Morgenstern’s Cardamom Lemon Jam ice cream: There are many great ice cream shops in NYC, but Morgenstern’s has been my favorite for a long time. Over the years, I’ve found myself mostly purchasing their specials, but this time I ordered one of their regular menu flavors, and it did not disappoint. This cardamom lemon jam ice cream has a really wonderfully spiced cardamom flavor, with a creamy yet sharp acidic aftertaste. Texturally, it is perfectly smooth. It’s a fantastic flavor that shows off how consistently good Morgenstern’s can be. 4.5/5.0
exceptional nyc icecream manhattan morgensterns cardamom lemon jam ice cream 4.5
Superiority Burger Apricot and Labne ice cream: Two flavors, apricot and labne, ran for about $6 at this cramped East Village vegetarian spot. The apricot ice cream was strangely warm, very lightly sweetened, and faint though slightly tangy in flavor. The labne sorbet, on the other hand, was sharp and refreshing, tasting of high quality yogurt. Both had a slightly sticky texture reminiscent of Turkish ice cream (but not quite as elastic). Would definitely enjoy the labne again - the apricot, not so much. 3.0/5.0
nyc yogurt dessert sorbet icecream superiorityburger apricot labne ice cream 3.0
Van Leeuwen Passion fruit ice cream: I ginormous scoop of ice cream so large that it took multiple tries to balance it on a cone. What struck me about this ice cream shop was the strong buttery smell upon entering. I personally prefer lighter, more subtle flavors and found the richness of the passion fruit ice cream to be somewhat overwhelming. Mixed in with the ice cream were oddly dry pieces of cake - what they had to do with passion fruit ice cream I’ll never know. Expensive at almost $6 a scoop. They also don’t mix two flav... (read more) 2.5/5.0
nyc icecream dessert vanleeuwen passion fruit ice cream 2.5
Ample Hills Creamery Lemon ginger sorbet and Snap, Mallow, Pop ice cream: Family friendly ice cream shop Ample Hills Creamery is probably as Brooklyn as an ice cream store can get. The flavors are completely made in-house, hand-drawn illustrations act as signage, and flavors like “gooey gooey butter cake” and “Nonna d’s oatmeal lace” hearken back to an extremely classic American childhood that I can only imagine those that had cookie jars in their kitchens may have experienced. AKA this is a very white-person ice cream shop (not to denigrate - just stating the f... (read more) 3.0/5.0
brooklyn icecream marshmallow amplehillscreamery lemon ginger sorbet snap mallow pop ice cream 3.0
Dr. Brown’s Diet cream soda : I typically drink diet soda to minimize sugar intake. I’ve gotten used to the taste of aspartame (disgusting, I know) and have found over the years that diet root beer seems to fare the best in terms of minimal fake-sugar taste. So I was curious about this diet cream soda, as root beer and cream soda share some similar flavor qualities. The diet cream soda from Dr. Brown’s was quite good as far as diet sodas go, with the vanilla (or more likely vanillin) aftertaste masking much of the unplea... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended drinks dietsoda diet drbrowns cream soda 3.5
Auntie Anne’s Sour cream and onion pretzell: Almost missed my flight to get this pretzel since they needed 10 minutes to “bake it fresh.” Surprised to find it’s actually the plain pretzels with a heavy coating of powdered seasoning. The sour cream and onion flavor was insane, with an ultra tangy sour cream flavor that had a sharp aftertaste like sweet onion. It was kind of like the coating on sour cream and onion Pringles except 2x more concentrated. The pretzel was very buttery but had a nice soft texture. Actually pretty good for an... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended junkfood auntieannes sour cream onion pretzel 3.5