Icy Thai street treat rolls into diners’ hearts

If ice cream and a jelly roll had a baby, it would be rolled ice cream, a frozen treat that originated on the streets of Thailand and has been making its way across the U.S. for about two years.

Jeffrey Kao thought it would be a way to distinguish his daughter’s birthday party, but when he realized how trendy it had become — “in New York City people were waiting hours in line just to get it!” — he brought in four of the freezing machines, partnered up with Bari Carroll and started Sweet Creams Ice Cream Rolls.

They began with private parties and have grown into a shop just outside Ala Moana Center, with their own lines out the door. At Saturday’s grand opening, more than 320 orders were filled from noon to 9 p.m., Kao said. “We still had to turn some people away at 9.”

How it’s done: A liquid ice cream base is spread over a pan supercooled to about minus 10 degrees. The base becomes ice cream, as the customer watches. It’s scraped into neat rolls that are arranged in a cup, and toppings such as fruit and candies are added.

Picture perfect, the treat has become beloved on social media, which has helped spread the word.

Sweet Creams is at 1430 Kona St., in a little strip mall next to Manichi Ramen, across from the main bus stops at Ala Moana. Hours are noon to 9 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays, noon to 7 p.m. Sundays. Call 260-4725.

Change comes with caution at 3660 on the Rise

Mess with success only at your own peril.

For that reason the ahi katsu at 3660 on the Rise is a dish that will never change, says chef de cuisine Lydell Leong. The nori-wrapped fried classic and its wasabi-ginger sauce are too dear to customers, Leong said. “We do have our loyal clientele.”

It was time, though, to update other parts of the menu — carefully, he said, yet he describes the changes as “drastic,” mainly because in 24 years the restaurant has done little tinkering. “This is the first time in so many years.”

New on the menu introduced last month: lobster wontons in a brown butter sauce, chicken liver mousse with truffles, fried prawns with shoestring potatoes and, for dessert, Lilikoi Creamsicle Tart.

Some favorites have been tweaked. For example, the salmon, still crusted in little balls of bubu arare, now comes with a salad of grapes, grape tomatoes and pickled onions; the old version came with a potato croquette and asparagus.

Check it out in Kaimuki, 3660 Waialae Ave. Call 737-1177.