Monday, October 24, 2011

Scoop

Scoop, run by Amanda Rhoads, is an ice cream food cart located at the North Station food pod (N Killingsworth and N Greeley) in Portland, Oregon. They make homemade ice cream using quality organic ingredients, and Scoop rolls out various seasonal flavors depending on the time of year. While Amanda makes her own waffle cones, perhaps the more impressive thing about Scoop is catering to people with special dietary needs. Scoop usually has one or two vegan options available, as well as gluten-free cones.

Scoop will be closing for the winter on October 30, likely re-opening next summer. So with just a few days left, hopefully you'll get your dessert fix here before then!





Flavors on 10/23/11
Before placing my order, as I do with every ice cream establishment, I like to try several flavors:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip: Obviously a seasonal flavor. I loved the chocolate chips here, and they did attempt to take over the pumpkin flavors here, but the important thing is that I still tasted the pumpkin on my sample. A great ice cream for fall!

Sweet Potato Pie: Again, another seasonal (fall) flavor. Honestly, this one really tasted like pumpkin pie, and I'm cool with that. Simple flavors here (not too sweet) and very satisfying.

Oatmeal and Brown Sugar: I liked the textural aspects here, catching some oats on my sample. Again, not an overly sweet ice cream (but it's there so you get your sweet craving fix).

Triple Threat Ginger: The ginger came through loud and clear on this one, but the other sugary components of the ice cream prevented the ginger from overwhelming the palate.

In the end, I went with a mini scoop ($2.75) of one of Scoop's most popular flavors: Salted Caramel Stracciatella. It's their signature salted caramel ice cream with chocolate shavings blended in.

Salted Caramel Stracciatella (Scoop)

The salted caramel exploded with flavor in my mouth, perhaps the most intense salted caramel ice cream I've ever had (and yes, I've had it at several ice cream shops and carts). But the chocolate shavings really took this ice cream to unforeseen levels. If I had a party, I'd probably want about a gallon of this ice cream all to myself. Yeah, I'd put on a few pounds, but whatever...that's what the gym is for!

If you're not in the mood for ice cream, you can also get milkshakes, floats, or smoothies here! Scoop also has hot drinks for the colder days.

It's unfortunate that ice cream food carts may close up for the winter (doesn't take a genius to figure out why). But I'm glad I got to try Scoop's ice cream before it was too late. They are a must-try, in my opinion, and hopefully people in  the Portland area have time to go get their fix! 9/10

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