Caffe Panna Peach Olive Oil Soft Serve: I had so heard so much about Caffe Panna, so I was excited to finally get a chance to try this popular ice cream shop started by Danny Meyer's daughter. The line took about 20 minutes to get through on a Sunday evening at the Gramercy location, and I opted for the soft serve with peach and an olive oil drizzle. Unfortunately, as you can see in the picture, it seemed to be already melting by the time it was handed to me, and once I found a bench 2 minutes later to sit and consume it, it was ... (read more) 2.0/5.0
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Screamers Dole Whip: Screamers is a soft serve treats stand at Stevenson Wharf in Richmond, BC (a 30 min drive south from Downtown Vancouver). Their signature offering is a "screamer" drink they describe as a combination of ice cream and slurpee – it comes in a variety of classic fruity Crush soda flavors. Their other speciality is soft serve dole whip, a tropical treat combining pineapple and vanilla soft serve. The kiddie size (pictured) is more than enough for an adult and barely costs $3. The texture is i... (read more) 4.5/5.0
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Milk Bar Apple Pie Soft Serve: While I generally find many items at Christina Tosi’s Milk Bar to be overly sweet, one thing that I’ve always loved is their soft serve. The cereal milk soft serve, in particular, is very well judged. This apple pie soft serve, available at the Flagship Milk Bar, is another great example. The tartness is surprisingly great, and the texture is perfectly smooth - more sorbet-like than ice-cream-like. The mix of spices (cinnamon, allspice, clove, and probably ginger, I’m guessing) is way mo... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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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
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Besfren Taro and matcha soft serve: I stumbled upon this tiny pastry shop on my way to Penn Station from KTown and was impressed with the quality of their soft serve. Served in a large but slightly pricy cup (at $5.50), the purple and green ice cream swirl is well balanced and perfectly smooth. The creamy, slightly vegetal flavor of taro works surprisingly well with bitter matcha. My only quibble is that the way the soft serve was swirled gave it a hollow center, so I think a third of the cup I received was just an air pock... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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Keki Modern Cakes Milk soft serve: When I went to Keki to try their cheesecake, they had a promotion where they were giving away free soft serve. Their only available flavor was milk, and while the texture of the softserve was good, it tasted very simply of rich whole milk. It’s not a flavor that develops in any way, and it was too rich for me, so I did something I’ve only done once before in the history of Tasty Snacking and threw it out. 1.0/5.0
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