LOLO Polos Artesanos: Popsicles for grown-ups (and so much healthier)
Madrid has no shortage of amazing ice cream parlors, and considering the oppressive heat waves we’ve been under lately, it’s no wonder that people are craving frozen treats. But what about ice cream’s neglected cousin, the popsicle? The snack that every American child (at the very least in the New York Tri-State area) craved at the end of a long day at day camp? It’s been revived, and majorly upgraded in Malasaña, becoming the new it spot of the summer.
Truth be told I should have written about this a long time ago, but it took me a little while to actually get myself there to try them. When I, currently prohibited from eating ice cream because I can only consume non-fat dairy products, found out about Lolo, I jumped for joy as I knew that at last I could have popsicles and not have to only eat Bimanan ice cream that you can buy at a pharmacy.
When you walk inside Lolo, you get a playful décor that reminds you of a little chiringuito on a beach somewhere in Cádiz or on the Mediterranean or your childhood. You can also get coffee, tea, and other drinks to go with your popsicles, but let’s face it, what most people come here for are in fact the frozen fruit on a stick.
Every day, Lolo posts its menu outside of ten different flavors. But we’re not talking about your standard cherry, grape, and Sunny Delight-tasting orange. You do have some flavors that are indeed more classic, like chocolate…
…but many of the flavors play with sweet and savory.
Such as Orange and Lemon
While some of the flavors may be creamier, like strawberry-banana with yogurt, others are just straight-on refreshing and are the ingredients themselves and water. You’ll find some that have truly off-the-beaten-path flavor components, such as lemongrass. There’s even an avocado-flavored popsicle (which I have yet to try, but have on my pre-August-in-New-York checklist). This is reminiscent of the new savory gelato trend happening in Rome.
So now that I’ve covered the “popsicles for grown-ups” part of the title due to the major gourmet flavor upgrade (perfect for the foodie in all of us), it’s time that we move on to the healthier part. All of Lolo’s popsicles are 100% natural. This means, that unlike the popsicles of our childhood there’s no extra funny stuff like chemicals of 100 times more sugar than necessary. For those who have to be really strict about eating (like me), LOLO lets me in on the summer frozen treat fun.
My personal picks? I’ve tried the sandia y pepino (watermelon and cucumber) and the frambuesa y agua de jamaica (raspberry and Hibiscus tea).
Watermelon and cucumber. Please forgive the use of a Snapchat photo.
I prefer the raspberry one, but I’m still wanting to try avocado. And I’ll celebrate publishing this article with two LOLOs, one being avocado!
Now, one last thing. LOLO has its own hashtag, #LOLOSelfie, for all of the selfies you may just happen to post with your popsicles. Like I added later on to this one (I took my friend visiting from Barcelona to LOLO. He was very impressed).
My frambuesa y agua de jamaica #LOLOSelfie with my friend visiting from Barcelona
Now go to Malasaña and get your very own LOLO!
LOLO Polos Artesanos
Address: Calle del Espíritu Santo, 16
Hours: Every day from 12:00 pm – 1 am
Metro: Tribunal (Lines 1 and 10)
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