Big Gay Ice Cream Truck

The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck had been high on my to-do list for quite some time. Besides the intriguing name, I was curious to see why this ice cream truck had such a solid reputation when there are ice cream trucks all over Manhattan. Luckily Groupon had an offer of $5 for $10-worth of ice cream, which my inner-jew couldn’t resist. This sent Big Gay Ice Cream truck to the top of my priority list to make sure I used the Groupon before it expired (I shudder to think of expired coupons). One hot summer’s eve I made the commitment and ventured to Union Square to try it out with one of my extremely good looking friends.

For once I was decisive and knew I must try the Salty Pimp first. Not only did the name make me giggle, but the flavors tempted me the way HGH tempts guidos. The Salty Pimp consists of vanilla soft-serve ice cream, dulce de leche drizzles, and sea salt, all dipped in chocolate. Try as I might to resist eating my cone before we sat down, I am only human. My lack of self-control, combined with the heat, proved to be a fatal mistake. The salty chocolate flavor was wonderful, and unlike any ice cream cone I’d had before. However, after one bite, you really need to put your game-face on and consume the rest of the cone as fast as possible because it started melting faster than Britney Spear’s marriage to Jason Alexander. As each piece of the scrumptious chocolate shell broke and fell onto the table, my heart broke with it. So much joy, and yet so much pain. If you ever try this (and you should) I’d recommend a training-wheels approach. Learn from my mistakes, and put that sucker in a bowl. Regardless of the melting situation, the cone itself was really unique and delicious. My taste buds were almost confused. Salt? On an ice cream cone? But it worked. Big time. While the actual ice cream was pretty standard and had nothing distinguishable about it, the combination of sea salt, chocolate, and dulce de leche far overshadowed this. Once my taste buds adjusted they only wanted more. They begged me to pick the chocolate pieces off of the table, but as I like to pretend that I have a certain level of class (not really) I refrained. I wistfully stared at the fallen soldiers. If picking chocolate shell pieces off of a public table in Union Square is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

After I carried on about how great the Salty Pimp was, my other extremely good looking friend decided she wanted to see what the fuss was about too. I’m not one to turn down excuses for ice cream, so being the selfless humanitarian that I am, I graciously volunteered to go back to the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck. A brilliant opportunity to try a new flavor. This time I opted for the Bea Arthur - vanilla soft-serve, dulce de leche, dipped in Nilla Wafer crumbs. This cone wasn’t quite as good as the Salty Pimp, but I think that’s only because I am more passionate about chocolate. It was a little lighter and a little less intense. One key engineering aspect that the Bea Arthur had going for it was the lack of chocolate shell. The Nilla Wafers allowed the ice cream to maintain its majestic swirl structure, even in extensive heat. So while I love the chocolate taste, if you’re trying to do yourself a favor and not look like a swamp monster covered in chocolate, try out the Bea Arthur.

After these two cones I’m convinced you can’t go wrong here. I’m eagerly awaiting the opening of the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop in the East Village, which will feature more flavors and the Choinkwich, an ice cream sandwich with caramelized bacon (http://www.biggayicecreamtruck.com/blog/). Pure brilliance.

http://www.biggayicecream.com/treats/