I’m sure that anyone who has been following me long enough knows that I have a mild, okay an extreme, obsession with ice cream. So of course, I’m up to date on all of the latest ice cream discoveries. The followers in the tri-state area are probably familiar with the term “rolled ice cream” that, from my understanding, (which is minimal because I mentally checked out once I started seeing all the delicious combinations and flavors) originated in New York. A few spots have opened in Philly and Collingswood, and now they are popping up all over. I’ve been talking about going to one of these places since last summer (literally) and so finally my brother and I recently went on a Sunday night.
To my dismay, I was less than enthusiastic about the whole experience. We chose to go to one of the original parlors in Philly as opposed to Jersey since the one in Jersey closed early. We started our excursion at 8 p.m. Right off the bat, we had to pay a $5 toll, and then since there was no street parking available after driving around for 10 minutes (which may be a blessing since I was the one driving and can’t parallel park to save my life), we wound up having to spend $17 for parking. As we walked out of the parking garage and turned the corner, we found ourselves in the back of the seemingly endless line for the rolled ice cream parlor, which was located a block away. Even though the sun had set, it was still extremely hot outside.
As we sweated profusely, my brother and I talked about everything under the sun, made fun of our siblings, our parents, scrolled through various social media platforms several times…and the line had barely moved. We had to keep each other strong and alternate giving pep talks throughout our many moments of weakness (or perhaps sanity?!) and wanting to give up and leave. At about 11 p.m., it was finally our turn! I had my heart set on the chocolate, peanut butter, banana combo only to find out that they were out of peanut butter. I find this odd since it is common, it’s not like I chose the fat free Cauliflower flavor (which they would probably only have enough for an occasional weirdo like me who would order that if they offered it), you would think they would be on point with supply and demand.
So, I opted for another flavor, chocolate with toasted marshmallow (yes, it was an actual toasted marshmallow which was really cool). It was really cool to watch the guys roll the ice cream in front of me, but it is quite similar to the experience you get at Cold Stone Creamery. Instead of mashing the toppings into your ice cream, they roll it. Click here to see a short video.
Fifteen dollars later we both had our rolled ice cream in hand and dove right in (My brother had the Nutella, banana and donut bites combo).
Don’t get me wrong, it was good, but what ice cream isn’t? It was basically just fancy looking ice cream. A big part of my disappointment is probably because I had high expectations. After thinking about it, you can really only do so much with ice cream before it melts.
But for the three hours it took and almost $40 spent, I will be sticking with my local ice cream parlor, or making one of my homemade ice cream creations. These creations will be ready in 20 minutes, in the comfort of your own home, in air conditioning, healthier and super affordable. Check out the links below to see some of my ice cream recipes!
