Nazars Turkish Ice-cream

Ferry Pier, Danshui
Visited 25th October 2009
Danshui is a town located at the mouth of the river with the same name and is an easy day trip from Taipei. It’s known for its ‘romantic’ sunset views and historic Fort Santo Domingo, but also has a winding street market that pulls the punters. The market was decent, with plenty of tasty snacks, but what we were both hanging out for was Nazar's Turkish Ice-Cream. We’d heard rumours about this bloke and were pretty excited when we found his little shop on the waterfront, just near where the ferries depart from.

Ordering an ice-cream from Nazar is pretty easy, there’s only chocolate and vanilla to choose from, served in a standard single cone. However the trick isn’t ordering your ice-cream, but getting it in your hand. Nazar packs the cone with cold, ultra sticky ice-cream and offers it to you, you grab for it, but the cone spins out of your reach. It’s offered again, you go to take it, this time the cone spins upside down and slips your grip. After five, maybe ten minutes of fun and games you’re finally presented with your ice-cream. Turkish ice-cream is interesting stuff; it’s sticky rather than creamy and Nazar’s was pretty tasty, though very different from your standard ice-cream cone.

Nazar is a master entertainer and the punters flock to the show. He smiled the whole time and we stood mesmerised. I’ve found a clip on YouTube that probably does him better justice than my clumsy description. While it’s good, in all honesty the ice-cream is irrelevant, the reason I'm recommending you visit Nazars Turkish Ice-cream is for the pure joy of the show.