Tango Mango

The blazing, but bearable dry heat of Southern California summer arrived in full force this past week. While many residents immediately search for central air conditioning, I embrace the intense heat from the blinding sun. Compared to the muggy, humid induced summers of the East Coast, the 93F temperatures of the desert summer is a welcome change.

Talk about cutest truck ever

Humidity or no humidity, summer rays always have me yearning for the most refreshing summer treat: Italian ice, or water ice, as some of us call it out in Jersey. It’s incredibly rare to stumble upon quality water ice out here, so imagine my excitement when a sorbet colored, “cutester” food truck caught my eye last week.

I have no idea how the Tango Mango Ice truck eluded my radar when it debuted in Downtown LA last summer; but boy am I grateful to have found it now. The menu is pretty standard, with popular fruit flavors like Cherry, Mango, and Peach on the list served in “shorty” and tall sizes. To add to the cutesy theme they’ve got going, each cup of Italian ice is emblazoned with the most adorable smiley face ever.

I was pretty ecstatic at the cuteness of this cup.

I ended up purchasing the Mango flavor, since it’s my favorite fruit. While the texture was a little finer and smoother compared to the homemade Italian ice I remember from back East, the taste was delightful and pure. The intensely refreshing, homemade ice gets its delectable flavor from sweetened, fresh fruit puree. The twist on the old fashioned recipe was what really surprised me: sweet, perfectly ripened mango chunks hiding out in every spoonful of chilling, smooth ice. All in all, I deem it a successful dessert find and have now made it one of my summer goals to try every flavor they offer.