Happy Blockheads employee
The machine that shaves the ice cream down. You can see the Sweet Cream Snow Cream in the machine right now!
My order: Sweet cream snow cream with strawberries and chocolate sauce (it’s hard to capture the many layers of the ice cream with the iphone)
Margrit’s order: Sweet cream snow cream with rainbow sprinkles and chocolate sauce
Paige’s Order: sweet cream snow cream with Oreos and chocolate sauce
You can kind of see the many layers in just one bite!
I have never had a dessert experience quite like my recent jaunt to Blockhead Shavery. In the heart of little Tokyo on Sawtelle in between Santa Monica and Olympic sits this original ice cream shop dolling out shaved ice cream to the lucky individuals who are “in the know.” It’s called Blockheads because the ice cream starts as a large block/brick that is then inserted into a special machine that creates hundreds of shavings layered on top of one another. According to its website, they describe the texture as “Hawaiian shave ice with the creamy goodness of ice cream.” What it really looks like is ice cream lasagna, but don’t let the pictures on yelp lead you astray; it is a treat for your taste buds all the way around.
I ordered the sweet vanilla snow cream (that’s what they call their shaved ice cream invention) with strawberries and chocolate sauce. There are a range of flavors you can order such as green tea, strawberry and black sesame. The sweet vanilla snow cream was the sweetest most flavorful vanilla ice cream I have ever tasted. It has all the flavor of regular ice cream but it is light and flakey like Filo Dough mixed with Dippen Dots!
The toppings range from traditional Japanese rice cakes (similar to mochi balls) and sweet red beans to fresh fruit, heath bar pieces and chocolate chips. Each topping costs an extra $0.50, not too bad but starts to add up when you get a lot of them. What Blockheads does offer are pre-conceived concoctions with multiple toppings that are a great option if you want a lot of junk on your snow cream. Whatever you choose make sure to top your snow cream off with a complimentary chocolate, caramel, strawberry puree or condensed milk syrup. They coat the top layer with the syrup of your choice and once it melts in between the crevices of the flakey ice cream it enhances every bite.
I hate to admit that I played it a little safe with my ice cream and topping choices, regardless it was delicious, so no apologies. Next time I go, (and there will definitely be a next time) I will order all of the traditional Japanese toppings and see what happens (I will be sure to report back on the blog if you’re interested). Blockheads Shavery you get Two Forks Up!
