Marble Slab Creamery
Locations in several countries
142 – 12101 72nd Avenue (Location visited)
Surrey, BC

After Desi Dosa Madras, I was almost ready to call it a day; however, since I was in the company of Mijune, one thing was certain: we will have to stop for dessert! Alas, unlike, say, Downtown Vancouver, there are only that many such places in Delta. In fact, I would have been OK going to a DQ (for a Blizzard) or MickeyD’s (for a McFlurry). However, Mijune came up with the idea of Marble Slab Creamery. Since the idea of an ice cream wasn’t that far from a soft-serve (in principle, that is), sure, why not!

I might be boring you ad nauseum that I am not a fan of sweets; but, there is something I am even a less fan of is fuzzy, complicated food. To paraphrase somebody, I like simple things in life. I mean, what is wrong with the basics? Sure, splurge once in a while but, the more complicated you make it, in my mind, it better blow me off. Otherwise, it is just short of a cash grab. That’s why I have never been too enthusiastic of Marble Slab’s concept despite I had countless opportunities of visiting it. I just don’t see the enticement of taking some ice cream, mash it with some toppings, serve it and, as a result, charge double or triple. Am I missing something here? Well, I guess I was about to find out…

Since it was my first experience, I decided to make things “simple” and ordered one of their different preconceived options: here, their s’mores “tasty creation” – Swiss chocolate ice cream, chocolate chips, marshmallow and graham cracker. I am not sure if it is because I am so used to eating dark chocolate (darker, bitter, the better), that going back to a chocolate coloured-concoction with a hint of chocolate flavour will cut it for me anymore. In this case, I thought it was extremely sweet (though, keep my sweet tolerance in mind).

To make matters worst, the toppings did no justice to the name s’mores (and this is coming from somebody who didn’t experience the real s’mores experience during childhood!): the marshmallow were flat, almost doughy, the few pieces of graham crackers had the feeling of soggy, heavy cake (think pound cake) and the pieces of chocolate chips were hard. Well, the chocolate chips was an attempt from me to make it overkill – even the McFlurry or Blizzard would have those pieces hard as well. However, the other parts simply didn’t work. I would have preferred to get a pint of ice cream, a bag of marshmallow, graham crackers and chocolate chips and make it myself. Granted, it might be more expensive but, by then, I still have enough material to make more than one serving!

Since Mijune knows her stuff better than me, she went for a sweet cream ice cream which sort of allows her to mix things based on the topping she wants. If memory serves me right, Mijune went for pistachio, pecans and pound cake and had that served in a waffle. I am not sure if I tasted the pound cake but the nuts were good (well, the only way to go bad would be off, old nuts… And calling a peanut a nut!). Then again, should I have expected something different? Regardless, at least this was somewhat better than my s’mores (again, Mijune knows her stuff!)

One common issued shared by what was served is the consistency of the ice cream: As seen in the pictures above, they were quite soft by the time we were eating them, almost to the point of a soft-serve. Was it on purpose or because I took a bit of a long time in my photo shoot? Regardless, I prefer my ice cream harder (though not frozen) so that was yet another point that detracted me. I mean, if I wanted something this soft, I would, once again, fall back to a McFlurry or Blizzard!

Overall, my original opinion didn’t change. I do appreciate Mijune’s effort to try to bring the best but, alas, my bias trumped over. While even with a bias I could have given them a bare pass, one thing really did not work for me. At $7 each of these, I believe there are way better options: at a cheaper price, the before mentioned soft-serve offerings, not to mention Mijune’s version; at the same price, offerings like gelato. As a result, marble slab is a pass for me.

Bella Gelateria
1001 W Cordova Street
Vancouver, BC

It is said that Vancouver is a “foodie” (and, darn I HATE that word) city. However, from what I have seen, to a lot of people, that “foodie” mentality is not related to that spirit of adventure on finding and trying new food/dishes but to go to places to been seen and/or follow a hype. So, whenever there is a lot of hype about a restaurant, for the most part, I am dubious about how good the food is – it does not necessarily help when they focus on how “nice” a bathroom is. In the grand scheme of things, chances are, if “a lot of people” like it and I sense some hype, chances are I don’t necessarily like it. Take, for example, Coast (my post here), which has been lauded by a lot but, to me, it is nothing but overrated. And, except for a couple of bloggers whom I have serious doubts about their opinions, I will have to say that, when Vancouver food bloggers say it is good, I have to check by myself. I certainly “help” when those bloggers are Mijune, whom I call the Queen of Desserts, and Sherman, whom we agree one time too many, say that Bella Gelateria is really good…

