Golden Scoop Awards
Hello all! As promised, this week I will be comparing my ice cream shop experiences and having them battle out for the best. And how else would I do this except by hosting my very own Golden Scoop Awards?
In this post, I will be handing out Golden Scoops to seven different categories. Read on to see which ice cream shops win!
Best Shop Atmosphere:
This award will be going to the place with the most appealing shop design, the kindest workers, and the best location. Our nominees are Cocobella Creamery and SomiSomi Soft Serve & Taiyaki.
And the Golden Scoop goes to…
Cocobella Creamery!
Both shops had interesting designs, but Cocobella’s whimsical theme captured the childhood innocence that ice-cream is all about. The workers were kind, and although they didn’t need to specially craft each ice cream like at SomiSomi, the server did pay a lot of attention into making pretty scoops. The shop was also located in Hollywood – a fitting sight-seeing location for my Los Angeles based blog.
Worst shop atmosphere goes to Bumsan Organic Milk Bar. Tiny, strange location, AND swelteringly hot? No thanks.
Best For Your Buck:
This award will go to the place with the cheapest ice cream. Our nominees are Honeymee, SomiSomi Soft Serve & Taiyaki, and Saffron & Rose.
And the Golden Scoop goes to…
SomiSomi Soft Serve & Taiyaki!
Honeymee and Saffron & Rose both gave a similar amount of ice cream about $4.50. SomiSomi gave the same amount of ice cream but for $3.95. And if you wanted the fish-shaped waffle cone, it was $5.95 – roughly the same amount you could get for a cone at Honeymee or Saffron & Rose. However, SomiSomi not only gave you a fish-shaped cone; it also came with extra add-ons like a filling and toppings. Overall, a great deal!
Worst pricing goes to Cocobella Creamery. Although it does get credit for being vegan and gluten-free, Cocobella gave the same amount of ice cream as the other places at about $7. Then it was another $1.75 for a waffle cone.
Most Original:
This award goes to the shop who did something really out-of-the-ordinary. Our nominees are SomiSomi Soft Serve and Taiyaki and Holy Roly Ice Cream.
And the Golden Scoop goes to…
Holy Roly Ice Cream!
Although this one was close, Holy Roly takes the lead. Both shops featured something unique about their desserts (fish cones or rolled ice cream). However, Holy Roly has two other aspects that SomiSomi does not. First, Holy Roly features really unique flavors, while SomiSomi sticks with more common ones. Second, Holy Roly includes a pile of toppings. It was the only shop who gave so many, while the rest (like SomiSomi) stuck with one or two.
Least unique shop was Midori Matcha Café. Although the Hojicha was new to me, there were only a few flavors in total to choose from.
Best Presentation:
This award goes to the ice cream that was the most appealing to the eye. Our nominees are SomiSomi Soft Serve and Taiyaki, Holy Roly Ice Cream, and Bumsan Organic Milk Bar.
And the Golden Scoop goes to…
Bumsan Organic Milk Bar!
Holy Roly ice cream was beautiful in person, but couldn’t be captured well on camera – which meant it was eliminated first. SomiSomi had really cool-looking fish cones, but they became melty and thus less appealing quickly. Bumsan, however, was basically built to for Instagram. The cones were beautiful but didn’t cause melting, the ice cream swirls were pretty, and the topping was carefully sprinkled to one side. There was also a huge pink wall perfect for taking photos.
The worst presentation goes to Saffron & Rose. Although there was nothing wrong with its presentation, it’s more about what there wasn’t – no toppings to admire, no cute place to take photos.
Best Ice Cream:
This award goes to the shop with the best taste. Our nominees are Saffron & Rose, Cocobella Creamery, and Honeymee.
And the Golden Scoop goes to…
Saffron & Rose!
Cocobella may have had tasty vegan ice cream, and Honeymee had amazing honey ice cream, but Saffron & Rose knocks it out of the park with their flavors. Of our three nominees, Saffron & Rose definitely had the most unique tastes with Persian-inspired flavors. On top of the exoticness, the ice cream had a rich, sticky quality and was so densely flavored that each bite was magnificent. I still can’t get over my White Rose scoop – divine!
Worst ice cream goes to Midori Matcha Café. This is not to say their ice cream is bad – but with a very strong matcha taste and few other flavors, this shop’s ice cream may not be for everyone.
Best Overall Ice Cream Experience:
This is our grand prize award – it goes to the shop who did a splendid job overall, scoring high in each of the categories. Our nominees are Cocobella Creamery, SomiSomi Soft Serve and Taiyaki, Saffron & Rose, and Honeymee.
And the Golden Scoop goes to…
SomiSomi Soft Serve and Taiyaki!
This one was hard for me to choose, hence why there were so many nominations. To start off my justification, SomiSomi and Honeymee never hit the lowest in any category. Cocobella hit the lowest for pricing, and Saffron & Rose got worst presentation. This eliminated both of these shops. So then it was between SomiSomi and Honeymee, but SomiSomi had the edge by having a cuter shop design and unique fish-shaped waffle cones.
Worst ice cream experience was Midori Matcha Café. The ice cream was polarizing, there weren’t many flavors, and the shop was tiny. I don’t mean to condemn it – I actually enjoyed its ice cream and you might too (if you like matcha). However, out of all the shops, it scores the lowest.
The “Craving it the Most” Award:
Okay, so this is basically a bonus award because there was one shop that I thought deserved more recognition. It is the one place above all that I am craving right now – and the first place I will be going back to after the quarantine ends.
And the Golden Scoop goes to…
Honeymee!
The flavors here, although not particularly unique, were done incredibly well. It had the best True Milk flavor of all the shops, and the honey was an excellent compliment. (Perhaps the honey was the best topping of all the shops, as well.)
The simplicity of this ice cream caused it to not do too well in the award ceremony, but one should not overlook its quality. It was cheap, so tasty, and located in Little Tokyo – how fun!
More to Come?
So guys, I guess that’s it for my blog right now.
I am incredibly devastated because there were two ice cream shops that I was lowkey saving for the end, as I expected them to be my favorites. See below: Supercool Creamery and Wanderlust Creamery.
Supercool Creamery had nitrogen ice-cream and theatrical themes, while Wanderlust Creamery featured unique global flavors.
If you want to read about these ice cream shops later on, please follow my blog! Once shops open again and I’m back in Los Angeles, I promise to go check these out and give my official reviews.
Until then, stay safe – and thank you for joining me on my ice cream journey!
Image Credits
SomiSomi exterior shot: https://www.yelp.com/biz/somisomi-los-angeles-9?hrid=A5JcXLc7iEQfKEdE4Z4bwQ&utm_campaign=www_review_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)
SuperCool Creamery image: https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/supercool-creamery-los-angeles?select=lVmoFufIwJP4sIC1_SkHQg
Wanderlust Creamery image: https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/wanderlust-creamery-los-angeles-2?select=7YhSoKGchp2T9kSB9L5B8Q
The Los Angeles Scoop 
Loved reading your lighthearted blog during these crazy times. This are a reminder of carefree times before BCV (Before Coronavirus). If we all do our part, we can get back to how things were and you can again enjoy these guilty pleasure activities. Can’t wait to read more of your blogs and visit some of these shops myself.
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