Tartine Manufactory Blood orange sorbet and cardamom soft serve: Tartine Manufactory closes its bakery section, including soft serve, for dinner service, but if you ask nicely, they will serve it (as I found out last night). This swirl of blood orange and cardamom was one of the best things I ate all year, with potently spiced cardamom and sharp citrus. The texture was smooth and consistent. Often, independent flavors in swirled soft serve compete and don’t quite work in harmony, but this unexpected combination was both balanced and even better with one a... (read more) 4.5/5.0
exceptional sf sanfrancisco icecream softserve bloodorange tartinemanufactory blood orange sorbet cardamom soft serve 4.5
Swensen’s Lychee ice cream: Swensen’s is a historic ice cream shop in San Francisco’s Russian Hill neighborhood. Opened in 1948, it now has locations around the world. I don’t find myself in this neighborhood very often, so the last time I was there, I finally got a chance to try it. They offer a bevy of flavors, mostly traditional favorites, but I got a scoop of lychee. Unfortunately, the ice cream had an overly icy, almost clumpy texture, and though it had sizable pieces of lychee throughout, the moisture content of ... (read more) 2.5/5.0
icecream sf sanfrancisco swensens lychee ice cream 2.5
Ici Lemon ice cream with ginger cookie: Faintly sweet but super rich and creamy lemon ice cream filled with bits of spiced ginger cookie. The cookie pieces were my favorite part and felt very seasonal. The ice cream itself could have been more smooth in texture but was good overall. 3.5/5.0
recommended icecream dessert berkeley ici lemon ice cream ginger cookie 3.5
Morgenstern’s Passion fruit sorbet with chocolate magic shell: Last few days to get Morgenstern’s October Sorbae: passion fruit sorbet covered with their homemade chocolate “magic shell.” The sorbet didn’t need the chocolate at all, in my opinion, as the passion fruit is sharp and fresh on its own. 3.5/5.0
recommended morgensterns icecream passionfruit nyc passion fruit sorbet chocolate magic shell 3.5
Little Giant Ice Cream Thai Green Curry and Key Lime Pie Ice Cream: Known for unusual flavors like asparagus and beez cheese (a combination of goat cheese, honey, and black pepper), Little Giant Ice Cream, located on Telegraph in Oakland, did not disappoint, particularly with the well-balanced Thai green curry ice cream. Equal parts savory and sweet, it's a creamy concoction where the lemongrass is unmistakable, and while it's vegan, it's incredibly smooth. The key lime pie was quite good but did not quite hit the same high point largely due to its slightl... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended icecream oakland littlegianticecream thai green curry key lime pie ice cream 4.0
Uji Time Tofu Soft Serve: This flavor has eluded me for several months. I sampled the tofu the first time I ever came to this Japanese ice cream shop in Berkeley and loved it but opted for the classic black sesame for my first cup. Ever subsequent time I went back to Uji, the tofu was sold out. Finally, a few months ago, I was able to get it, but this time, the texture had degraded a bit, with the soft serve being uncharacteristically icy. Still, the soy milk flavor is excellent and easily identifiable to anyone ... (read more) 3.0/5.0
softserve icecream berkeley soymilk soy ujitime tofu soft serve 3.0