Allston’s Thai rolled ice cream is not worth the trip

I paid $7 for an Instagram post

BU’s campus gives us easy access to meals that foodies have wet dreams about. You can always find an Instagram worthy meal just a walk away. So, as I made my five hour trip back up to Boston, I fantasized about the newest Thai rolled ice cream spot in Allston. I bribed my roommates to efficiently unpack just by saying I’d show them the trendiest dessert place they’ve ever been to.

Hi B3ar opened across from Sunset Grill just in time for the new school year, and I was a determined to get my hands on one of those creations.

Thai rolled ice cream is one of the newest foodie delights and has quickly gained popularity, seeing as more locations pop up everyday. The ice cream ingredients, depending on the flavor, are poured out onto a frozen circular surface and from there, the magic happens. The workers scrape it around and mix it up until it begins to harden,  its then flattened out into a pancake shape and scraped off into small rolls. The complex process sounded so different from my usual carton ice cream that my expectations were set pretty high.

I set out into the night with my suitemates to indulge. It’s is around a 15 minute walk from West Campus, and may be worth a CharlieCard swipe for those living in East Campus. 

When we finally arrived, the line was out the door, but the morale was still high between my friends and I because after all, a promise of ice cream is a promise of happiness. We waited for only about eight minutes to order but the place is the size of your common room. It’s cramped and also very hot. Maybe it’s a marketing scheme to get you sweaty and clammy so you crave something cold, but it did not make me happy.

After we all ordered our $7 ice cream, we pushed through the large crowd back outside to wait. My friends all kept going on and on about how a seven dollar bowl of ice cream better be something special, and honestly I felt a little nervous. This whole trip was turning into some kind of event rather than a quick stop for some dessert on a quiet Sunday night.

An hour goes by without our ice cream. 60 minutes of waiting on the streets of Allston and still no sweets. The outside of the place looked like a fraternity house on a Saturday night: desperate students just waiting to get their names called to go inside. Finally, one of my friends’ names were called and we were able to jam ourselves back inside. They allow you to watch them roll up the ice cream, which was definitely the best part of the experience, and then pick toppings, similar to a froyo type of place. I made my way outside with my matcha red bean rolled ice cream bowl, and was ready to taste what I was hoping would be worth the wait.

It was not.

The ice cream was just average ice cream. The unfortunate reveal was that it was exactly the same as my Ben and Jerry’s with some toppings thrown on for aesthetic. I paid seven dollars for an Instagram picture.

The consensus of the place for me is that it looks beautiful when put together and will make your home friends jealous they don’t have a place similar near them, but ice cream is ice cream and will always just taste like ice cream. The whole experience took almost three hours and my night was over by the time I got back home. As a fellow foodie I will leave you with this: rolled ice cream is like the most popular kid in high school; you think you love them, but it’s really the idea of them that’s so great.

More
BU