Blue Bunny Big Vanilla Sandwich: It's 100 degrees in San Francisco this weekend, a rare heatwave that still feels very muggy despite the lack of humidity. My co-workers that work in the downtown SF office of my company are lucky enough to have free access to a freezer of ice cream, including this large ice cream sandwich from Blue Bunny. It tastes exactly the same as the ice cream sandwiches you had growing up - two chocolate "cookies" that have a sponge-like texture that sandwich vanilla ice cream that somehow manages to... (read more) 2.5/5.0
icecream desserts frozen bluebunny big vanilla sandwich 2.5
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
Du’s Donuts Ice cream sandwich : I really enjoyed the Pyggy sandwich I had at Byggyz, the newly opened sandwich shop in LES (NYC) from Wylie Dufresne’s dad Dewey. We decided to also try their one dessert option, an absurdly priced $7 ice cream sandwich made with Du’s donuts (the donut shop Wylie launched earlier in the year). Inside the ice cream sandwich is a marmalade ice cream, which, flavor-wise, had a satisfying tart flavor. Texturally, though, I found the sandwich as a whole to be a miss. The entire frozen treat is ov... (read more) 2.5/5.0
dessert icecream icecreamsandwich nyc dusdonuts ice cream sandwich 2.5
Fentons Creamery Strawberry Sorbet: Before I left the East Bay, I wanted to try the ice cream at Fentons Creamery, an Oakland institution that opened its doors back in 1894. It's a classic family-friendly diner, like what you would imagine Friendly's was like before it became a national franchise. The ice cream flavors are, for the most part, traditional Americana, with flavors like heath bar, cookies 'n cream, and rocky road. Sitting down with my cup of raspberry sorbet, I overheard another patron, cone-in-hand, reprimandi... (read more) 2.5/5.0
oakland sf icecream fentonscreamery strawberry sorbet 2.5
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
Dominique Ansel Kitchen Honey Creme Fraiche soft serve with elderflower grapes: The newest special soft serve from Dominique Ansel Kitchen in the West Village. It's a sizable portion that comes at a sizable price just over $10. The honey creme fraiche ice cream had a good flavor, like a honey-sweetened tart yogurt, but the elderflower-marinated grapes were just not good. They were coated in sugar, making them entirely too sweet and difficult to eat. Without the grapes, I would have given it a 3 overall given the price, but with the grapes, it's a 2.5. 2.5/5.0
nyc westvillage icecream softserve dominiqueanselkitchen honey creme fraiche soft serve elderflower grapes 2.5