Mikawaya

It was the third night before my intern departed for home, Turkey, and when I found out that she has never had a mochi, I knew I had to take her Mikawaya in Little Tokyo. It recently turned a100 years old and is more known for their pastries, but I always go there for their $1.00 mochi ice cream. It’s the perfect dessert –cheap and guiltless unless you eat ten of them…for those who don’t know what a mochi is like my intern, it’s a round Japanese rice cake dessert stuffed with red beans, fruit, or ice cream.

You can’t help but smile when you enter Mikawaya. They have two kinds of frozen mochis- mochi ice cream and mochi-lato (gelato). I am still trying to figure out the difference between ice cream and gelato. Obviously gelato looks different but my taste buds can’t differentiate.

We shared a strawberry, green tea, vanilla, chocolate and mango mochi ice creams (from best to ok). The staff let us tried a green tea mochi-lato, which was less sweet and the green tea flavor was stronger. It didn’t taste creamier than the green tea ice cream...

If you’re in Little Tokyo stop by Mikaway, you can’t go wrong.

Address: 118 Japanese Village Plaza Mall, LA, CA 90012
Phone#: (213) 624-1681
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Berry Nutty

After my lunch at So Hyang Korean Restaurant, I swung by Nutty Berry. I’m not a frozen yogurt fan. In fact I hate it. I hate Pinkberry. I can’t wrap my mind why people love frozen sour milk. However, I saw Nutty Berry on my way back to the office and figured I give it a shot since it’s not “Pinkberry.’ Nutty Berry is a Do-It-Yourself froyo place unlike Pinkberry where the staff gets it for you.

I knew there was a good reason for working at McDonalds when I was 16 years old perfecting swirling the yogurt on top of the cone. It’s like riding a bike. I went for the Green Tea. They have a variety of toppings but I just stuck to strawberries.

It’s officially I hate all frozen yogurts except McDonalds and El Pollo Loco. The strawberries didn’t help. But hey, at least it only costs 38 cents per ounce here.

Address: 549 S Western Ave, LA, CA 90020
Phone#: (213) 386-1199
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COFFEE & CREAM

Coffee & Cream is a cute little ice cream parlor that lacks good ice cream.

There are some food that my taste buds can’t quite differentia like truffle oil vs. vegetable oil, MSG vs. no MSG, and then there’s ice cream vs. gelato. It was unclear if they were offering ice cream or gelato…as the sign read “ice cream/gelato….,” but I saw that they had my favorite flavor, coffee and knew I had to have it. Their flavor is “coffee cream” to be exact.

What a huge mistake! It was creamy like a gelato or creamy like an ice cream, but grainy and with each lick, the texture was inconsistent. I don’t think they were done mixing the ice cream….or was it gelato…? After 7 licks, I tossed the $2.85 1-scoop ice cream/gelato into the trash. Never coming here agan.

Address: 13739 Foothill Blvd Sylmar, CA 91342
Phone#: (818) 364-5303
Rating: 1 out of 5

BROOKLYN ICE CREAM FACTORY

3 words:

Coffee Ice Cream

Address: 97 Commercial St (between Ash St & Box St) Brooklyn, NY 11222
Phone#: (718) 349-2506
Rating: 5 out of 5

SCOOPS

Ice Cream, ice cream, we all scream for ice cream especially if it's Scoops!

Scoops offers the most absurd ice cream combinations from Bacon-Carmel to Coffee Jack Daniels. The flavors change daily. We went for the Salted Caramel Ice Cream (wow! cool!), Oreo Banana Soy Ice Cream (great for people who are allergic to dairy), and the Sheep Cheese Peach Ice Cream (think fruit cheese cake - yum!). They are vegan friendly--usually have 2 different kinds of vegan ice creams.

Address: 712 N Heliotrope Dr Los Angeles, CA 90029
Phone#: (323) 906-2649
Rating: 5 out of 5