(On that note, Mijune’s post is here and Sherman’s post is here)

I admit I do eat gelato/ice cream once in a while. However, me growing eating soft serve (like this), there are times that I don’t necessarily differentiate one from the other… OK, probably with the except of the really soft mass produced ice cream. I know this might sound I am snobbish about this; however, let me put it from my perspective: Not being that much of a dessert person, if I were to actually eat some, I would go for broke – and that usually ends up meaning to go for either (1) something I grew up eating, like the soft serve mentioned above or (2) go for more denser type ice cream. So, growing up eating this type of “dessert”, that also means it creates some type of expectations.

But back to Bella Gelateria. Unlike Mijune, let’s just say I didn’t interact that much with the owners or the staff. Instead, I had some samples and made my order. But, given there are interesting notes about this place, like the origin, where the “chef” learned his craft, the batches of gelato, et al, you might want to check her post (again, link here), as well as Sherman’s (again, link here). As for me…

I have a really odd habit while in gelato places: I seldom ask for samples. Let’s just say the visuals and the description rather than tasting it. I know I shouldn’t be doing this, after all, these samples are “Free”. OK, let’s just say I would rather trust my gut instincts as to what to order and stick with it. In this case, this order conveys that dichotomy of flavours: either you are a vanilla person or a chocolate person. As for me, how about ordering both?

In this case, the vanilla is Tahiti Vanilla and the chocolate was chocolate Grand Marnier. On the vanilla side, while I had a hard time finding the specks of the vanilla beans, I will have to say there was a deep vanilla taste in it. It wasn’t a plain vanilla… It was a bit difficult to describe but there was an unique vanilla flavour in it… As for the chocolate Grand Marnier, it was a bit mixed. The chocolate was there and there was a hint of orange in the back. However, not sure that combination work that well, as the bitterness and the sweetness was conflicting somewhat. But, overall, it was a pleasant surprise…

Just for kicks, on another day – namely, Canada Day, I decided to drop by again. This time, I did sample a couple of flavours, including flor de latte and lime cilantro, which after talking to others, confirmed it tastes like a margarita (i.e., the drink), I decided to order a combination of flavours that sounded good in theory but didn’t realize that it looks horrible for picture taking purposes. In this case, it was nougat and dolce de leche. In this case, it was almost white on white… >_<

In the case of the dolce de leche, it tastes like an extremely sweet version of the vanilla gelato. Probably a bit too sweet for my liking but, to those who have a sweet tooth, this might work fine (probably even better than any vanilla offered). As for the nougat, it was also sweet but a different type of sweetness – one that had a bit more nuttiness. It was good but, again, it went above my sweetness tolerance threshold.

At this point, I will have to agree with Mijune and Sherman’s assessment this place is really good, specially compared to other gelato shops in Vancouver. However, it is not perfect. In a move that will make the authenticity policy shake their heads, I didn’t really like the fact it melted extremely fast, though this is mainly because I am used to the denser ice creams. Don’t believe me it melts fast? Look at the pictures above and check the drops of the melting gelato! Now, when I mentioned this to Mijune (and re-read her blog post), it was mentioned that, in Italy, it usually melts this fast. And, despite I eat fast, it was going a bit too fast for my liking. The other issue (that can go both ways) is that some flavours are not there the whole time – partially due to the small batches. As a result, some of the other suggestions given to me weren’t available. But, again, that might not be necessarily a bad thing – if you are used to ordering the same flavour over and over, it gives you a reason to try another flavour. So, would I come back? Well, if I am in the area and crave for an ice cream-like dessert, I will have to say I will…

