Carvel Ice Cream
Saturday, February 4, 2006 20:33
Me: “Hey, I know this great Mom and Pop ice cream place.”
Friend: “Umm, you mean this one? Carvel?”
Me: “Yeah! I ran across it the other day.”
Friend: “Dude… Carvel’s a huge chain on the East Coast…”
Me: “Uh…. Oh… … … …”
And so failed my distinction of knowing a secret, hidden-away gem of an ice cream shop. However, given how delicious the ice cream is, I quickly overcame my disappointment. In all my visits, I have never experienced that icy taste you get when the ice cream gets old or if it is just plain bad. It is firm enough such that each scoop holds its form in your mouth as it melts creating a delicious creamy sensation.
Aside from the texture, the flavors are what really separate Carvel from the other ice cream shops I’ve been too. Each flavor holds the pure essence of what I imagine each flavor to be. The pistachio (my personal favorite) has that sweet artificial-like taste yet also contains more pistachio nuts than I’m accustomed to. However, what really draws me to Carvel are the cake-batter and black-forest cake flavors. The cake-batter is perfectly well-done. It’s not so sweet that you can’t eat more than four scoops. However, it still manages to present the full essence of cake-batter in each bite. This balance is something I’ve not found in some time. The black-forest comes with loads of cherrys and perfectly replicates the flavor of the cake.
Being a bit of an ice cream fanatic (I routinely eat two containers of ice cream in three weeks), I’ve been disappointed with the non-supermarkets offerings that LA has. Baskin Robbins isn’t creamy enough for me and sometimes I prefer simple scoops of ice cream as opposed to the marble slab offered by Coldstone. So even though Carvel is a national chain, it still has that mom and pop feel (at least at the one on Santa Monica Blvd.). The manager is always very friendly and loves to see you enjoy the ice cream, which is what its all about.
By Jeff (see more of his posts).
Why We Type says:
February 4th, 2006 at 9:16 pm
What’s the address?
Jeff says:
February 4th, 2006 at 10:14 pm
It’s near the corner of Sepulveda and Santa Monica Blvd. It’s in the same plaza as Jin Jiang and Hamasaku.
Jumpcut says:
February 5th, 2006 at 11:09 am
I grew up with Carvel on the East Coast. No birthday is complete without a Carvel ice cream cake in just about any shape you can imagine. Here’s their website for LA with directions to the store: http://www.carvel-la.com/
lagirl says:
February 6th, 2006 at 1:12 am
you should try fosselmans and any riteaid that still says thrifty’s on it’s ice cream, because as my chemistry teacher used to say ‘you don’t fuck with the ice cream’ if it still says thriftys the ice cream is usually still good. fosselman’s in in alhambra 1824 W. Main St.
Alhambra, CA 91801
fosselmans.com
Zteve says:
February 6th, 2006 at 8:43 am
Cookiepuss rules!
Kristy says:
February 6th, 2006 at 1:12 pm
My girlfriend from New Jersey surprised me with one of their birthday ice cream cakes on my 20th a few years back. It was one of the best birthdays ever.
Jonah says:
February 6th, 2006 at 3:10 pm
I love the pistachio at Bennett’s in the 3rd & Fairfax market. The secret there is to get a hand packed pint, I think it costs about the same as a double, but they absolutely stuff it with ice cream.
Clancy says:
February 6th, 2006 at 5:21 pm
There seems to be several open in LA now:
http://carvel.know-where.com/carvel/cgi/selection?option=&map.x=31&map.y=156&mapid=USs&lang=en&design=default&addr=&city=®ion=&zip=&phone=
Zteve says:
February 6th, 2006 at 6:37 pm
Sorry, the link you left went off my screen and into the next cubicle.
Terri says:
February 6th, 2006 at 10:59 pm
You need to drive up to Bakersfield and have some Dewar’s Ice Cream (70 years) or that newfangled Rosemary’s (21 years!). I think the Disney Fountain at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood serves Dewar’s
Mal says:
February 15th, 2006 at 5:14 pm
I too grow up on the East Coast and Carvel RULES! Love the flying saucers! Thanks for giving a heads up to the new locations.
John says:
March 6th, 2006 at 10:54 am
I’ve been to Rosemary’s in Bakersfield, terrible service, you don’t pay that much for ice cream to get poor service with it! Plus their bowls are more glass than ice cream. I like Thrifty’s ice cream pretty well myself… Choc Brownie, malted crunch, and Mideval Madness are favorites. ColdStone is too sweet. Baskin Robbins makes the best sundaes by my taste.
looloo says:
June 5th, 2006 at 11:39 pm
i love ur ice cream!!!!!