Dining Review: Frosty, melting goodness

Aug. 2 is National Ice Cream Sandwich Day. I’ll be celebrating it with a Carnation chocolate and vanilla rectangle from the closest 7-Eleven like I always do. For those with more elevated tastes, or at least with a taste for adventure, here are some other great spots for ice cream sandwiches in the area.

Snow Station, 2114 Colorado Blvd., Eagle Rock, (323) 739-9665

I’ve never seen anything like the creations at Snow Station in Eagle Rock. Putting aside the sandwich concept for a minute, Snow Station’s specialty is their family-style plates of dairy-free, vegan, cold deliciousness.

They shave piles of creamy, icy, soy-based snow on top of pound cake or another carb, then top it with sauces like condensed milk or chocolate syrup and sprinkles like Fruity Pebbles or coconut shreds. Four or five people gather round the masterpiece and dig in.

For Ice Cream Sandwich Day though, try the white chocolate macadamia cookies with taro snow or the salted butterscotch snow with rocky road macarons. This is the tallest and fluffiest of the sandwiches and the only one that comes with toppings, if you want them.

Cookies & Cream, 1010 1/2 S. Fair Oaks, South Pasadena, (626) 789-1177

Whereas some of the other shops offer ice cream sandwiches as an afterthought, Cookies & Cream takes this handicraft seriously.

The cookies are softer, more pliable and refreeze well. The cookie flavors, such as taro and strawberry chocolate chip, are designed to go well with the unique, daily-made ice cream flavors, like honeydew green tea and Lava Rock.

I chose the lemon bar ice cream with sugar cookie and red velvet (you can choose two different cookies). Yum. We also enjoyed their signature Heavenly flavor (sea salt, caramel, taro and toffee) on bright green Jakarta cookies ($4.95). There’s an Asian, perhaps Hawaiian, influence to the flavors and it works like a dream.

Sprinkles Cupcakes, 629 Americana Way, Glendale, (818) 549-4166

I was surprised to discover that this was one of my favorites. I’m not a cupcake fan, especially the super sweet ones at Sprinkles in the Americana. But the unfrosted cupcake tops make a great ice cream sandwich “bread.” They’re soft and easy to bite through to the yummy ice cream inside ($6.75). I chose chocolate cupcake with coffee ice cream. It was good, very good. $8.25 gets you ice cream between two cookies or two brownies.

Quenelle, 2214 E. Magnolia, Burbank, (818) 843-1035

On Wednesday evenings, Quenelle in Burbank rolls out their funnel cake ice cream sandwich. The folks at artisan ice cream shop Quenelle pre-freeze flavor-of-the-day discs about the size of hockey pucks so they’re ready for layering between two hand-made funnel cake “buns” come Wednesday evening ($6.75). If you drop in any other day, they can put any of their lovely ice creams between two gourmet cookies but it’ll cost you an arm and a leg since you pay for everything separately.

FYI, there’s a recently opened Quenelle outpost in San Marino.

Colorado Donuts, 1578 W. Colorado Blvd., Eagle Rock, (323) 340-1962

The cheapest of the bunch, Colorado Donuts’ creations are pretty to look at but a little gut-busting to eat. The kids will probably love this place above all else. Imagine a glazed doughnut with chocolate frosting and colored sprinkles, split and stuffed with a hearty scoop of Thrifty’s brand Cookies and Creme ice cream. The structure holds up well under duress and tastes just like you’d think ($3!).

Raffi’s Place, 211 E. Broadway, Glendale, (818) 240-7411

Man cannot live on ice cream alone. Why not go to Raffi’s Place, that wonderful Middle Eastern restaurant in Glendale, for some juicy kabobs? Then finish your meal with one of their signature rosewater ice cream sandwiches ($5). Delicately flavored frozen cream stands 2 inches tall inside two fragile waffle discs. This sandwich is brought in from the famous Mashti Malone’s Ice Cream Parlor in Hollywood.

Happy National Ice Cream Sandwich Day!

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LISA DUPUY welcomes comments at LDupuy@aol.com.