Deck on Fainting Goat Gelato - Seattle Restaurant Review

A couple of weeks ago I made my first trip to Fainting Goat Gelato after a nice dinner at Brad's Swingside Cafe.  The gelato was just fantastic, and I wrote a "bonus review" at the end of my original review of Brad's.  The thing is, Fainting Goat deserves far more than just a one paragraph bonus review.  It deserves a post of it's own.

For about the past week I've been wanting to go back to Fainting Goat.  The cinnamon gelato was just so fantastic and so memorable, and this is coming from someone who really is not a sweets or a dessert person, that tends toward the fruity end of the spectrum.  So today, I finally gave into my craving and headed out to get some gelato.

When I got in my car, I decided that in the interest of fairness and comparativeness, I would go to the 85th St. Cafe that is right in my neighborhood rather than drive down to Wallingford for the Fainting Goat.  This way I would at least have a point of comparison and could more objectively say just how good Fainting Goat is.  But, when I pulled up at 9 o'clock, everything was closed and shut down, so I went with my initial plan and headed into Wallingford. 

When I walked into the Fainting Goat, I was instantly excited.  I had been thinking about the spicy chocoloate for most of the drive over there (again, I'm really not a sweets person, and definitely not a chocolate person...it was this good).  But, before ordering a big scoop of gelato, I decided to taste a couple.  First was the spicy chocoloate, which was definitely good.  A nice smooth chocolate with just a hint of heat that caught you right at the very end, just in the back of your throat.  Next I was offered the Almond which had a wonderful rich, explosive flavor.  I decided I was still in the mood for the Spicy Chocolate so I would go with it, and I placed my order. 

While waiting for my scoop, I continued to puruse the cases, looking at probably a dozen or so flavors.  The cinnamon one was absent this night, but there were some new flavors not there previously like Tiramisu (the rotating flavors has now made this even more intriguing...).  Then out of the corner of my eye, I spied a nearly empty hotel pan with a sign that read "Pistachio".  I had to stop the server before fulling dishing up my scoop of Spicy Chocolate to get a taste of the pistachio.  This was absolutely worth it.  The flavor was just perfect, sweet, with a hint of the saltiness you expect from a pistachio, yet so rich and creamy.  Unfortunately (or fortunately as the case may have it) there was only enough left for a half scoop.  So, I was able to still satiate my spicy chocolate desire, as well as sample the Pistachio. 

In the end, the Spicy Chocolate was definitely good, but the Pistachio was incredibly delicious, almost to the level of the Cinnamon.  I didn't for one second regret my drive, and gladly paid the $3 for a heaping scoop of wonderful gelato.  Again, I'm not the type with a real sweet tooth for most things (with maybe the exception being Sour Patch Kids), but Fainting Goat has won me over.  I wonder what flavors are going to be there tomorrow night...

Final Verdict: 4.5 stars, and a must visit for anyone.

Deck on J.P. Licks - Boston Restaurant Review

Sadly, I didn't really have any meals today worthy of blogging about, but that's what tends to happen when you are at a business meeting.  So, when debating what to write about today, I remembered that I owed a quick review on J.P. Licks from yesterday.  Perfect!  I can keep my daily blogging, with something that should be interesting.

So, after my slightly disappointing dinner last night, I decided to skip dessert at Clio, and head back out on Newbury Street.  During my casual stroll, amongst all of the interesting looking shops, cafes and restaurants, I had seen a sign for J.P. Licks that said "$1.00 scoop day".  Seemed like the perfect price to me, so I headed in, and joined the line of at least 30 people inside. 

While standing in line, I started to check out the menu, as well as the surroundings.  I learned that J.P. Licks is a local Boston Homemade Ice Cream shop, currently has 10 stores in the area, and they like cows.  There were cows on the wall, cow spots on the counter and on the floor.  With all of this bovine influence, my ice cream choice was pretty simple; cow tracks.  I'm not usually a huge dessert person, so I ended up going with just a single scoop.  After feeling a little underwhelmed by my dinner portion side, I was absolutely overwhelmed with what was handed to me for exactly $1.00 (including tax) at J.P. Licks.  The picture doesn't quite do it justice.  This was one heaping scoop of ice cream.

I happily grabbed my ice cream, put on my sunglasses, and walked into the lovely Spring evening in Boston.  The first bite definitely hit the spot, and I started to feel some of my disappointment lift.  The ice cream was was very good, nice and creamy.  It featured small peanut butter cups, brownie bites, chocolate pieces, and a chocolate ribbon running through it.  In the short walk that I had back to the car, I was able to pretty much polish off my "one" scoop of ice cream. 

For me, the J.P. Licks Cow Tracks ice cream was on par with Ben & Jerry's.  This puts it higher than Baskin-Robbins and just a touch below Cold Stone.  It's not on the level of Fainting Goat Gelato (that was just incredible), but as far as ice cream goes, it was very good, and it did not make me regret my decision to go to J.P. Licks rather than ordering dessert at Clio.  If you find yoruself in Boston, you should definitely do yourself a favor and make a stop at one of the 10 J.P. Licks locations throughout Boston.

Final Verdict: 3.5 Stars