Something cold and sweet – refreshing snow cones
Shaved ice, combined with a flavour of one’s choosing at a reasonable price is a sweet deal. This is just what ‘Snow Monkey’ is about.
The store which is located along St Anthony’s Mawatha, Colpetty is the ideal hangout location. It offers snow cones , jam-packed with a variety of flavour combinations that last long enough for one to enjoy a pleasant conversation.
‘Snow Monkey’ offers a total of 14 different flavour combinations, designed to suite those with a sweet tooth or those who prefer something less sugary. These combos include ‘Black Rose’ which is Blackcurrant mixed with Rose, ‘Sunrise’ (Passion fruit and Nannari), ‘Morning Dew’ (Lime/Lemon and Nelli), Sweet Mojito (Lime/Lemon and Mixed Fruit), ‘Yellow Fellow’ (Lime/Lemon and Passion Fruit) and Traffic Lights (Rose, Passion fruit and Nelli ) etc.
The Rose syrup is basically sherbet, which tastes a bit like a Faluda. This paired with the passion fruit and nelli would seem perfect for the one with the sweet tooth. The three different colours in the cup itself, adds that bit of theater and excitement as it is brought to the table.
The snow cones are reasonably priced too. A single flavoured small cup costs Rs 100 while an additional flavour would sum up to Rs 150 . The large cup, which would include two or three flavours is priced at Rs 200. They also offer a bowl, which is priced at Rs.300 and could include four or five flavours.
The syrup is usually measured for each cup. For example while a small cup would include 30ml, the large cup would contain 50ml. However customers could request for less or more syrup.
An employee behind the counter tells us, the passion fruit, lime and lemon combination (Yellow Fellow) is their fast selling combo. “It’s not too sour or too sweet, its in the middle and its super refreshing, especially when you have it as a drink,” he says. The store keeps adding a different flavour each month and hopes to introduce chocolate and Red Bull flavours soon. The concept for ‘Snow Monkey’, came to Tamir Illyas, while he was trying to invest the capital that he had. “So I was thinking about what this country has and what it doesn’t. What it does have all year around is the heat, which gets really unpleasant,” he recalls adding the idea came to him because no one else was selling snow cones in Sri Lanka. He was soon to start his business with his two partners Mohamed Sheriff and Awad Awfer.
“I thought that I could start it up and price it well for everyone, so that its not catered just to a certain group of people,” he tells us .
Since it’s inception three months ago, the Snow Monkey has already expanded to Wattala and Colombo 10. Tamir’s goal is to turn this into a franchise and make sure that everyone in Sri Lanka would get to try this product out.
The Snow Monkey is open daily from 11 am to 8.00 pm with the exception of Mondays, when they are closed. Their busiest times are usually after lunch hours between 1pm- 7pm. They also offer a “Buy two of the same size and get one free” offer, every Friday and Saturday. So this would seem the best days to visit the store with friends.