Bubbly personality

New Bambu Desserts & Drinks does Vietnamese-style sweet endings in Garland

The specialty at Bambu is "chè," a Vietnamese dessert that's like a crossbetween a cold soup and a pudding.
Bambu Desserts & Drinks/Facebook
Bambu also does an assortment of drinks, such as Vietnamese espressos, blendedcoffees and smoothies.
Bambu Desserts & Drinks/Facebook

From California comes Bambu Desserts & Drinks, a small Vietnamese dessert and drink shop chain that's colonizing Texas. Its most recent addition just opened in Garland.

This marks the second Bambu in Texas, following the inaugural branch that opened in Houston's Chinatown area in December. A second Houston branch will open on the Gulf Freeway this spring.

Bambu offers bubble tea, but the signature item is "chè," a refreshing and exotic Vietnamese dessert that's like a cross between a cold soup and a pudding.

Bambu's menu has nearly 100 desserts, coffees, teas and drinks, including Vietnamese espressos, blended coffees and smoothies. Although Bambu does offer bubble tea, it's not the specialty. Instead, the signature item is "chè," a refreshing and exotic Vietnamese dessert that's like a cross between a cold soup and a pudding, with a goulash-style collection of additions such as fresh fruit, raisins, nuts, cereal, yogurt and Jell-O.

Bambu wins raves because it uses fresh coconut juice — as in fresh from the coconut. A typical offering might be chè 3 màu, with sweet beans, taro and pale green sweet pandan jelly.

Bambu Desserts & Drinks was founded in 2008 by four Vietnamese sisters in San Jose, California. They've opened 11 shops total in Northern California, Hawaii and Texas, with another six slated to open in the first half of 2013.

Hong Luong and Sen Tran, co-owners of Bambu Garland, discovered Bambu while visiting friends in California. They found a storefront in Garland's Saigon Mall at 3212 Jupiter Rd.

"The mall is a popular destination for Dallas' Vietnamese community," Tran says.

unspecified

Ice Cream News

Global gourmet ice cream chain debuts in U.S. with 2 Dallas-area shops

Dumont Ice Cream

An ice cream concept from India has made its U.S. debut, right here in Texas: Called Dumont Creamery & Cafe, it's a ice cream chain founded in Hyderabad that now has two locations in the Dallas area.

Their first location was Frisco, which opened at 1951 FM 423 at the end of 2023; a second location opened in late October in Coppell at 1535 S. Belt Line Rd. #160.

Dumont was founded in 1999 by brothers Vivek and Bhashkaar, and currently has 23 locations in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Vijayawada listed on their website.

Bringing the concept to Texas are local franchisees and friends Sai Sashank and Tarang Tirumala, who moved to the U.S. in 2005 to attend college.

Both have successful consulting careers, but craved a taste of home.

Ice cream is the centerpiece at Dumont with more than two dozen flavors, ranging from gourmet to classics to flavors boasting global influences: from Italian-inspired sorbet to a New Zealand-inspired honey ice cream called "hokey pokey."

There is vanilla, chocolate, and mint chocolate chip — but also unique options such as cake and jam, an ice cream with a vanilla base, bites of cake, and spiced jam; and kheer, a coconut ice cream studded with dried fruits and nuts — a nod to the kheer rice pudding that's one of India's favorite desserts.

A single scoop is $4. They have cups and a cute version of waffle cones: shorter and fatter than usual, to provide a greater ratio of ice cream-to-cone.

In addition to ice cream, they have a beverage program with coffee and espresso drinks such as lattes, plus boba tea. There are also special drinks like falooda — an exotic Indian milkshake with rose syrup and vermicelli — as well as limited-edition drinks like iced kheer, a cool beverage version of that same popular rice pudding dessert.

Both locations are spacious, bright, and clean, with pale green banquettes at Frisco, and pale blue chairs and tables at Coppell. Both feature an astronaut theme with statues and framed photos and cartoons on the wall. The Coppell location also has a mural dedicated to great moments in Coppell history.