Where to eat rolled ice cream

Watch ice cream freeze in front of your eyes.

By Stefanie Gans • Posted July 19, 2018 at 5:00 a.m.

Photo by Rey Lopez

After watching liquid freeze almost instantly and then turn into ice cream in under a minute, Cold Stone Creamery’s chopping and pounding looks like amateur hour.

After selecting a combination of flavors, in this case, the Reese’s Blast at 520 Ice Cream & Tea in Mosaic District, head to a station to watch the treat come to life.

First, the Nutter Butter is placed on a subzero-degree round, metal sheet. It’s drizzled with chocolate sauce and then the ice cream base is poured over top.

Here comes the action: With a metal scraper in each hand, the ice cream maker breaks up the peanut flavored cookie into the quickly freezing liquid. It’s chopped and pounded and spread into a thin sheet. The movements are hypnotic, watching this silver streak slide over and over the now-ice cream. Once it’s set, the ice cream is scraped and pushed, rolling onto itself like a scroll. Then each roll, six to an order, is placed via little tongs into a paper cup.

It’s decorating time, with options of mango, blueberry and strawberry, but who are we kidding, we’re going with: Oreos, mini chocolate chips, graham crackers, marshmallows (there’s a s’mores version, too), gummy bears, Fruity Pebbles, whipped cream and caramel, sweetened condensed milk and chocolate sauce.

At La Moo in Arlington, another Thai-rolled ice cream (as it’s also known) shop, the rolls maintain an icy consistency. At 520, the rolls taste closer to smoother ice cream styles. The options here include a dozen ideas, such as Morning Latte with a coffee-flavored base and a chocolate chip cookie, or a build-your-own with a green tea base.