NYC: The Ice Cream Essentials – Tried and tested

When it comes to chilled thrills, New York City is at the very forefront. So far, we have seen fish waffles, mochi toppings, and flavors, nobody would have dreamt of a couple of years back. Here are some of the new must-tries as well as a few old favorites, of course all tried and tested.

Taiyaki Ice Cream at Taiyaki NYC

Taiyaki is a fish-shaped cake originating from Japan. It is traditionally filled with red bean paste, but nowadays it comes with all sorts of fillings, but I don’t remember ever seeing soft-serve as one of them. Not until I saw it at Taiyaiki NYC. I went with Sue, and while she was busy looking after her little baby daughter, I went inside and got us each our fish shaped waffle. I ordered one with matcha for Sue and one with strawberry for me, but due to a misunderstanding, I was handed a vanilla one with sprinkles instead. I didn’t realize that it wasn’t the one I had ordered until I was outside, and yes, I decided just to eat it. My apologies, if it was yours..

Taiyaki NYC, 119 Baxter Street (between Canal St & Hester St), Chinatown, New York  

Milk Money at Ice & Vice

Ice & Vice is a craft ice cream shop, known for unusual, but out-of-this-world scrumptious, creations. I was there with Julia from Sweetescapes.net to celebrate, that we were finally in the same city at the same time. Julia had a scoop of Opium Den, which is one of the seasonal flavors. It was loaded with lemon bread croutons, white sesame and toasted poppy seeds and so heavy it was almost like cake. Very tasty though.

When I asked the guy behind the counter what their most popular flavor was, he said Milk Money. After having tried it, I can see why, but with ingredients such as sea salt and chocolate ganache, you really can’t go wrong. The other scoop I had was the 9AM with Vietnamese coffee and Donut truffle. Also delicious, but if I were to pick only one flavor, it would be Milk Money, all day, every day.

Ice & Vice, 222 East Broadway (between Clinton St & Montgomery St), Lower East Side, New York

Rolled Ice Cream at Juicy Spot Cafe

Thai rolled ice cream has made it all the way to NYC, and one of the places to get it is at Juicy Spot Cafe on Ludlow Street. I tried the Unique Dragon with a base of yogurt ice cream and dragon fruit. The ice cream is made right in front of you by smearing a layer of the ingredients on a freezing disc, and then roll it into roses. Fun to watch and fun to eat.

Juicy Spot Cafe, 109 Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, New York (there’s also a Juicy Spot Cafe in Chinatown)

Dole Whip at Chikarashi

Dole Whip is pineapple flavored soft-serve, originally created by Dole Food Company to be sold in Disneyland. While the Chikarashi soft-serve wasn’t bad, it also didn’t leave much of an impression either, and I think you need to be American, or a big Disneyland fan, to fully appreciate this one. The poké bowls are where Chikarashi truly excels. I had one with salmon and ponzu dressing, and it was delicious.

Chikarashi, 227 Canal Street (between Baxter St & Centre St), Chinatown, New York

Salty Pimp at Big Gay Ice Cream

Big Gay Ice Cream is still going strong, just check the lines outside the shop in West Village. The superstar is Salty Pimp, which is vanilla soft serve with dulce de leche and sea salt dipped in chocolate. Soooo good! I’ve tried some of the other soft-serves at Big Gay Ice Cream, but the Salty pimp is the best and the one you should order.

Big Gay Ice Cream, 61 Grove Street, West Village, New York (other locations in Meatpacking District and East Village)