Updates: With 139 votes, Drumstick Vanilla beat out Mochi Ice, which received 116 votes. Between Oreo and Melona, Oreo won with 178 votes to Melona's 75. Tune in one more time this Friday to our Instagram Live at 4pm to catch the final two contenders for the Game of Cones. Again, you'll be able to vote in our story or on our website starting Friday.
We have reached the semifinal of the Game of Cones, the competition to decide which is the best ice cream in Hong Kong under HK$30 (bracket style), and you certainly made it difficult. These four ice creams are arguably the most iconic in Hong Kong, and it’ll be difficult to decide which of them will make it to the final, and ultimately, win.
Esther Cheung and Amalissa Hall went on Instagram Live to taste, discuss and decipher which of these ice creams would win in a fight (if they were animals). They also invited a special guest, Karly Cox, to talk about childhood memories of frozen delights.
Karly had fond memories of Choc Ice from Britain, which are slabs of ice cream coated in chocolate that are wrapped up in paper. Esther used to hoard ice cream sandwiches from her dining hall at university, and keep them stored in the freezer in her room – although she had to stop that when she realised eating two a day wasn’t good for her. And Amalissa loved Haagen Dazs strawberry ice cream cups, both for flavour and because she grew up only eating ice cream cups because of her mother’s preference for practicality.
Read up on the history of our favourite ice creams
Onto the finalists of Round 1: Drumstick vs. Mochi Ice
These are two famous Hong Kong treats, both special in their own ways. It’s all a matter of textures when it comes to choosing between them, really.
If we had to imagine them as different animals battling each other, we reckoned the Drumstick would be an armadillo, with it’s crunchy shell, and the Mochi Ice would be a seal – round and squishy. About which one would win, it’s hard to say because they are so vastly different, but perhaps it’ll be the armadillo that evades the seal and rolls away.
Check out how we rated the Round 1 contestants
And for the finalists of Round 2: Oreo Ice Cream Sandwich vs. Melona
These two are pretty unique in terms of ice creams. The Oreo sandwich is a mega cookies and cream delight, and the Melona is like a frozen fruity milkshake. Again, these are so different but so good in their own ways that it’s hard to compare them.
In animal terms, the Oreo would be a cow – stable, black and white and a great big hunk, much like the dense ice cream sandwich. The Melona might be a skunk, for its strong fragrance of melon, or a poisonous frog because of its vibrancy, or even a monkey for it’s light texture. Either way, it’s also difficult to determine a winner because they’re just both too different, but the Oreo might stand a chance.
How did Oreo and Melona fare against Kit Kat and Tiger Sugar?
However, none of the above should determine who the winner is, because it’s down to you to decide!