Eddie's: May 2005 Archives

It seems to me banana flavor was created to be part of a sundae, maybe even in a banana split, which Eddie's makes in a messy, gooey glory of overspilling hot fudge, real whipped cream and lots of napkins. But I think it stand best alone, or adorned with some fresh whipped cream and, the best complement to banana, some chocolate sauce.

I cheated today. I had banana, skipped right over butter pecan (which I'll come back to next time) and added a scoop of chocolate. It's just a flavor combination I can't pass up. I'm trying to decide if it counts, or if I need to make another trip for the chocolate. (I think it does count, though. Is the point that I walk over there 18 times or is it the Herculean task of bringing spoon to mouth through 18 scoops?)

I noticed today, as I ate my Eddie's banana ice cream, that the first bites tasted more banana-y than the later ones. I think as my mouth got cold I was less able to taste the flavor of the ice cream (fortunately ice cream has a luscious texture or there would be no point in taking more than a couple bites at any sitting).

Eddie's chocolate is more of a milk chocolate than a dark chocolate, but it's not insipidly bland. There's a little bit of alkaline cocoa flavor that keeps it from just being sweet. It's a mild chocolate, though, good for a big scoop or as a base for a whole hoarde of Eddie's toppings.

This summer I have one goal. If I achieve this one thing, I will be satisfied that the summer was not wasted. I am going to try every flavor of ice cream Eddie's Sweet Shop, which is about a 30 minute walk from my home in Forest Hills, makes. I will push my borrowed Graco tank-stroller to Metropolitan Avenue 18 times this summer, come blazing heat, summer thunderstorms, biting insects.

I know, 18? That's hardly a challenge. But it'll be fun. I started at the top of the list and will work my way down so all I have to keep track of is what I had last (plus the store's hours; I've already trekked there twice only to find they're closed on Mondays and before 1).

This visit I had mint chip, mint ice cream with chocolate chips, a good classic flavor combo. The ice cream was bright neon green (none of that classy white mint ice cream at Eddie's) and had brittle (from being frozen) mini chips. Good mint flavor but not Altoids-painful, and not at odds with the creaminess of Eddie's ice cream. They serve their scoops, which are $2.25 for a single, in those metal ice cream cups that make the ice cream seem even colder, especially since I'm usually melting from the walk there.