ice cream – Page 21 – Michael Eats

A Pleasant Surprise at Sweet Jesus

Published on July 31, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 25 The West Mall, Etobicoke (inside Sherway Gardens)
Website: http://www.sweetjesus4life.com/

I mentioned recently that I like Sweet Jesus, but that it looks better than it tastes. Well, I think that the abysmal soft serve at Kiss the Tiramisu and Loukomania Cafe have completely readjusted the way that I evaluate soft serve. They were a very visceral reminder that bad soft serve can be really bad.

Suddenly, Sweet Jesus is looking pretty good. Because I just went to their location in Sherway Gardens, and I quite enjoyed it.

I got the Oh Hungry, which is similar to the flavour I got last time — vanilla ice cream, caramel and peanut butter sauces, peanuts, chocolate chips, and a chocolate drizzle.

It was shockingly delicious. All of the sauces, nuts, and chocolate went really well together (true to its name, it tasted similar to an Oh Henry bar), and there seemed to be a better ratio of toppings to ice cream. Plus, the vanilla ice cream was rich and creamy. It still didn’t have much of a flavour beyond a general sweetness, but it wasn’t overly cloying and the texture was on point.

I don’t know if the quality has gone up or if my expectations have gone down, but either way, it was good stuff.

Roasted Pineapple Ice Cream at Bang Bang

Published on July 21, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 93a Ossington Avenue, Toronto
Website: http://bangbangicecream.com/

I’ve already written about Bang Bang a couple of times on this blog, so I sort of figured I wouldn’t be writing about it again. I mean, I could happily make this blog all Bang Bang all the time — it’s the greatest, and anyone who says otherwise is dead to me — but that might get a bit monotonous.

No one needs a few dozen posts that all amount to “hey, this new flavour at Bang Bang, it’s also delicious!”

But… hey, this new flavour at Bang Bang, it’s also delicious!

The roasted pineapple flavour at Bang Bang is so good that I have to post about it. I must. It’s too good.

It’s got the usual creamy, rich amazingness that you expect from Bang Bang’s ice cream, but it’s the flavour that really puts it over the top into crazy good territory.

I normally don’t even like fruity ice cream all that much, but this one is something special. It has such an amazing roasty pineapple flavour; it’s obvious that the fruit has been intensely caramelized. If you’re looking for something light and tart and refreshing, look elsewhere. This has a really deep, rich flavour that’s perfectly balanced by the creamy ice cream. It’s perfect. It’s honestly one of the best scoops I’ve ever had.

Good Quality Ice Cream at Chocolateria

Published on July 18, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 361 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto
Website: http://www.thechocolateria.ca/

Apparently chocolate shops are pretty great at making ice cream, because Soma has some of the best gelato in the city, and Chocolateria on Roncey serves some top-shelf stuff. It’s not “best in the city” good, but it’s a respectable scoop of ouce cream.

They have a handful of interesting flavours; I went with the burnt toffee chocolate, which features a tasty mix of chocolate and burnt toffee ice cream.

It’s high-quality ice cream. The chocolate is satisfyingly rich, and while the burnt toffee could have had a deeper flavour (it basically just tastes like regular caramel), it worked very well with the chocolate.

My only real issue was that the texture was a bit gummier than I’d like, but aside from that it was quite enjoyable.

Delightful Soft Serve at Tom’s Dairy Freeze

Published on July 16, 2018 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: 630 The Queensway, Etobicoke
Website: http://www.tomsdairyfreeze.ca/

If you’re looking for soft serve ice cream in Toronto, you can’t go wrong with Tom’s. It’s been a summertime institution since 1969 and, shockingly enough, still sells some of the best soft serve in the city.

In a city where so many old-school restaurants skate by on nostalgia alone (I’m thinking of vintage burger joints like Johnny’s and Apache), I tend to approach years-old restaurants with a healthy dose of skepticism. Toronto’s food scene has improved astronomically over the decades, and a place like Johnny’s (which routinely used to top “best burger in the city” lists despite serving awful pre-fab junk) is a palpable reminder of how far we’ve come.

Tom’s Dairy Freeze, however, is a delightful exception to this rule; the soft serve here is top-shelf stuff.

On this particular visit I went simple with vanilla ice cream and a chocolate dip. The dip is nothing special, but the ice cream is phenomenal. It’s rich, creamy, and has a really satisfying vanilla flavour. Anyone who wants to sell soft serve in the city should be forced to come here and take notes.

Matcha Overload at Golden Bubbles

Published on July 11, 2018July 11, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3276 Midland Avenue, Scarborough
Website: http://goldenbubbles.ca/

I don’t particularly like matcha. It has a vaguely bitter, swampy flavour that I find unappealing.

So obviously, when I went to Golden Bubbles, I ordered the Matcha Red Bean Waffle despite the fact that they have many non-matcha options that look perfectly delicious. Because I’m a stupid person?

In my defense, I’ve been craving a red bean dessert (probably because I’ve been watching Kantaro: The Sweet Tooth Salaryman on Netflix, a delightfully quirky Japanese show about a dessert-obsessed businessman). Plus, it’s been a few years since I’ve tried a matcha dessert, so my general mindset was “prove me wrong, Golden Bubbles. Prove me wrong.”

Yeah, I still don’t like matcha. But if you do, I’m sure you’ll find this quite tasty. It consists of a matcha poppy seed waffle, green tea ice cream, and a sweet red bean topping.

The fresh Hong Kong style waffle was great, with a delicately crisp exterior and custardy interior. And, flavour notwithstanding, the quality of the ice cream was very good. It was rich and creamy. The beans were tasty as well.

But no, sorry matcha fans. It’s beloved, and I just don’t get it. I won’t say it’s flat-out gross, but its popularity baffles me.

I guess I’ll wait another few years and try it again.