OddFellows Ice Cream Co.

Now, I hail from the Dairy State and cheese and ice cream are what I live for, so I couldn’t pass up the chance to visit OddFellows Ice Cream Co. recently when I was working just down the street at the 4th Street Theater. As an Inwood resident, I rarely get down to the East Village, so I used the show I was working on to discover some wonderful little treats in this fun neighborhood. OddFellows Ice Cream Co. started with a location in Williamsburg, but the East Village outpost they recently opened was dangerously just a few storefronts down the street from my job. The location only opened a few months ago, but its been busy as can be every night when I would head to the train station.

About 6 weeks ago, I went there to try the Miso Cherry flavor, and man was it good. I knew when I was going to start blogging about food in NYC, I would have to come back here and give the place a proper review.

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OddFellows has a list of about 130 flavors that rotates daily. They post the days selections on their Facebook page, but I can’t imagine you not being able to find something delicious on any given day. Like most ice cream places, they will let you sample flavors. Rather than those little plastic shovels most places use, OddFellows does their sampling with real metal spoons. They’re still pretty tiny, but it makes you feel very classy when sampling.

After trying a few flavors, I had to make my decision and I ended up getting a “Double” in a cup. I split my order between the Thai Ice Cream and the Buttermilk Honey Blueberry. I sat down and dug in.

My Ice Cream Selection

Buttermilk Honey Blueberry (Left) and Thai Ice Cream (Right)

let’s start with the Thai Ice Cream. Rich is not a strong enough of a word. It felt so luscious in my mouth, I couldn’t believe it. I’m thinking that the butterfat content of the milk and cream they use in their product is high, because it really had an amazing buttery velvety texture to it. I overheard the girl at the counter talking to another customer about it and she said that they use a special mix of spiced tea and you can actually see little speckles of the spices and tea in the ice cream. Imagine the best Thai iced tea you’ve ever had in your life and then freeze it. There you go.

The second selection was the Buttermilk Honey Blueberry. It had a very complex flavor. It was both sweet and savory. I suspect the buttermilk is responsible for the savory flavor…almost with a hint of sourness but not in a bad way. The blueberries had a candied texture to them as though they were dried and then reconstituted. This gave them a stronger and sweeter taste than if you were to use fresh berries and it was a nice contrast to the savory, almost nutty, flavor of the base. The honey flavor was subtle and almost wasn’t noticeable until it became more of an aftertaste.

I really enjoyed the ice cream here. At $5.25 a pretty average sized scoop, it was a touch on the pricy end of ice cream, but I think it’s worth it when you realize the quality ingredients involved and the labor that goes into hand crafting these small batches. If you’ve got a sweet tooth and have a particular love for ice cream, I highly recommend Odd Fellows Ice Cream Co.

Sum it up

What I got: A “Double” in a cup. Half Thai ice cream and half buttermilk honey blueberryWhat I paid: $5.25What I thought: Rich, decadent ice cream. Go here if you want to treat yourself

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