You should know that in a city such as New York that even the ice cream offerings are going to be different. You're not only going to have ethnic flavors to choose from but some of the shops can be considered slightly upscale. Either way, locals and visitors alike are going to enjoy eating ice cream, especially on a sweltering New York City day.
Chinatown Ice Cream Factory
The
Chinatown Ice Cream Factory is one of the ice cream businesses that offers both regular and oriental flavors including almond cookie, black sesame, lychee, green tea, and Zen butter, just to name a few. Don't worry, though, good old strawberry shortcake, chocolate carmel pecan, and the All-American peanut butter and jelly are available.
Depending on whether you choose ice cream or sorbet, you'll have your choice of different flavors. Not all flavors are available in ice cream form, and neither are all flavors available in sorbet form, so keep this in mind.
Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory
The ice cream you get at
Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory will be as fresh as it can possibly be, because the company only makes small batches, and these batches are only made at one of the two Brooklyn locations. You don't have to worry about eating ice cream that's been sitting in the freezer so long that they have to dig down through the freezer burn to get to the fresh product.
The ice cream makers use only fresh, high-quality ingredients and production is more expensive than run-of-the-mill ice cream factories, but this doesn't mean you'll pay a high price. Your cones, shakes, sundaes, and banana splits will still have a very reasonable price tag.
Cones
That's the name of the store—Cones. It's very simple and very straightforward. What really makes this ice cream restaurant unique, though, is the fact that the ice cream served is hand-made using an artesanal process.
The Argentine owners are kept busy making the ice cream or serving customers, but when they do have a spare moment; they enjoy talking to the patrons. So, if you see they are not busy when you are in Cones, strike up a conversation. They, and you, will enjoy it.
Ciao Bella
You'll have to be prepared to get in and get out fast when you enter this establishment because it is too small, and there are too many customers, to allow you to linger. That's OK, though, because even your wait and the "in-and-out" service are worth it.
You can take a few moments to ask for samples if you don't know what type of ice cream or sorbet you want. Once you've decided, take your order and enjoy it while browsing through SoHo, which is where
Ciao Bella is located.
Oko
Oko is a rather "trendy" establishment located on 5th Avenue. Its trendiness is due to its location right in the middle of "everything" as well as the fact that it is an earth-friendly restaurant.
The ingredients used in the frozen yogurt are fresh, and you can even enjoy "a spot of tea" with your order, something that locals and out-of-towners may find unusual, but still a lot of fun.
