Grab a Fuscia Spoon: Somewhere Over The Rainbow is Cherry De Pon

Does anyone else remember the Seinfeld episode where Jerry, George and Elaine couldn’t figure out why they were packing on the pounds — until they discovered a common denominator — their addiction to supposed “non-fat” frozen yogurt. The Seinfeld gang went as far as petitioning New York mayor Rudi Giuliani to put a stop to frozen-yogurt-Gate. Cherry de Pon is indeed repeat-visit inducing, but they post their good nutritional information right on the wall. (Just watch the toppings bar.)

The place feels like a Sanrio clubhouse, where Hello Kitty and friends might hang out after school. Pastel butterflies grace the walls, stuffed animals sit on comfortable couches, and a mounted television plays Asian pop videos — I even saw my first Lady Gaga video while waiting for my order. It's not just yogurt, it's educational! 

Every time someone walks through the door, a chipper staff member sings out, "Welcome to Cherry de Pon!” even if busy blending a low-fat smoothie. Welcome to the somewhere over the yogurt rainbow.

Cherry’s flavors are unusual and ultimately delicious, 10 flavors are served at a time, then rotated every two weeks. Yesterday I encountered my favorite combination to-date: Lychee and Taro. Don’t worry, you can also get chocolate and vanilla too, but I advise you to take advantage of their exotic flavors. One of my favorites of the “premium” flavors has been Red Velvet. Yes, it’s as good as it sounds. 

The chirpy staff commonly ask for flavor requests from their large list of possibilities, and I hope to get my wish someday for Snickerdoodle. I’m also quite curious about Dulce de Leche Caramel and Cake Batter.

How does Cherry de Pon work? You choose your yogurt from the five stations, either pulling the swirl lever or mixing and matching into the cup size of your choosing. Decide if you’d like to add a topping which includes fresh fruit, Gummy Bears, or my favorite, little cubes of Asian fruit jellies. The process is as such: “Swirl it. Top it. Weigh it. Pay it.” All this at a very reasonable 39 cents an ounce. Now are you getting how this place is addictive?

Cherry de Pon touts the health benefits of their yogurt as including a boosted immune system, clear skin, increased metabolism. I can tout that their lunch special is a true bargain at $5.99, which includes your choice of Vietnamese sandwich, Spring roll or Eggroll, your choice of Smoothie or Bubble Tea, and chips or a banana. I decided to pick up lunch for my husband’s entire office, so I was warned it would take at least 15 minutes, as they make the food and drinks to order. Poor Laurel and Bao behind the counter... I should have called in my order in advance, just to make their lives easier as they balanced a long order while helping a steady influx of yogurt customers. 

Spring Rolls translate as Vietnamese fresh rolls or "crystal rolls", no frying involved. Shrimp or lemon grass tofu slices lay above vermicelli noodles, lettuce and mint, enclosed by a thin rice wrapper, served with a side of peanut sauce (apparently you can request fish sauce or chili sauce as well.) I didn’t try the Eggrolls as I worried they’d get soggy on the road. 

As for sandwiches ($3 solo or $5.99 as part of the lunch combination), the baguettes were dry and powdery. Our group liked the fillings — Barbeque Pork, Chicken, Tomato Tofu, Lemongrass Tofu — but left much of the bread pushed to the side. All agreed that the Tofu sandwiches were the best, which definitely surprised one of our review crew. The real benefit was the moistness imparted by the fried tofu, sauce, and the pate spread on the rolls. Word to the wise, vegetarians! I’m sure they will happily leave the pate off, as sandwiches are made to order.

As for smoothies, our favorites were the Pomegranate Refresher (Pomegranate juice, mixed berry juice, raspberry sherbet, strawberry, blueberry, ice) and the Strawberry-Pink Lady (Apple-Strawberry juice, frozen yogurt, strawberry, banana, ice.) If ordering outside of the $5.99 lunch special, these are $3.80 for a 16 oz cup, $4.60 for a 20 oz serving.  

Cherry de Pon
365 S GRADY WAY, BUILDING F, SUITE G
Renton, WA 98057
(425) 226-5246 
Mon-Thu,Sun 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.; Fri-Sat 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.