Double Fat ice cream brings double happiness to all

Chef Brandon Lee is quite the ice cream fanatic, and he’s been churning out both traditional and experimental flavors over the years. Now, with partner (also chef) Will Chen, he’s making his creations readily available on the daily … in the same spot as Chen’s other venture with Andrea Onetti, Piccola Onda.

The ice cream stand is located in back of the Alohilani Resort. Walk through the hotel to Kalakaua Avenue, then turn left on Kealohilani Street. Make sure you get your parking validated by Double Fat, good for two hours. Yes, FREE VALIDATED PARKING.

What’s with the name? Double Fat ice cream? Does it really have double the fat of regular ice cream? If you know these guys, it’s a play on words: “Fat” means “prosperity” in Chinese, and also sounds like the number eight, “baat.” And because the number 88 looks like 囍, or “double happiness” in Chinese, it makes sense that these two Chinese chefs would want double fat, or double happiness. You still with me?

Back to the ice cream. There will always be eight flavors available, with two being sorbet, and six being ice creams. Lee says the sorbets will be tropical flavors, like pineapple or lilikoi, since that’s a natural in Hawaii. The standard ice creams, all made by Lee using high-quality ingredients, will be sweet cream, strawberry, chocolate, Kona coffee and honey furikake. The sixth flavor will change with his moods.

You can order a double, of course, for $7, and the smaller half double for $5. Toppings are $1 each, but don’t expect the usual that you can find anywhere else. These are things that Lee likes to put on his ice cream, like sprinkles, furikake, li hing powder, mochi crunch, condensed milk, whipped cream, pineapple, strawberries, and macadamia nuts. (If it were me, I’d add mochi balls to the mix, but it’s not my ice cream stand.)

The specialty sundae, the “Crack Seed Delight,” is strawberry and sweet cream ice cream topped with condensed milk, li hing powder, mochi crunch, and whipped cream — full of favorite childhood flavors that Lee says reminds him of being in a crack seed store.

Double Fat ice cream is in soft open mode this week, and Lee will have his mysterious sixth ice cream flavor ready by next week. It’s open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily with two hours of FREE VALIDATED PARKING from the ice cream shop. Follow them on Instagram for the latest updates.