ice cream – Page 22 – Michael Eats

Tasty Ice Cream at Nadege

Published on June 29, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 780 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: http://www.nadege-patisserie.com/

Though I feel like the pastries at Nadege have gone a bit downhill since their expansion to multiple locations, I still like the place. And I can’t say no to their latest addition: ice cream (I can never say no to ice cream. Never).

They have a small ice cream shop right next to their original Queen Street location, serving classic scooped ice cream (not to be confused with the soft serve they’ve had for a while now).

There’s a bunch of really interesting looking flavours; I went with La Mancha, which is described as “honey, blackberry, saffron, biscuit.”

It’s good, though the ice cream itself is nothing too special. It’s a bit thin; it’s not nearly as rich or as creamy as it should be. But the flavour makes up for it. It’s got a delightfully subtle sweetness, with refreshing swirls of tart blackberry sauce and big cakey chunks.

I wish the blackberry sauce weren’t so icy and that the chunks weren’t so generous (my scoop was something like fifty percent biscuit and fifty percent ice cream), but I still enjoyed it. I’m keen to go back, if only to try out some of the other flavours; they were almost all really unique.

French Creme Brulee McFlurry at McDonald’s

Published on June 20, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 195 North Queen Street, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.ca

The world tour (via McDonald’s) continues! And after the sub-par Chinese Szechuan Burger, this one’s actually not bad.

McDonald’s attempt at French cuisine is the Creme Brulee McFlurry: vanilla soft serve with caramelized sugar bits and “Crème Brûlée sauce” mixed in.

I guess ice cream is harder to mess up than a hamburger (or I have a higher tolerance for mediocre ice cream), because I enjoyed this.

There’s no custard flavour here — the sauce and the caramelized sugar bits are both trying to replicate the crispy shell of a creme brulee rather than the entire dessert. But it’s tasty enough for what it is; the sugar retains its texture even when mixed into the ice cream, and the sauce has a surprisingly rich, almost burnt caramel flavour. The whole thing is too sweet and the ice cream isn’t the best, but it’s not bad.

Shockingly Terrible Ice Cream from Kiss the Tiramisu

Published on June 16, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 160 Baldwin Street, Toronto
Website: http://www.kissthetiramisu.net/

I don’t want to be too hyperbolic, but I think the sundae at Kiss the Tiramisu in Kensington Market might be the worst thing I’ve ever been served in a restaurant. Certainly, it’s right down there.

To be fair, they were clearly having issues. Shortly after I ordered, the woman behind the counter attempted to dispense ice cream from the machine; pure liquid came out. She looked shifty and then told me I’d have to wait five minutes.

A smarter man would have asked for his money back and left. Clearly, I am not a smart man.

The ice cream is layered with coffee, some kind of white sauce (mascarpone?), and a whole bunch of cocoa powder. It’s absolutely terrible.

I’m really not sure what that vile, sludgy glop was, but it certainly wasn’t ice cream. That’s not even a joke: it was thin and lacking anything even remotely resembling creaminess. I’m almost certain it didn’t have the proportion of milk fat that is legally required for something to be called ice cream. It was also grainy and icy, so it was pretty much the worst.

The flavour was no better; I find a lot of ice creams are a little bit too sweet for my taste. I had the opposite problem here. This was bland and horrible, with a vague milkiness and and unpleasantly watered-down bitter coffee flavour that was downright repulsive. There was also an insane amount of cocoa mounded onto this thing, which just made it impossible to eat without getting powder all over the place.

Despite spending well over seven bucks (!), I couldn’t bring myself to finish it. It was so bad.

Seriously: I take back every bad thing I’ve ever said about Sweet Jesus. I certainly have issues with the place, but at least what they’re serving is actual ice cream that isn’t gross.

Wacky Flavours at Death in Venice Gelato Co.

Published on June 8, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 536 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.deathinvenice.ca/

If you’re looking for an off-kilter scoop of gelato, Death in Venice is the place to go. With their various flavours featuring ingredients like parsnip, kaffir lime, and lavender, you’d be advised to look elsewhere if you’re hoping for a scoop of plain chocolate or vanilla.

Of course, it’s easy enough to serve oddball flavours as a novelty; it’s not-so-easy to make them actually taste good.

I can happily say that Death in Venice absolutely nails the whole “tasting really good” thing.

On this particular visit I tried the pistachio yogurt and baklava, which was outstanding. It features crispy bits of phyllo pastry, pistachio chunks, and honey, which really nails the baklava flavour. The yogurt adds a very subtle tartness. There clearly isn’t enough yogurt here to qualify this as frozen yogurt; there’s just enough to add that flavour without being overly sour.

That’s not to mention the lemon zest, which works perfectly with the other elements here. I think there might have also been ricotta? I’m not sure.

But you know what I am sure about? That this was great. Because it was great. Aside from the really interesting combination of flavours, the gelato itself was creamy and luxurious. It’s good stuff.

Mediocre Ice Cream at Emmy’s Ice Cream

Published on June 6, 2018June 6, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 426 St. Clarens Avenue, Toronto
Website: http://emmys-ice-cream.business.site/

I love ice cream (and I mean, who doesn’t?). I’m always on the lookout for the next great scoop.

I’m not going to bury the lede — Emmy’s does not serve the next great scoop.

It’s fine. There wasn’t anything glaringly wrong with it. But the quality is more in line with something you might get from the supermarket with the words “Nestle” or “President’s Choice” on the label.

It’s in a bit of an odd location; it’s basically part of a coffee shop (they have their own sign and door, but once you’re inside, it’s all one store).

They don’t make their own ice cream. They source it from Dutch Dreams. I have a vague recollection of going to Dutch Dreams well over a decade ago and not being impressed, but I was hoping that they had improved in the interim.

Alas. I had the “Life on St. Clarens,” which is vanilla ice cream with a peanut butter swirl, along with brownie chunks and cookie dough.

Nothing about it particularly stood out. Though the ice cream was somewhat rich, the flavour was just generic sweetness. The same lack of flavour extended to the chunks — the brownie was just chewy and sweet, and the cookie dough was crumbly and sweet. Nothing makes an impact.

Given the fairly unambitious array of flavours they have on offer, I suspect that they’re trying to be more of a stop for local kids than somewhere you might go out of your way for. Which is fine. But… don’t go out of your way for it.