Churro Ice Cream Sandwich!

WHAT: Churro ice cream sandwich!
⚪️ Base: Espresso
⚫️ Sandwiched by: Mini churro cakes!
WHERE: Van Leeuwen ice cream truck, in front of Boqueria Flatiron!

Creativity: 😉😉😉
Presentation: 😎😎😎😎
Taste: 😋😋😋
Texture: 😜😜😜😜
Value: 😄😄😄😄😄
Overall Experience: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

STORY: At work, my friend & co-worker messaged me a link:

Free Van Leeuwen ice cream courtesy of Boqueria! And not just free ice cream, but it's churro ice cream sandwiches!! *OMG face*

When I arrived later after work, promptly at 7 pm, there was a HUGE. LONG. LINE.

Wow.

Despite the fact it was quite humid and hot out, it is still free ice cream! And from Van Leeuwen too, who makes delicious earl grey ice cream (I know they sell in Whole Foods in NY, check and see if they sell in yours!).

7:30 pm started rolling around, and by this time a quarter of the people had been served, and more people were lining up. At 8 pm, I was halfway through. And then, at 8:15 pm, I became almost the next person in line! As you can see in the photo below, there was a sign taped onto the window, detailing four flavors you could choose from to pair with churro cookies. Vanilla, chocolate, espresso, and salted caramel.

As the woman in front of me was about to get her churro ice cream sandwich, two other women who just came out of Boqueria, stood slightly behind her and took out their phones. Confused, the woman asked them, "Are you getting ice cream?" They responded, "Oh no! We're just taking photos of the ice cream people and truck!" Haha.

The woman then got her ice cream, and I heard the two women behind her exclaim, "Ice cream! Ahh let me take a photo of you!!" But she didn't. Aww.

It was then my turn to get ice cream, and I requested to get espresso, learning from the servers that out of the four flavors, espresso paired the best with the churro cookies. I dislike drinking coffee, but I like eating coffee ice cream!

As I waited, the women behind me asked me if they could take a photo of me with ice cream and the servers in the back. Of course haha! As long as they can also take a photo of me using my phone too 😉

And then AT LAST, I received my churro ice cream sandwich!

THOUGHTS: Mmm. I like the espresso ice cream! Ice cream was creamy, and was melting quickly (it must have been at least five minutes I spent with the women taking photos). No close up of the sandwich unfortunately :(

I liked the espresso because it was just enough coffee for me to handle - tasty and sweet. The churros sandwiching the ice cream together, though tiny cookies (2.5" diameter?), were warm and did pair very well with the espresso. I finished it in 4 bites. Mostly satisfied, but really wanted more ice cream. Churro ice cream sandwiches should be bigger lol.

Would I go back? For other flavors, yes. I don't plan to stand in line for 1.5 hours again for ice cream again in a while...

National Ice Cream Day!! P.1. Malai

3 Ice creams (4 if you count popsicles) tried out of 7 vendors from Brooklyn Flea! This is the first one.

WHAT: Traditional
⚪️ Base: Sweet milk ice cream
⚫️ Served with: Rose-pomegranate syrup, basil seeds, vermicelli noodles, topped with pomegranate seeds.
WHERE: Malai @ Brooklyn Flea!

Creativity: 😉😉😉😉😉
Presentation: 😎😎
Taste: 😋😋😋
Texture: 😜😜😜
Value: 😄😄😄
Overall Experience: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

STORY: It's National Ice Cream Day! Once I arrived at Dumbo, I made a beeline towards the Brooklyn Flea, which is held underneath & next to the Manhattan Bridge archway. It was so hot, and I was sweating bullets when I arrived. Two of my friends would be accompanying me today, and would be arriving within a half hour.

I surveyed what was there - It turns out the Ice Cream Bonanza is integrated with the Brooklyn Flea. This is unlike the the 7 ice cream vendors were sporadically spread out. Four vendors were next to each other, and two others were interspersed with other non-ice cream vendors. My very first one that I would try would be Malai, a vendor who I had not tried or heard of before until today.

At first glance, their menu seems to stem from Indian roots. However after reading more into them from their FB page, their ice cream is actually inspired by "globally sourced whole ingredients, underutilized spices, and unexpected twists on old classics".

All menu items read as exotic, and I decided to try the Traditional.

THOUGHTS: The experience of seeing how the Traditional sundae (and likely all other sundaes) was very amusing. Each ingredient, save for the ice cream, was in a separate cup, and was made in front of your very eyes. In went the basil seeds first, then the vermicelli, ice cream, syrup, and finally garnished with pomegranate seeds. Wow.

I would call this more a ice cream parfait than a sundae. The only difference I see is it uses ice cream as a replacement for yogurt. Each ingredient layer was separate from each other. On first bite, juicy pomegranate burst into my mouth - which I liked. I detected a hint of spice, not sure whether it was from the milk ice cream or another ingredient. Scooping further down, I reached vermicelli, which oddly wasn't too odd eating with ice cream. Possibly because it's flavorless? Eating the basil seeds were weird though.

I'm wondering if there was a proper way to eat this ice cream sundae. I did not want to mix the ingredients together as I would in a normal yogurt parfait, because I did not want ice cream soup. And with this heat, 90+ degree weather, it was already becoming ice cream soup.

Would I try this again? I would be down to try the other menu items!

Kanye West + Ice Cream??

WHAT: Panda Cone
⚪️ Base: Coconut ice cream
⚫️ Ears: Coconut-ash cookies
⚫️ Eyes: M&Ms
⚫️ Nose: Coconut-ash cookie
WHERE: Morgenstern's Finest Ice Creams

Creativity: 😉😉😉😉
Presentation: 😎😎😎😎
Taste: 😋😋😋
Texture: 😜😜
Value: 😄😄😄
Overall Experience: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

STORY: So apparently this is Kanye Ice Cream Week. Who knew. My friend sent me the link about it, and the menu is so hilarious. On Friday, after work I decided to head down to Morgenstern's to celebrate the weekend, and of course participate in the Kanye Ice Cream madness.

I ended up waiting in line for 30-40 minutes for a Panda Cone.

THOUGHTS: PANDA SO CUTE!!! After taking several obligatory photos, I felt guilty about eating it. Poor thing. Well, it was made to be consumed.

First thing, I bit into the coconut-ash cookie ear - what an extremely dry cookie. Eating it actually made me thirsty, so I quickly wolfed this ear down and then its other one. The coconut ice cream base I tasted next. While it satisfied my thirst, I was surprised that it was very icy and didn't seem to have its usual creamy thickness that Morgenstern's had. Or maybe it's because I haven't been here in a while? It did taste like coconut, and had sparse coconut shavings throughout.

Now, I really enjoyed the M&Ms they added for the panda eyes. It added a good chocolatey crunch to it. The nose I think was made out of the same coconut-ash cookie for the ears.

What I really liked about this Panda Cone was that the ice cream is scooped into a cake cone. I LOVE cake cones, and the coconut ice cream settled nicely into it. Good way to end it.

But would I get it again? No. I think it was overpriced at $6 per panda. I would like to try the other menu items though!

Yeah, I'd like to use Kanye West's melting head as my bookmark.