Anyone tried the new joint, Van Leeuwen in Culver City?
I’ve had a scoop of mint chip in NYC from their truck a few years back. It was a good scoop of ice cream but I had it on a pretty cold night (the temperature was in the 30s or 40s) so not the most ideal conditions for eating ice cream. The mint flavor was very prominent and mixed well with the chips - good balance and not too sweet. I don’t remember being wowed at the time like Salt n Straw but if I was in the area I’d consider them.
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I have.
Had the ginger. Really nice (just-right-sized) chunks of sweet (but not-too-sweet) ginger in the ice cream, all of which offered a slight “punch” which was welcoming. I thought there were almost too many chunks of the ginger in the ice cream, IMHO, though…
Mouth-feel consistency is quite creamy (a good thing to me). Smooth tasty dairy base. No icy particles, nor any “sorbet-feel” to the ice cream detected.
Price: $5.00 a scoop. (Zoinks!)
Grade: A-minus (price point and a tad too many ginger chunks).
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They had a truck out to my workplace a while back. Had the chocolate. Made with valrhona according to the board. Very chocolatey. Quite creamy. Not overly sweet. Didn’t know the price as work was comping it.
id totally go to a brick and mortar version. Good waffle cone pieces too.
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I haven’t tried the CC location, but have been going to the Arts District one since it opened. I’m not vegan, but they have hands down, the best salted caramel ice cream ever and it’s vegan. I did a taste comparison between the regular and vegan salted caramel and vegan wins. It has the perfect roasty caramel taste.
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I tried both the East Village location in Manhattan and the new one in the Arts District here in DTLA, and while most of their regular ice creams are fine the thing that sets them apart, in my opinion, are their vegan flavors.
That said, I’ve had their Sour Cream and Gingerbread ice cream in the East Village and it reminded me a lot of jui niang. Interesting stuff.
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In the discussion, yes, but IMO not in the same sentence as the word “best”.
Cool, VL sounds promising. Will try to hit them up this weekend.
first tim i’ve seen ice cream compared to jui niang.
Salt & Straw Studio City opens this Saturday. McConnell’s opened in SC recently, and SRC opened a branch there last year. Wonder if the locations are walkable for an ice cream bang bang bang.
Does the McConnell’s you get at the supermarket taste markedly different from the McConnell’s you get from an actual branch? I ask b/c I’ve only had McConnell’s twice (chocolate both times, I think) at the branch; it was delicious. I bought a pint of vanilla bean from Ralph’s yesterday and thought it was awfully good…
I hated that stuff as a kid.
Thought Van Leuwen was just ok. Creamy but did not have the unctuous texture that I love from some of the other joints I prefer. Vegan version is noticeably less creamy than the milk based ice creams.
Expensive too… $8 for two scoops. My 2 cents.
They don’t have all the ridiculous sundaes and shakes at the supermarket though…
True that. Actually, they even only had 2 flavors available total (vanilla bean and salted caramel). But if it means I can simply walk across the street (and I can to this supermarket) to get a high-quality ice cream fix (no preservatives, gums, what-have-you listed in the ingredients) and not have to deal a line…
But I’m also the person ordering cream cheese wontons, so… 
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I eat at McD 4x a week. #noregrets
I had Panda Express for dinner one night last month - orange chicken and brown rice!
#racetothebottom
@paranoidgarliclover try the Bristol Farms near your hood - they usually carry a decent selection of McConnell’s. I dare you to make an ice cream sandwich with a pint of McConnell’s and two “The Cookie” cookies…
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OH, MY F*CKING GOD, that would be INSANE. I can barely finish The Cookie alone, let alone 2 + ice cream. But I think I’ll try it anyways. 
Bwahahahaha. But not this weekend, since I plan to stuff myself w/ Northern Cafe in Westwood Village, if the wait isn’t too long. Y’all know where to find me…
BTW, I actually think the orange chicken at Panda sets the standard (random, right?)…
Hee, hee. Off-topic, but apparently McD’s is testing fresh meat (literally, I guess) at some chains in TX, I think. Will be interesting to see if it tests well…