Here’s the scoop

Jerusalem churns out some pretty tasty ice cream.

By AMY SPIRO
Ice cream (photo credit: Amy spiro)
Ice cream
(photo credit: Amy spiro)
When people find out that I write this column, they often declare that I have the best job in the world.
Generally, I’m inclined to agree with them, although eating my way through rubbery cheese and spongy pizza crusts last month made me doubt. But this month has restored my faith in the delightfulness of my monthly task.
Every ice cream I tasted was at the very least delicious, and at the most life-changing.
Now obviously every ice-cream shop serves slightly different flavors, and you can’t compare apples to oranges – or, as the case may be, strawberry to mint chocolate chip. But one thing every place offers is vanilla – and the classic flavor is a good place to judge the underlying quality.
At every shop I tried both vanilla and at least one more “exciting” flavor. Just about every location also offers a range of fruit sorbets, but for this testing, I stuck to ice cream.
Sorbet will just have to wait for another month.
Didn’t I tell you I have the best job in the world? All tested establishments are kosher.
Mousseline: A+
Wow. Just wow. I may never eat any other ice cream ever again. Mousseline has made me rethink just how good the frozen treat can be. Aside from pushing the boundaries of ice-cream flavors with offerings like basil or olive oil, Mousseline is just simply delicious.
The saffron ice cream, a fairly unorthodox offering, was completely addictive, leaving me wanting just one taste more. Visible black specks indicated the authenticity of the strong, pronounced flavor of the vanilla. And the berry cheesecake was rich and sweet with a strong cheesecake flavor and good-quality jam swirl.
NIS 11 one scoop/NIS 14 one scoop with two flavors/NIS 17 two scoops 6 Haeshkol Street, Mahaneh Yehuda
Metudela: A
The first thing you notice about the Metudela ice cream shop is that it is adorable. There are tables for adults and kids set up outside, with bright, colorful chairs and padded stools, as well as a swing bench for more exciting sitting. Luckily the ice cream is just as delightful as the decor. The vanilla was strongly flavored and creamy. The kinder was rich and chocolatey, though not particularly “kinder” flavored.
Other flavors include mint, banana and cookies and cream.
NIS 12 one scoop/NIS 13 for one scoop with two flavors/NIS 18 two scoops 1 Metudela Street
Blender: A
Blender isn’t quite like other ice cream stores. Yes, you can pick your ice cream flavor and then toppings from fruit to chocolate, candy or nuts, but after you do that, the store will blend everything up together to create your own specialized concoction.
I have no explanation for why I chose to mix vanilla and dulce de leche with Oreo cookies, white chocolate and raspberries. However questionable sounding, the mixture was actually delicious, and I could still taste each individual flavor. The blending process gives you both tiny fragments and larger chunks of your mix-ins, which I enjoyed. It is, however, on the pricey side.
NIS 16 small/NIS 19 medium/NIS 23 large 61 Etz Hahaim Street (inside Mahaneh Yehuda)
Cadurim: B+
This aptly named store near the center of town sells what it calls “Italian gelato.” It has a large selection of flavors, including rum raisin, Belgian chocolate, cheesecake and Snickers. The vanilla was nice, but it didn’t have a strong vanilla flavor, tasting more like an unflavored custardbased ice cream. The mascarpone flavor, named, I assume, for the Italian cheese, was delicious, but I don’t know that it had an especially strong cheese flavor.
NIS 12 one scoop/NIS 13 one scoop with two flavors/NIS 17 for two scoops 1 Shlomtzion Hamalka Street
Aldo: B+
Aldo is the most ubiquitous Jerusalem ice cream shop, with locations in the center of town and on the popular Emek Refaim Street, as well as in several malls.
They offer flavors ranging from cheesecake to coffee latte (which they insist on spelling “late”), maple waffle and vanilla chip. The vanilla tasted basically average while the chocolate Oreo flavor was tasty.
NIS 12 one scoop/NIS 18 two scoops 5 locations in Jerusalem
Katzefet: B+
If you can’t find this ice cream shop in downtown Jerusalem, just look for the crowd of Israeli preteens and American seminary girls.
Known as “fro-yo” to just about everyone (I believe that was its actual name until several years ago), this shop offers a wide array of flavors – including butterscotch, Chinese pecan, vanilla caramel swirl and bubblegum – and excellent people-watching.
The cheesecake flavor was tasty but lacked a strong cheese flavor, the dulce de leche was rich and creamy but the vanilla, while sweet and rich, had a weak taste.
NIS 10 one scoops/NIS 11 one scoop with two flavors/NIS 17 two scoops 2 Ben-Yehuda Street
Noya: B
Unfortunately, the first thing I noticed when walking into this gelato place was the smell – and it was not pleasant.
Nevertheless, I soldiered on (for you, my readers). This gelato shop offers a variety of more interesting flavors, like Lotus cookie, Napoleon and Twix. Unfortunately, the maple cone option had a strange taste and the vanilla was very dense and rich (as gelato often is), but lacked a strong flavor.
The Twix variety was tasty but both of my dining companions (yes, you can share a scoop of ice cream among three people) agreed it tasted little like Twix and had a more pronounced peanut butter flavor.
NIS 12 one scoop/NIS 13 one scoop with two flavors/NIS 17 for two scoops 10 Ben-Yehuda Street Next month I’ll be taking on the task of finding the best and worst shakshuka in the capital. Have a favorite (or least favorite) in Jerusalem? Send me your suggestions at triedandtastedjpost@gmail.com. Some suggestions may be printed.