Pokeno Takeaways

As the Unilocal Duke of this establishment it saddens me to say, this is one establishment to avoid. One mustn’t stay loyal when ice cream quality has been compromised in favour of turning more profit.
I’ve been to this establishment quite a few times over the years. The earliest was when I’d first learnt to drive in the early 90’s.
Back then, their ice cream brands were Tip Top and New American.
State Highway 1 used to run straight through the middle of Pokeno, making it an obligatory stop for me.
Since the re-​routing of State Highway 1, the Pokeno township is now bypassed by most drivers travelling north and south.
Despite the re-​routing of SH1 the Pokeno Takeaway is much busier with customers now than it was when SH1 passed through the town.
On a week day, lunch time is moderate to busy.
On Friday it’s busier and on Saturday and Sunday it’s absolutely carazy!
Having said that, I popped in today and noticed that nearly all of their ice cream is the Much Moore brand which I would class as a cheap value brand.
I don’t like Much Moore ice cream and I wouldn’t serve it to international guests. Perhaps this takeaway is maximising its profit. Their large volume of customers mean that they should be smashing sales enough to have stayed with the Tip Top and Streets ice cream brands which they used to stock.
To test my theory, I bought a four scoop ice cream on a double cone of the Much Moore flavours. The Much Moore ice cream has undissolved sugar crystals in their flavours which detracts from the taste.
Their lemon cheesecake flavour doesn’t freeze as well as their other flavours and doesn’t support scoops in a multi scoop cone. Best to have it as the top scoop and consume first as it melts with alacrity.
I’d avoid the mint choc cookie chip as well as the marshmallow coconut ice creams. Pineapple choc chunk was disappointing.
TBH, for the same price, you could go next door to Johnson’s Takeaway and get their Tip Top and Streets equivalents which are «Much Moore» value for money and superior in quality.
After eating my disappointing four Much Moore scoops, I went next door to Johnson’s and bought a two scoop. One of Coconut Marshmallow ice cream and the second scoop was lime swirl. I wasn’t disappointed as they were smooth, creamy and the flavours tasted as they should in a well made ice cream. Thanks Tip Top.
My advice is to go to Johnson’s on the corner and get their Tip Top or Streets flavours. They cost the same but taste soooooo much better. Quality in the same quantity. Plus, they have shorter lines as most ice cream buyers go to Pokeno Takeaways.
Side note: As a young kiwi, I ate way too much ice cream. Tip Top at the time made the quintessential kiwi ice cream flavours while New American made the kiwi flavours as well as ice cream flavours which diverged from the typical kiwi taste. My favourites at that time were New American’s goody goody gum drops and coconut and marshmallow ice cream. In 1996 Tip Top, New Zealand’s largest ice cream maker, bought New American.
As a traveller to the United States and living in the United Kingdom, I ate my way through copious amounts of Baskin-​Robbins and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Since being back in New Zealand I’ve eaten far too much Mövenpick, Killinchy Gold and Kapiti Ice Cream. The Killinchy Gold ice cream brand being my most favourite ice cream brand in the whole wide world!
If I had a dollar for every ice cream scoop I’ve ever had…

The original takeaway store– home to the biggest icecream in New Zealand. The record– a massive 18 scoops on a single cone. Would love to one day get it to share with a group! No way some can finish that on their own?! Would love to get it just to see it in real life before my own eyes. How is that possible with gravity!
Great stop over whether you’re coming up or going down that way. Definitely get an ice-​cream, however number of scoops you feel like.

Ginourmous scoops! But customer service was lacking.

I’m so pissed off at this place, but in a good way. Kind of.
Quick rundown first, Pokeno sells the biggest ice cream in Auckland, if not NZ (15 scoops! wtf! — insane). In fact the ice cream here is what makes Pokeno world famous in NZ, like L&P. There are two ice cream shops right next to each other (see my photo) which makes for some competition but they’re both the same, really.
They have a large range of flavours available, to match their ginormous portions. It’s pretty damn cool.
Ok, so here’s the reason I am pissed off. When I went last, I got a humble 2 scoops of ice cream. My friend got 8 scoops. They were all perched precariously upon her cone, looking like they were going to fall onto the floor at any second. But guess whose ice cream fell on the ground? :(HOW IS THAT EVEN FAIR.
Great place, awesome to stop over in when on the way southwards!

The biggest best ice-​creams in all of Auckland! Despite being located approximately forty minutes south of central Auckland, Pokeno is fast becoming infamous for their ginormous freshly scooped ice-​creams. You can get any size imagineable — from a kiddie size scoop to a whopping 15 SCOOP ICE-​CREAM — Pokeno offers it all!
I didn’t believe a 15 scoop ice-​cream was actually possible, but there is a big picture of a customer with one behind the counter. 15 different flavours running together — it didn’t look like a good time to me, but it’s still really impressive to see!
With two takeaway and ice-​cream bars positioned right next to each other, the range of flavours available Pokeno offers is also remarkable. Passionfruit, caramel fudge, cookies and cream, raspberry lemonade fizz, mochaccino, jelly tip, berry and mango sorbets — the options seem endless and every time I go it’s near impossible to decide which to choose!
Make a day trip of it and head down to Pokeno for the best, biggest and CHEAPEST ice-​cream of your life!