As you know, when I travel to other offices, one thing I love is trying the assorted ice cream novelties from our office ice cream freezers. Partially, this is just because I love ice cream. But it is also a fun way to learn about some unique cultural aspects of other areas, since their frozen treats generally reflect something about the place, like Golden Gaytimes and Pine-Lime Splices in Australia, the higher quality Nestlé items in Canada compared to Nestlé in the US, the high quality Mövenpick in Zurich, and many, many more.
But on one recent trip, I was visiting Cambridge, MA. Not exactly a different country, and I expected the ice cream to be standard Nestlé or Good Humor products, which I've not been impressed with. Instead, they had products from Hood, a New England based company. A careful reader might remember that the two soft serve ice cream places in my hometown that I raved about, Dairy Twirl and Ice Cream Fore-U, both use Hood as their ice cream base. So, I'm familiar with the company, just not their frozen novelties.
Their frozen novelties are all the same sort of items that other manufacturers make: eclairs, sundae cones, chocolate wafer ice cream sandwiches, etc. I didn't care for them, which is sad, given how amazing the soft serve base is.
"Crunch coated vanilla flavored ice cream & chocolate flavored center".
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| Ice Cream Freezer in Cambridge. |
Their frozen novelties are all the same sort of items that other manufacturers make: eclairs, sundae cones, chocolate wafer ice cream sandwiches, etc. I didn't care for them, which is sad, given how amazing the soft serve base is.
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| Chocolate Eclair Bar. |
This wasn't good. The ice cream was icy, not creamy, and not really vanilla flavored. The coating wasn't really crunchy, more like a mushy crumb on the outside. It didn't have any flavor either. Even as this warmed up and got more melty, and a *bit* more creamy, it still wasn't good. Meh.
Update Review: I didn't take my own advice and re-read my past review. I just had a memory of a decent ice cream in the past, and thought it was this. It wasn't. Just like last time, I felt the ice cream wasn't remotely creamy enough. The coating was just mushy. And I didn't like the chocolate ice cream at all. Ojan had one and enjoyed it though, but for me, really, no point in trying more of these!
"Crunch coated vanilla flavored ice cream & strawberry flavored center."
Next I tried the Strawberry Shortcake bar, basically the strawberry version of the chocolate eclair.
It was slightly better, or maybe I knew what to expect better this time around. I really didn't like the "strawberry flavored center", it was sweet, fake tasting, and certainly not ice cream. The vanilla ice cream around that wasn't great, not very creamy, but better than the strawberry.
I did like the pink and white crunchy coating. Ok, it wasn't crunchy, but the crumb coating was tasty enough.
Overall, slightly better, I liked the coating, but, not something I want another of.
Their version of Drumstick, et al. It was awful.
The vanilla ice cream was not creamy. The nuts on top tasted kinda stale, and not like peanuts. The cone was lined with chocolate the whole way, rather than just the tip, but, it didn't save it from being horribly soggy. Oh, and the tip wasn't filled with chocolate. One of the worst cones I've had.
Update Review: I didn't take my own advice and re-read my past review. I just had a memory of a decent ice cream in the past, and thought it was this. It wasn't. Just like last time, I felt the ice cream wasn't remotely creamy enough. The coating was just mushy. And I didn't like the chocolate ice cream at all. Ojan had one and enjoyed it though, but for me, really, no point in trying more of these!
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| Strawberry Shortcake Bar. |
Next I tried the Strawberry Shortcake bar, basically the strawberry version of the chocolate eclair.
It was slightly better, or maybe I knew what to expect better this time around. I really didn't like the "strawberry flavored center", it was sweet, fake tasting, and certainly not ice cream. The vanilla ice cream around that wasn't great, not very creamy, but better than the strawberry.
I did like the pink and white crunchy coating. Ok, it wasn't crunchy, but the crumb coating was tasty enough.
Overall, slightly better, I liked the coating, but, not something I want another of.
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Nutty Cone.
Their version of Drumstick, et al. It was awful.
The vanilla ice cream was not creamy. The nuts on top tasted kinda stale, and not like peanuts. The cone was lined with chocolate the whole way, rather than just the tip, but, it didn't save it from being horribly soggy. Oh, and the tip wasn't filled with chocolate. One of the worst cones I've had.
awesome!
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