Completely empty at 11:30 on a chilly Sunday morning.
The base is smooth, not sticky or dense. Salt notable in a few flavors in and I suspect is responsible for the texture.
For me, palate fatigue kicks in quickly for savory/novel ice cream flavors so the four ice cream flight is the way to go. Also, samples can be misleading because it is difficult to get all the components in one spoonful for some of the flavors.
Out of 12 flavorswe tried, not everything was successful but nothing was out right gross. Iâm excited to see them partnering with local businesses like dandelion chocolate, but disappointed that they havenât connected with any restaurants like they do in Portland (e.g. Pok pok)
Favorites
Chocolate zucchini bread: like zucchini bread ala modeâzucchini bread showed no signs of deterioration from freezing. Chocolate bits taste like single origin chocolate.
Roasted strawberry tree leches: a+. matches my nostalgic ideal, rather than reality, of McDonaldâs strawberry parfait. Creamy, acidic and not too sweet soft strawberries.
Green fennel maple: tame fennel. maple flavor not discernible, but puts ice cream into better balance than herbal/spiced ice creams at Taraâs or Xanath. Palate cleanser, or good on its own.
Coffee and chocolate
Baobab juice: vegan, so coconut milk base was icy. Unlike SO coconut ice cream or Garden Creamery, coconut flavor thankfully in backdrop, with baobab taking the lead. Reminded me of a ginger beer float
would get again
Peach vinegar cobbler with nutmeg: another full fledged dessert that transcends ice cream. Tough to get perfect mixture of flavors in a single spoon, but achievable.
Eggplant honey custard: bitter assertive flavors of eggplant work well when tamed in sweet environment.
wouldnt get again, but had positive points
Honey lavender: honey distracted from hand soap association I normally have with lavender.
Olive oil and lemon custard: one bite of lemon custard was magical, but olive oil added nothing detectabl and no one else could taste custard in scoop. Oddly tasted woody, like a popsicle stick.
Chocolate date shake: date flavor poory distributed.
Double fold vanilla: unremarkable.
Sea salt caramel ribbons: physical separation of salty caramel and cream is desirable, but too salty
That was my initial thought, but there was a line out the door by noon! Bi-rite and Boba Guys also had a surprisi long lines today considering Outside lands and the gloomy weather.
Got a chance to drop by the new Hayes Valley location yesterday. No line at 11:30am on a very warm Tuesday. Agree with the assessment above on the Peach Vinegar Cobbler. It was really superb and a nice balance between sweet and sour. I was wondering if they increased the milk fat content somehow for that flavor as it seemed impossibly creamy to my taste.
I also tried a couple of their rotating flavors: one with blood pudding and another with mealworms and crickets on a matcha base (both Halloween-inspired flavors). The blood pudding flavor was legitimately interesting. I noted a good deal of salt and umami, and even a little Full English effect within the creamy sweetness of the cream. Certainly nothing Iâve tasted before. Sadly the cricket ice cream was less interesting. It was basically a good matcha ice cream with crunchy texture. More of a gimmick, but worth getting if youâre into that particular gimmick.
Everything I tried was good, but Iâm a little lost on why one would wait more than a few minutes in line for it. Itâs very good ice cream, but thatâs it.
I returned to the Fillmore location today and tried their five limited edition flavors.
The high sweetness, saltiness, and slight slight taffy-like consistency jumped out at me. Curious about the consistency, I looked at the ingredients, and learned they include tapioca syrup, guar gum, and carrageenan.
With the exception of the Meyer Lemon Meringue, the limited edition flavors didnât feel integrated and seemed more like random flavored stuff suspended in ice cream base. I did like the corn flavored bits in the Sweet Corn and Waffle Cone favor, which tasted good within the creamy surrounds.
Have you tried Garden Creamery yet? They have interesting flavors and not crazy sweet. I checked Shakedown on Geary and itâs temporarily closed, I wonder what happened.
I canât remember specifics, but remember liking everything Iâve had there, including coconut-based ice cream. Iâve had the chimney cone on my bucket list since reading your post about it!
Salt & Straw also opened in Burlingame. The Dracula Blood made with pigs blood seemed kind of gimmiky but it actually works. I ended up getting honey/lavender which was pleasant and milky, the lavender present but not overwhelming and tenfold better than the cloying perfumey version at Bi-rite, which is an ice cream shop I just do not get the appeal of. The waffle cup cone was ok, not particularly different or distinguishable from the standard issue. They donât do the simple flavors like chocolate or vanilla , mint etc. Thatâs probably a good thing because you could get a good version from McConnells or Jeniâs at the local supermarket. I usually never go for the unique flavors, but Iâm going to say Salt & Straw lives up to the hype for me, they do that niche pretty well based on the limited flavors I tried. I usually I find creativity in ice cream gimmicky and misses the mark or is just downright disgusting. The blood ice cream tells me they know theyâre thoughtful at what theyâre doing.
If youâre going to the Burlingame shop, go after 6p on a weekday. (just went right now) Busy, but only a couple people ahead of me. A half an hour earlier, the line was out the door. On weekends, probably forget about it. Itâs open til 11p.
