Tour de Glace
Jul. 8th, 2012 07:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magentaSince we are home instead of camping in extreme heat, it seemed appropriate to get ice cream just about every day.
Round 1
Mosaic (formerly Glaciers) 3019 Minnehaha Ave South, Minneapolis
I had vanilla with hot fudge, Martin had passion fruit with toasted coconut. I think the frozen custard, which they are calling just "custard" now, is as good as I remembered. However, it was difficult to tell whether the hot fudge is good, because there was just a drizzle, nouvelle cuisine style, rather than the usual coating and pooling in the dish. That was disappointing, especially since their vanilla is rather bland. Martin's passion fruit custard tasted nicely fruity, but passion fruit is hard to describe. Martin liked it, and thought the toasted coconut topping went well. I'll go back, especially since it's quite close, but I won't order hot fudge again. They only have three flavors at a time, which is limiting; one scoop plus topping was around $4.
Round 2
Sebastian Joe's 4321 Upton Ave S. Linden Hills
I have what they call a ridiculous sundae - two scoops, sauce, topping, whipped cream. I had Grand Marnier ice cream (wow!) with hot fudge, slivered almonds, and whipped cream. It was glorious. The ice cream is excellent, the hot fudge is very good, the combination was just what I wanted. There was an adequate amount of hot fudge, which was also drizzled rather than poured. There was more on top of the whipped cream, a nice touch. Martin got Pavaratti ice cream with hot fudge, which was quite good. That's banana ice cream with chocolate chips and caramel swirls. I wish Sebastian Joe's were closer. The one at Franklin and Hennepin is only a little closer, and parking is a problem. For Linden Hills, there is parking across the street, and we wanted to go to Great Harvest Bakery as well. They have more than a dozen flavors at once, probably more like 16; one scoop sundae was nearly $5, two scoop sundae was nearly $7.50.
Round 3
Cone Brothers, 6633 Lyndale Ave S, Richfield
Best so far. They have ice cream from The Chocolate Shoppe in Madison, WI, well known to residents and attendees of Wiscon. I had a hot fudge sundae made with Mint Avalanche ice cream -mint with chocolate chips, bits of Andes Mints, and bit of mint cookies of some sort. I had been out in the heat and inhaled it. Wonderful! Martin had what I think is called Peanut Butter Cup - chocolate with peanut butter cups and swirls of peanut butter. He great enjoyed that. Excellent hot fudge, and enough of it, but not really generous. Also, no whipped cream. Quite a drive for us, or we'd go there more often. They had 14 flavors, most of them fancy or unusual; one scoop sundae was $4.
Round 4
Crema Cafe 3403 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis
Home of Sonny's Ice Cream, locally made, very rich, but I was disappointed. They have a variety of flavors, about 18, many of them weird – olive oil, strawberry-basil with balsamic vinegar, AC/DC (has Jim Beam in it). No sundaes of any sort. I ended up with chocolate that was very good ice cream, but not very strong chocolate flavor. Martin had one scoop of pistachio, one of mango. He said the pistachio was pretty good, subtle and rich, the mango was very good. The patio is lovely, but I wanted a hot fudge sundae, not ambiance. I think it was the most expensive - $3.70 for one scoop, 6.50 for 2, before taxes and the servings are small.
We have not yet gotten to Annie's Parlor in Dinkytown, my go-to place for hot fudge sundaes for decades. They only have vanilla ice cream, so your only choices are large or small, bananas or not. And there is Izzy's over in St. Paul. We will go to both and report.
Results so far: Cone Brothers by a hair, closely followed by Sebastian Joe's.
Round 1
Mosaic (formerly Glaciers) 3019 Minnehaha Ave South, Minneapolis
I had vanilla with hot fudge, Martin had passion fruit with toasted coconut. I think the frozen custard, which they are calling just "custard" now, is as good as I remembered. However, it was difficult to tell whether the hot fudge is good, because there was just a drizzle, nouvelle cuisine style, rather than the usual coating and pooling in the dish. That was disappointing, especially since their vanilla is rather bland. Martin's passion fruit custard tasted nicely fruity, but passion fruit is hard to describe. Martin liked it, and thought the toasted coconut topping went well. I'll go back, especially since it's quite close, but I won't order hot fudge again. They only have three flavors at a time, which is limiting; one scoop plus topping was around $4.
Round 2
Sebastian Joe's 4321 Upton Ave S. Linden Hills
I have what they call a ridiculous sundae - two scoops, sauce, topping, whipped cream. I had Grand Marnier ice cream (wow!) with hot fudge, slivered almonds, and whipped cream. It was glorious. The ice cream is excellent, the hot fudge is very good, the combination was just what I wanted. There was an adequate amount of hot fudge, which was also drizzled rather than poured. There was more on top of the whipped cream, a nice touch. Martin got Pavaratti ice cream with hot fudge, which was quite good. That's banana ice cream with chocolate chips and caramel swirls. I wish Sebastian Joe's were closer. The one at Franklin and Hennepin is only a little closer, and parking is a problem. For Linden Hills, there is parking across the street, and we wanted to go to Great Harvest Bakery as well. They have more than a dozen flavors at once, probably more like 16; one scoop sundae was nearly $5, two scoop sundae was nearly $7.50.
Round 3
Cone Brothers, 6633 Lyndale Ave S, Richfield
Best so far. They have ice cream from The Chocolate Shoppe in Madison, WI, well known to residents and attendees of Wiscon. I had a hot fudge sundae made with Mint Avalanche ice cream -mint with chocolate chips, bits of Andes Mints, and bit of mint cookies of some sort. I had been out in the heat and inhaled it. Wonderful! Martin had what I think is called Peanut Butter Cup - chocolate with peanut butter cups and swirls of peanut butter. He great enjoyed that. Excellent hot fudge, and enough of it, but not really generous. Also, no whipped cream. Quite a drive for us, or we'd go there more often. They had 14 flavors, most of them fancy or unusual; one scoop sundae was $4.
Round 4
Crema Cafe 3403 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis
Home of Sonny's Ice Cream, locally made, very rich, but I was disappointed. They have a variety of flavors, about 18, many of them weird – olive oil, strawberry-basil with balsamic vinegar, AC/DC (has Jim Beam in it). No sundaes of any sort. I ended up with chocolate that was very good ice cream, but not very strong chocolate flavor. Martin had one scoop of pistachio, one of mango. He said the pistachio was pretty good, subtle and rich, the mango was very good. The patio is lovely, but I wanted a hot fudge sundae, not ambiance. I think it was the most expensive - $3.70 for one scoop, 6.50 for 2, before taxes and the servings are small.
We have not yet gotten to Annie's Parlor in Dinkytown, my go-to place for hot fudge sundaes for decades. They only have vanilla ice cream, so your only choices are large or small, bananas or not. And there is Izzy's over in St. Paul. We will go to both and report.
Results so far: Cone Brothers by a hair, closely followed by Sebastian Joe's.
