Location: Al Ain Oasis Cafe within the Al Ain Oasis, Al Ain UAE
Flavour tried: Coffee and chocolate ice cream rolls
Price: 25 Dhs (tax incl)
If you’ve never been to the Al Ain Oasis I highly recommend it, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site in the small city of Al Ain in the UAE. It’s a lovely spot, with wide paths running through a large palm tree forest. The trees are cooling and the only thing you hear are the birds. You can walk, rent a bicycle or take a golf cart through the paths. I hadn’t been there in years and I when I revisited I was reminded of what a nice break from the city it is. We entered through the main gate and walked until we got to the Al Ain Oasis Cafe. Maybe because we were there on a weekday, the cafe and it’s shaded picnic table seating area, were empty.
As always, I was pleased to see they had ice cream on the menu.
I was tired and hungry and a bit hot so I figured a coffee and chocolate ice cream rolls would hit the spot. I hadn’t had rolled ice cream before, and I wasn’t sure what it was. It turned out to be exactly as described, ice cream made in sheet form and then rolled, like you would a sheet of paper. Rolled ice cream is made by taking the ingredients, cream, chocolate, coffee etc and moving them around on a cooled metal pan until they solidify into a flat sheet of ice cream, then that it is scraped into curled portions.
There seems to be a trend here in the UAE for very labour intensive ice cream.
The ice cream rolls took a few minutes to make but it was fascinating to watch.
In the end I got a medium sized cup with about six rolls of ice cream. Portion wise it was a lot, an easily shareable dessert for two, or a nice light lunch for one.
I really didn’t know what to expect from snack hut ice cream rolls, but the ice cream was surprisingly good. The coffee to chocolate ratio was perfect, not too much of either. The rolls were a tad difficult to eat with a spoon, giving it time to melt a little helped. Actually though the ice cream didn’t melt very quickly at all, it retained it’s rolled shape quite well.
I do feel that there’s too much work involved in rolled ice cream, much like the nitro ice cream I reviewed in April. That being said sometimes the best ice cream is the ice cream that’s there, and it was a lovely snack. If you’re in the Al Ain oasis and in the mood for ice cream the rolled ice cream won’t disappoint.
Scream for Ice Cream 