Polar Monkey

I was feeling a little adventurous and got their special flavor here once. It was tomato.
TOMATO.
I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I shouldn’t have, it tasted like it sounds.

They are out of business.
It’s too bad, they used to have the «special cone» deal for $ 1.50. The yogurt wasn’t the best around, but it was the cheapest you could find.

It’s a good place, they have good deals and give good portions. They used to have a tomato flavor yogurt, it was soo good, but now they have banana flavor. It deserves a visit for its lower prices compared to red mango and pink berry. Serves yogurt on a cone which is awesome on the go.

I have been to Polar Monkey twice. The first time was out of curiosity and the second time was out of pity. Although it’s located right across the street from the UCLA Medical Plaza, making it highly visible, it’s always empty.
I must admit, their yogurt portions almost comically larger than competitors. I like it, more bang for my buck. However, as some did mention, the texture IS a bit chalker.
I hope this places survives, because I’d hate to see another business go bye bye. Rent in Westwood is way too expensive!

I like how Polar Monkey admits openly that what they serve is not exactly froyo and it’s not entirely ice cream. I also can’t argue with the prices. The portions are probably one of the most notable differences than most other tart dessert counters. For the small, they fill the cup about ²⁄₃ the way and on top of that they build a swirled mountain of the tarty stuff you came for.
The treat itself tastes fine, its not really all that bad but not quite up to par. You have to give up something for that price, besides the décor. I want to say that I like the tomato flavor, but I couldn’t even confidently claim that I would have more than three spoonfuls of it.
Check it out if you want. But with the big froyo contenders down the street, its going to be hard to really commit to the effort of coming here.

What real snow monkeys eat:
Fruits, seeds, young leaves and flowers, insects, crabs, bird eggs and tree bark.
What UCLA monkeys eat:
Tomato fro-​yo with fruit toppings.
Tomato yogurt on its own is not a highly inventive or unique item seeing as yogo tango in Hollywood already has it.
Tomato yogurt with crab or insects & twigs– now maybe you’ve got something…
But if I were the owner of the cleverly named «Polar Monkey», I would ditch the tomato and lure in all kinds of apes and monkeys with some banana flavored yogurt.
Here at Polar Monkey the portions are large, the price is fair, but so is the product at best… Vern Yip could also do these guys a favor and spruce the place up a bit, if you know what I mean…

The yogurt wasn’t all that bad, the price was pretty low BUUUT when I asked for mochi as a topping, I only got maybe, oh, five pieces instead of a scoop.
Oh, and beware of the shop girls. Their favorite pasttime is talking shit about customers in Korean.

OLD POST
Pros:
–It’s cheaper than other froyo places around (okay. it’s only 5 cents cheaper than other places if you get the small with nothing on it, but still!)
–it’s closer to campus (if you’re a lazy UCLA student like me),
–there’s no lines, and it tastes about the same as Pinkberry (in texture, flavor, but if you like a more creamy yogurt, try Red Mango)
Cons:
–I wish they made their cups more durable, because after about 10 mins of holding the cup, it feels like it’s gonna fall apart
UPDATE March 2008
Okay, I demoted Polar monkey 2 stars, why? because they raised their prices, (probably due to inflation) but still, i don’t think their yogurt tastes that great compared to the other ones.

Toni!!!
I can’t believe that you out beat me with 1^st review on Unilocal.my friends and I had our eyes on this place for several weeks now.
This place is HORRIBLE! and i mean it! if you are going to copy pinkberry, please at least try a bit harder???
Anyways, please don’t come here, and if you do, please stay away from the tomato flavor.

Update 11÷22÷07: It seems that the $ 1.50 price is actually permanent. Enthusiastic cheer! I’ve gone here countless times since my last update and I must say that this really does the trick when you just want yogurt. Nothing more, nothing less. Polar Monkey, I promote you from two stars to 4.
Original post: With a name like Polar Monkey you’d think this place would be choc full of bananas. Replace those bananas with tomatoes (yes, tomatoes) and you’ll be closer to reality.
Prices: The introductory price for a froyo cone is $ 1.50. Dirt cheap! I’ll have to wait until the regular price kicks in before I say more on this.
Choices: The two flavors offered are plain and … tomato? The flavor isn’t vomit inducing, but while you’re eating you can’t help but feel like you’re licking frozen V8 juice. The plain froyo wasn’t noticeably different from other places, but had sort of a chalky taste like Red Mango.
Décor: Not much room to sit inside and no tables outside. The place doesn’t even look like a store at first glance. Hopefully they’ll put up more decorations later.
I genuinely feel sorry for this place because I know it’s going to tank. They should ditch the tomato flavor because it’s the sort of thing you’d only get once just for the novelty. Why not a banana flavored froyo? I’d totally buy that.