Regina M.
Yelp
I'm not one to review an establishment during their "soft open", mostly because it's that time when the staff are learning and figuring stuff out. It's kinda like judging a gymnast during their warm-up rounds.
In this case, though, I make an exception.
I was truly delighted to hear that another ice cream maker was taking over as Parlour decided to exit. I'm a firm believer that Ardmore needs a good ice cream place. I was even happier to hear this was not going to be seasonal shop, like Parlour and so many other places in the area are.
1-900-Scoop-Shop is a vertical of 1-900-Ice-Cream out of Fishtown, Philadelphia, a new venture by the creator of Boku, a well known underground restaurant in Fairmont. The parent company has a strong presence on Instagram, sells ice cream at 'walk ups' on certain days and ships. They have a significant following in the food world around here. Their creations are largely mashups of flavors, with funky names, and the selections are always changing.
The Scoop Shop has these mashup flavors, in pints and in buckets to scoop from. They've added soft serve, some vegan "soul-less" treats and some more traditional flavors to round out their 24 bucket selection.
I've been in twice to check them out, both times to get pints. The first time I got "DMFO", a mixture of vanilla, caramel and chocolate buckeyes, and "Soil Lawyer" which was a mix of chocolate, oreos, fudge, and gummy worms. There might be something else in that one. They were expensive as ice cream goes -$12 a pint.
They were both excellent. Creamy, good flavor balance, yummmm. This is most definitely super premium fare.
Then, they come out with a flavor that I consider the true measure of quality craftsmanship: "John Stockton", a pure 100% Madagascar vanilla ice cream. No mix ins, no streaks of fudge or caramel or whatever. This, my friends, is NOT EASY to get right. It is so easy to get this flavor wrong - too sweet, not sweet enough, weird 'flat' finish that reminds me of eating play doh.
So, despite the fact that my budget said YOU'RE GOING AGAIN??? THIS IS EXPENSIVE! I rose to not only pick up a pint for myself but one for dear friend and fellow Yelper Jessica W.
After delivering one pint to Jess, I zoomed back to the 003, got my favorite spoon, said a small prayer to the budget Gods for forgiveness and dove in. It was delightful. First, the creamy, which I expected, then the vanilla, precisely flavored, by people who understand this bean.
It's one thing to be able to make great tasting ice cream with a ton of flavors and textures, my friends. Cookie chunks and fudge ribbons can hide a lot of sins. It's another to stand on a single flavor, no flashiness and no place to hide. That is the mark of excellence.
It's completely worth the $6 a scoop, $10 double scoop or $12 pint. I look at it this way: When you go to Vetri Cucina, XIX or Zahav, you are paying more for high quality dining, right? It's the same with ice cream. 900-Scoop-Shop delivers on the high quality to match the price.