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
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
Holy Gelato Peach champagne sorbet : In the heart of the Inner Sunset District in SF is an ice cream shop called Holy Gelato, an eclectic mix of vintage toy shop and ice cream parlor. The peach champagne sorbet I ordered was surprisingly good, with a distinct but not overpowering champagne flavor and fresh, concentrated peach taste. The serving size is very generous such that their mini scoop would be a single anywhere else. Good value. 3.5/5.0
recommended sf icecream holygelato peach champagne sorbet 3.5
Cones Ginger and Cantaloupe Sorbet : Cones is a dependably excellent ice cream shop on Bleecker St in Manhattan. I almost always get sorbet when I'm there, and they're always super refreshing and flavorful. Both the ginger and cantaloupe this time were fresh and very light. I recommend getting a scoop and then going across the street to Book Book. 4.0/5.0
recommended icecream sorbet nyc cones ginger cantaloupe 4.0
Wanderlust Creamery Green apple wasabi sorbet and yuzu cheesecake ice cream: Located on Glendale Boulevard in Atwater Village (LA), Wanderlust Creamery offers flavors inspired by locations around the world. Their unusual flavors made it very difficult to pick just two, but I went with their green apple and wasabi sorbet along with yuzu cheesecake. I loved the tartness and spicy aftertaste of the apple wasabi, which was expertly balanced, and the yuzu cheesecake had a delicious graham crackle crumble and yuzu jam throughout. The flavors were fantastic and some of t... (read more) 4.5/5.0
exceptional icecream la japanese wanderlustcreamery green apple wasabi sorbet yuzu cheesecake ice cream 4.5
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