old Tappan breaks the mold when it comes to self-serve frozen yogurt places. Their innovations are exactly what I have been talking about for over a year now and am happy that someone has decided to offer so much more than just frozen yogurt. This is the future of frozen yogurt and the places that dare to be different are the ones that are going to survive while the stagnant ones will be left out in the cold.

For more info, visit Spoon Me's website at http://www.spoonme.com.

In compliance with FCC regulations, I am obligated to inform anyone reading this review that the staff of Ranu’s Reviews did not pay for any of the products mentioned in this article. Ranu’s Reviews was not paid to endorse any of the products mentioned and this review is completely the opinion of Ranu’s Reviews.