I just tried Hagaandaz's Banana Split. I don't recommend it. At all.

Never had the banana split, but Haagen-Dazs creme brulee is mouthgasm-inducing.

I think haagen-daz (going by your spelling, don't care enough to find out what is correct) is pretty awesome. They do simple flavors very well. Ben and Jerry's is my go to for more complex stuff.

The Beglian Chocolate Shake at a Haagan-daz store is probably the best shake you can get anywhere. If anyone tries this, I recommend telling them to put "crunch" on the top, not sprinkles.

ugh not a fan of breyers

Buut that may be b/c i like GREEN mint choco chip ice cream, it bothers me when it is white (although i know its just coloring to get it green).

gelato = yum!

ben and jerry's half baked = awesome!

grom gelato is the best. extra extra dark chocolate. i have had that chain in nyc, venice, padua and florence

Can confirm that Grom in Florence is the greatest thing ever, have not been to any of the US locations though.

Friendly's Wattamellon Roll is amazing. Greatest thing ever, and I am obese according to the Wii Fit. 5'10" 215.

What do you think of the "Five" line of Haagen Dazs? I think it's pretty solid.

-Al

I forgot all about snickers ice cream - I will get that next time I go grocery shopping! It is great.

-Al

Ben and Jerry's Phish Food is my go to ice cream flavor. So good

Graeter's is incredibly good, with their raspberry chocolate chip being the best. My grocery store just started carrying Blue Bell ice cream from Texas, and its by far the best you can get at the grocery.

Blue Bell down here in Texas is consistently good ice cream, better than Ben and Jerry's IMO. Southern Blackberry Cobbler ice cream = the awesome, as is Candy Jar.

Blue Bell cookies and cream is about the richest thing on earth. I prefer the really dense haagen dazs or gelato, but for pure rich creamy stuff, Blue Bell is incredible.

So frustrating not being able to get it in the Northeast after it being the go-to ice cream growing up.

Blue Bell and Graeters are both substantially better than B&J IMO, which is far too sweet and cloying.

Unrelated, there's a flavor I've seen sparingly which is just vanilla with crumbled bits of ice-cream sandwich wafers and it's a genius idea.

Blue Bell's homemade vanilla is awesome.

Any London/UK ice-cream munchers?

I like Oddono's gelato in South Kensington a lot, but haven't yet found any other place/producer to be particularly enthusiastic about.

Blue bell had a anniversary flavor a couple years ago, "centennial cupcake". It was ridiculously good
Cake Batter Ice Cream
Pieces of Cake
Chocolate Icing Swirled Throughout
4-Leaf Clover Sprinkles
The only good thing about living in Killeen, TX for a year was discovering this stuff. So yummy.

To an extent, I kinda feel this way about ice cream.

I've been a big fan of Breyer's in part because there weren't any weird ingredients. But they keep extending the line and you can't necessarily say that any more. Still love their basic flavors, especially strawberry.

Having, natch, eaten a **** ton of Blue Bell in my day, I would say that the only reason to ever prefer it over an equivalent B&J flavor is if you eat your ice cream a pint+ at a time. It's fabu enough, though. I really enjoy their Cookies & Cream flavor.

**** USING THE WORD NATCH WHAT THE **** CARDO. QUIT READING SO MANY REALLY ****ING TERRIBLE BLOGS.

Will post pictures of some sweet frozen custard / gelato after I go to vancouver later this month.

Walking around Rome at night on a monthlong backpacking excursion with my then fiance, now wife, we stumbled onto a gelato place called the Old Bridge or Covered Bridge or something to that effect.

Best ever, IMO.

(Anyone know wtf I'm talking about/ever been there?)

For those in LA - a couple ice cream recommendations:

http://www.drbobsicecream.com/

Dr Bob's -- I think this may be the best ice cream I've had outside of stuff made in-house at nicer restaurants (and I've seen them use Dr. Bob's as well in the LA area, though usually they'll use a preferred local ice cream artisan guy if they don't make it in house). His chocolate flavors use only Scharffen Berger chocolates, very good stuff.

http://www.mashtimalone.com/

Mashti Malone -- Persian ice cream - flavors such as Rosewater Saffron (many variants of the Rosewater flavor, apparently one of the top dessert flavors in the Middle East) and Orange Blossom. The $2 sandwich is a scoop of their ice cream pressed between 2 thin wafers then rolled in pistachios.

-Al

Can you believe that some Cincinnatians believe Aglamesis is better than graeters?
Me neither.

How much would you pay for a pint of the best? If one is willing to pay $10 for a bottle of wine, why not ice cream?

During the online poker heyday, I would have graeters shipped to LV for $9 a pint.
Now, not so much.

Al(l),

http://www.laboratoriodelgelato.com/flavors.php (NYC) - Thai Chili Chocolate from there is one of my fave ice creams ever.

http://humphryslocombe.com/|_Flavors_|.html (SF) - my fave local place, Olive Oil and Malted Vanilla are two fave flavors.

http://biritecreamery.com/menu.html (SF) - second fave local place, Salted Caramel and Balsamic Strawberry are two faves, and they just started serving the most amazing Straus Creamery Soft Serve (also served at Il Cane Rosso @ Ferry Building)

Old Blue Bell commercial: Why does Blue Bell ice cream taste so great?

Because the cows think Brenham is heaven.