Cotton Candy Ice Cream Burritos in Ximen

May 24, 2019 Taipei Expat

Cotton candy burritos are the latest trend to hit social media, with several stores around the world seemingly competing to see who can give their customers diabetes the fastest. They are typically made by wrapping up scoops of ice cream and an assortment of sweets in brightly-coloured cotton candy. We can’t say we were particularly tempted to try it (nor did we ever have the opportunity to) until we discovered that a cotton candy store in Ximen had recently started selling them too.

SOLA is a tiny little shop located within a stone’s throw of Ximen Pedestrian Zone. They specialize in cotton candy that is made with natural flavourings, which can be purchased on a stick ($150) or in a plastic cup ($80).

SOLA currently has nine permanent flavours of cotton candy, including some interesting options like pineapple, roselle, uji matcha, black tea, and Oolong tea. They also have a seasonal flavour, which was chocolate when we visited. There was a very pleasant, well-spoken attendant who explained the menu to us kindly and patiently.

In addition to the cotton candy, SOLA has started serving cotton candy burritos. These are much less extravagant than their Western counterparts; just a few scoops of vanilla ice cream and some frozen berries wrapped in the cotton candy flavour of your choice. Due to the way they’re prepared, they’re only sold in pairs. Each pair costs $160, and you can choose two different flavours. There is a short waiting time of around 5-10 minutes (depending on how busy the store is).

Since we were a group of three, we decided to buy one pair and split it between us. For our first choice, we decided on Oolong tea. The shop keeper explained that the tea is dried into a powder, which they use to spin into the cotton candy. It was also sprinkled on top, which you can see in the photo. We enjoyed the cotton candy a lot — the Oolong flavour was interesting, and we liked that it wasn’t sickly sweet. However, we found the ice cream burrito itself to be very hard to eat: you have to peel the paper bit by bit and chomp down really hard on the ice cream and cotton candy to tear the pieces off, which is torture if your teeth are on the sensitive side. The frozen berries were a nice addition but also frozen solid, meaning they were just as hard to eat. We enjoyed the taste but wished it had been easier to consume.

For the second of the pair, we chose the pineapple flavour. This flavour was much milder than the Oolong, and we could barely make it out. Although it wasn’t unpleasant in the least, it didn’t make as much of an impression on us and was just as excruciating to bite down on. We finished our burritos a grimy, sticky mess, very grateful for the little wet wipes that the shop keeper had prepared for us.

All things considered, we had a lot of fun trying the burritos, and were pleasantly surprised at the variety of flavours and how reasonable the level of sweetness was. However, they were not at all easy to eat, which definitely put a damper on our overall experience. So, if the idea of a cotton candy burrito appeals to you, there’s absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t try them out, but we wouldn’t strongly urge you to go out of your way to buy them, either.

What’s the vibe?

Tiny, aesthetically-pleasing store selling cotton candy and cotton candy burritos.

Worth it?

$160 for two is not a bad deal, so yes. Just be warned that your teeth might freeze while biting into it.

Would you go back?

Maybe to take a friend, but we’re all ice cream burrito-d out.

Last visited May 2019.

SOLA

Chinese Name: SOLA 日式棉花糖

Hours:
Sun, Tues, Wed, Thurs 1PM-9:30PM
Fri 1:30PM-10PM
Sat 1PM-10PM
Closed Mondays

Phone: 02 2381 7104

English Address: No. 36-45, Xining Rd, Wanhua District, Taipei City, 108