Yutopia is the resident self-serve frozen yogurt joint in the Pacific Mall in Markham . It occupies unit A25, which, as anyone who has visited Pacific Mall knows, means absolutely nothing. It's on the first floor, if that helps. East side, in the middle of the mall.

If you do find your way there, you'll come across a small purple stand offering four flavours of all-natural frozen yogurt and an assortment of fruit and dry toppings. The woman at the stand was very friendly, though a language barrier prevented me from learning a whole lot about the company.

She did tell me that all the flavours of yogurt are prepared fresh onsite, and are continually rotated throughout the week. That day, the available flavours were Mango, Taro (a long-standing favourite), Strawberry Cheesecake, and Original. The overall roster is much larger, though, and includes varieties such as Black Currant, Watermelon, Avocado, Green Tea, Ferrero Rocher, and an experimental, mystery Sailor Moon flavour.

In Pacific Mall for almost four years, Yutopia seems to offer the best value for fro-yo in the GTA from what I've seen, at just $0.39 per ounce. Careful, though--its cups are the large plastic container types, so it's easy to go nozzle-happy with the prospect of fresh, delicious Taro frozen yogurt.

I go for a Taro/Mango blend and fill my container maybe about a third of the way. I move on to the toppings, bypassing the chocolate chips, cookie crumbs, cereals, gummy bears, and other dry toppings, and instead opt for some fresh blueberries, strawberries, and a couple of maraschino cherries. The total comes to around $3.70, and I take my cup outside, away from the crowds to dig in. (Note: photo of this combination is not the one pictured above)

The Taro yogurt is pretty good but Mango is the definite winner; very fresh-tasting and rich with mango flavour. Both varieties are a little more icy than creamy, which is good or bad depending on your taste. As someone who opts for sorbet over ice cream the majority of time, I quite enjoy the lightly icy texture but I could certainly see it as a downfall for someone who prefers a creamier composition. Needless to say, though, my cup is empty before I know it, and at $0.39/oz, I could definitely consider going back for seconds.

Photos by Jesse Milns who wanted to take more photos but was told by staff that photos were not permitted.