Casa del Helado
Calle 50 and Via Brasil
Panama City, Panama

As far as I know, most of my readers are not from tropical regions. Sure, chances are you might have been there for a trip during winter (or flocking to the tropics like migratory birds, as I used to say to, oddly enough, a friend from Panama who lives in Mississauga) or maybe a cruise but… Assuming this is true, most people will not have experienced one of the greatest blessings and curses at the same time of the tropics: the weather. As far as I can remember, in Panama City, temperature have never dropped to single digits (in Celsius, that would be below 50 Fahrenheit), given its location and because it is at sea level. In fact, I don’t remember the temperature drop below 18C/65F! During my trip, the temperature was in the low 30C/high 80F almost all the time. However, that was not the killer: it was humidity. Other than my very last day in Panama, in every single day, the humidity was over 80%! I must mention that Panama, like most tropical countries, have two seasons: dry season, from end of December to mid April, and rainy season during the rest of the year. Guess when I was there! (BTW, as a “funny” Canadian joke, it is said that Ottawa has also two seasons: winter and election season. Har, har, har… NOT… ^_^;;;)

Everytime I went out for a walk, within the city (most of my friends were working so asking them to drive me around would have been really difficult), after an hour or so, I was drenched. It did not matter what I wore, as long as there was sunlight, it was cursed to be like that. And, of course, walking outside during noon hours was not an option. Wearing shorts/lighter clothing? Not necessarily an option either… Now that I bring this, I have sort of a running joke on how to recognize a tourist: If you see somebody wearing shorts on a weekday in a busy Panamanian street, chances are, that is a tourist(*)! See, Panamanians are proud. Even with the heat, they will be dressed accordingly. Sure, people have started to deviate from the norm; however, in some places (specially banks and government offices), you are not allowed in if you are wearing shorts or flip-flops or similar. So, how do people deal with this? Simple: (1) You get used to it – in my case, after living in Canada all these years, I have been “de-programmed” and, as a result, suffered from it… again… (2) Most cars have their air conditioners (AC) on the whole time. Same with buildings, almost all stores have AC units. (3) Drink lots of liquid (water, or the young coconut I showed previously) or, in the case of today’s post, have some treats, like “ice cream” – in this case, La Casa del Helado.

A far shot of the shop; this was taken in the morning, which explains why it is completely empty.

La Casa del Helado, literally, Ice Cream House has been an institution in Panama. As mentioned in the sign above, it has been there since 1976, more than 30 years. In an age where independent shops are being pushed by giants or chains (for example, there are/were? Baskin 31 Robbins in Panama) it is good to see that small shops like this are still kicking around. Oddly, though, from what I was able to gather afterwards, their mix is purchased from one of the (for purpose of this post, unnamed) largest dairy producers in Panama. But, still, as long as it does not carry their logo, I am OK with that…

Wait, is that a soft serve machine? But soft serve and ice cream are not the same! What give? OK, here is a case of lost in translation: in Spanish (or, at least the way, it is used in Panama), soft serve does not have a direct translation and, instead, helado (the straight translation of ice cream) is used to encompass almost all frozen custard dairy dessert. Technically, that will include gelato; however, there are also stand alone shops selling gelatos and calling them, well, gelato. But, you might wonder, what about places like McD’s or DQ? How they call their soft serve products? The usually call them conos (cones). With that settled (hopefully!), let’s take a look at the flavours…

From top down, first a mango salad for $0.70 and then flavours: vanilla, strawberry, sugar cane, chocolate, peanuts and passion fruit. Not sure if it was necessary to say it but the strawberry one was not something I would order. Why? While Panama does produce strawberry in really small quantities (in mountainous/high regions called Volcan and Boquete), more often than not, when you see anything strawberry-flavoured, chances are, they will be using artificial flavouring. In this case, the strawberry flavour had a really bizarre pinkish colour similar to that of bubblegum pink. Yes, it was scary… Anyway, here is what I ordered: a small serving of sugar cane helado.

How much was it? US $0.90! Side note for environmentalist: yes, that’s a styrofoam cup. Unfortunately, Panama is not yet at the same level as other countries when it comes to recycling. In fact, you can see plastic bottles and aluminum cans in the trash, if not as litter (which, in its own way, is another problem).

Not sure if it is really noticeable from this shot but the soft serve was really thick! Think of DQ soft serve thick, not Wendy’s soft serve thick. If you were greedy and wanted a large spoonful, there was a chance the plastic spoon might break! (Just for fun, I did try that and the spoon was staring to bend a bit too much for my liking). As for the taste, yes, it had that sweet, raw sugar-y taste you would only experience when you chew/suck sugar cane. And, believe me, it is at a different level from refined sugar! Did I like it? While I will have desserts/treats like this once in a while (yeah right!), a second visit during a short period of time would have been an indication. Yes, it was good!

On a different day, they did not have passion fruit, rather they had papaya!