HOUSTON — Red Circle Ice Cream, a local shop known for its inventive and bold creations, is launching a limited-edition ice cream flavor inspired by the viral Dubai chocolate bar. This new offering will be available for a one-day-only exclusive release on Friday, with sales limited to online pre-orders through the platform Hotplate.
The highly anticipated ice cream will be available for in-store pickup at Red Circle’s Chinatown, Pearland, and Sugar Land locations, but customers must place their orders through Hotplate starting at noon Friday. To gain early access, patrons are encouraged to pre-order the flavor ahead of the launch.
“We didn’t want to treat this like an everyday flavor—it’s something special and exclusive,” said Nickey Ngo, owner of Red Circle Ice Cream. “That’s why we’re launching it on Hotplate, to make it even more unique.”
This marks Red Circle’s first collaboration with Hotplate, an online platform known for facilitating exclusive product launches. Ngo hopes the partnership will allow her store to showcase more of its 100 rotating flavors, making it easier for customers to request and purchase special items.
The inspiration behind the flavor comes from the viral Dubai chocolate bars that took the internet by storm last summer. These bars are filled with a crunchy pistachio kataifi mixture, and their popularity sparked interest from local ice cream fans. Ngo, who had tried the bars herself by lining up at Royal Roastery with other Houstonians, said the flavor has continued to generate excitement despite the initial craze dying down months ago.
The idea to turn the Dubai chocolate into an ice cream flavor originated with the Pearland store owner and was later refined through collaboration with the Sugar Land franchise owner, who had recently visited Dubai. Customers had also been asking for a flavor inspired by the chocolate bar, prompting Ngo to begin researching the ingredients. Sourcing a high-quality pistachio for the ice cream took time and proved costly, but Ngo emphasized the importance of getting the pistachio flavor just right.
“The pistachio is really the star of the Dubai chocolate bar,” Ngo explained. “We wanted to focus on that flavor and make sure we used a premium pistachio to bring out its best qualities.”
The resulting ice cream is a creamy, indulgent treat that mirrors the original chocolate bar’s signature crunch, rich chocolate, and distinctive pistachio flavor. It is one of the most luxurious offerings in Red Circle’s lineup, with a pint priced at $15.95—more than the shop’s typical $11 flavors. Ngo compared it to the $20 chocolate bars that inspired it.
“We wanted to make sure that when people spend this kind of money on a flavor, it’s worth every penny,” she said. “It’s a grand slam. You get the crunch, the chocolate, the pistachio—it all comes together in one amazing bite.”
The limited-edition Dubai chocolate ice cream will be available for just one day, so fans of Red Circle’s creative flavors are encouraged to act quickly to secure their scoop.
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