vanilla – Michael Eats

Tasty Frozen Custard at The Loop Creamery

Published on October 13, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3795 Lakeshore Boulevard West, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.loopcreamery.com/

I (sort of) tried this place back in 2018, when they had frozen custard on the menu at Woodfire Sandwich Co, an offshoot of Woody’s Burgers. Alas, the sandwich place is no more, but the ice cream has been bumped up to its own thing (though it’s now inside Woody’s Burgers).

As I mentioned in my previous post, frozen custard (which is basically just standard ice cream with an added richness and flavour from egg yolks) is weirdly hard to find in the city. So the fact that The Loop Creamery exists at all makes me happy.

And it’s quite tasty. I think it’s actually improved since 2018; the ice cream is rich and creamy, with a mild but satisfying custard flavour. It’s quite good.

I went with the Old School, which is just peanuts and caramel in a vanilla base. The peanuts had gotten a bit soft in the ice cream, but it was otherwise quite tasty, with the rich custard base working very well with the ribbons of sweet caramel.

Decent Ice Cream at West End Waffles and Scoops

Published on August 1, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 499 Runnymede Road, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/westendwafflesandscoops/

I generally don’t pay much attention to ice cream shops that don’t make their own ice cream, but I figured I’d give West End Waffles and Scoops a shot. They serve Shaw’s Ice Cream, an Ontario-based company that seemed like it might be a bit more interesting than the usual Kawartha or Nestle.

Outside of the ice cream, I think West End Waffles and Scoops makes pretty much everything else from scratch, including waffles, sauces, cookies, and cones. I went pretty simple, however, and just got a scoop of Grammy’s Cupboard, which features a vanilla base with brownie pieces, cookie dough chunks, and peanut butter swirled throughout.

It’s not bad. It’s not on the level of the better places in the GTA, but the ice cream is nice and creamy with plenty of tasty mix-ins, and a clear step up from something you’d find in a supermarket freezer.

Quick Bites: Tom’s Dairy Freeze, Bang Bang, Rudy

Published on October 31, 2021 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Caramel Sundae at Tom’s Dairy Freeze

Hey, gotta take advantage of Tom’s while they’re around (they’re closed all winter). On this particular visit I got a twist with hot caramel sauce, and yeah it’s as tasty as ever.

Cherry Milkjam at Bang Bang

I’ve found Bang Bang to be a bit hit-or-miss lately, but when they’re good, they’re still really good. This particular flavour is actually a “twist” of sorts — it combines cherry ice cream with dulce de leche, and yeah that’s a great combo. The cherry is a bit sour on its own, but mixing it with the sweet richness of the dulce de leche tempers its tartness and is thoroughly delicious.

Fried Chicken Sandwich at Rudy

I’ve already written about the fried chicken sandwich at Rudy (A.K.A. the Valentino), so I’m not going to beat a dead horse, but it’s still nothing particularly special. It wasn’t overcooked this time, so it had that going for it, but it was almost aggressively middling. If I you had told me it was a fried chicken sandwich from a fast food chain like Wendy’s or A&W, I would have believed you. And Rudy’s is expanding quite a bit; I guess they’re becoming a fast food chain themselves, so… it is what it is. [shrug]

Tasty Soft Serve at Bartley’s Dairy Bar

Published on October 1, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 853 Dundas Street, Woodstock
Website: https://www.facebook.com/BartleysDairyBar/

Since I was in Woodstock anyway (for completely rational reasons), I figured I’d see if there was anything else worth checking out in the area. Bartley’s Dairy Bar — a dessert shop that specializes in soft serve ice cream — fit the bill nicely.

They serve the usual assortment of sundaes, dipped cones, and Blizzard-like concoctions, along with scooped ice cream and frozen yogurt. I kept things relatively simple and ordered a hot fudge sundae with vanilla ice cream.

It’s actually quite good — the ice cream was creamy and delicious. I’d say it’s about on par with Tom’s Dairy Freeze.

I kinda wish I had just ordered the ice cream on its own, however, because the hot fudge sauce wasn’t the best. It was basically fine, but it was way too sweet. It’s a bit of a throat-burner.

More Dipped Cones at Les Epicuriens

Published on July 29, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 2109 Yonge Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.facebook.com/indulgeyourtastebuds/

Hey, it’s yet another place doing dipped cones. Hooray?

Look, I can’t say no to ice cream, but as I mentioned in my review of Chocolats Favoris last year, we’ve got a lot of places that serve dipped cones in Toronto. It’s a crowded field.

So does Les Epicuriens stand out? I dunno, not really? I mean, they have a lot of dip options (a dozen when I visited), but then most of these places have a lot of dip options. They also have a handful of toppings (various nuts, candy pieces, etc.), but that’s also par for the course.

I went with the “special vanilla” ice cream (vegan chocolate is also an option) with a pistachio dip.

The ice cream is really good. It’s very rich and creamy with a nice, clean flavour. I’d say it’s about on par with Tom’s.

The dip was fine, though it was aggressively sweet and had only a mild pistachio flavour. It basically tasted like white chocolate with a vague whiff of nuttiness. I’d probably try a different dip next time, or just get the ice cream on its own.