Snowdays So Seoulful shaved ice: Snowdays is a shaved ice dessert chain in NYC. Over time, they've expanded their menu and also store concept; now, most also stock various Asian snacks in a convenience-store-like format alongside their shaved ice. I went to the shop in Bay Ridge Brooklyn, on the edge of Sunset Park and ordered their So Seoulful, a combination of black sesame shaved ice, a spoonful of red bean, segments of vanilla waffle cookie, and a drizzle of thick peanut syrup. The black sesame shaved ice was very light ... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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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
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Sweet Belly Desserts Rosie Milk Tea Soft Serve: Sweet Belly Desserts is a small shop around the corner from the 19th Street Oakland BART station. They have a rotating menu of seasonal soft serve flavors as well as mini donuts with housemade glazes and dips. I ordered just the softserve, without any toppings, which cost a little more than $5. This particular flavor is an excellent tribute to floral milk teas, capturing the herbal yet creamy essence of black milk tea along with an aromatic rose flavor. And it wasn't too sweet! Textuall... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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Sweet Olenka's Ontario strawberry ice cream: Stumbled upon this minuscule ice cream shop and was drawn in by newspaper clippings praising its unique flavors. Sadly, no especially bizarre combinations were to be found tonight, but I got a very solid Ontario strawberry ice cream that was somehow vegan despite being creamy and smooth. Strawberry flavor was very pure though more light than concentrated. Shout out to the extra nice worker that I ended up having a super long music conversation with on everything from math rock to Molly Nilss... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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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
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Tara's Organic Ice Cream Jasmine green tea ice cream: On the northern edge of the Elmwood district, at the border of Oakland and Berkeley, is a small ice cream shop called Tara's Organic Ice Cream. They feature a rotating menu of ice creams and sorbet. I was hoping they would have black sesame ice cream, but I was out of luck on the day I went and got a scoop of jasmine green tea instead. The texture was not as smooth as it could be, but the subtle herbal flavor was unique - clean but also very creamy. The type of ice cream that needs to be acc... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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