CREAM
Peanut Butter Cookie
Snickerdoodle / Royal Caramel Swirl / Salted Caramel / Oatmeal Raisin
Chocolate Chip / Toasted Almond / Butter Pecan / Red Velvet
Hailing from San Francisco, where Bi-Rite, Humphry Slocombe, and several others have been upping the ante on artisanal Ice Cream for several years, CREAM is an acronym for Cookies Rule Everything Around Me, and as much as the cheesy Wu-Tang inspired moniker and early reviews should have dissuaded me from visiting I simply couldn’t resist the urge when wandering Downtown Summerlin after a large lunch, the results certainly not on par with the best of The Bay Area but far better than some would suggest.
In some ways a ‘do one thing, do it well’ concept, the $3.99 ice cream sandwiches clearly the focal point of CREAM, it was just after 2:00pm that I entered to find a small line and perusing the options before asking a few questions and tasting a trio of flavors it was not long before selections were made, a quartet of cookies and four ‘half-scoops’ of ice cream comprising two sandwiches with a bonus cookie warmed to order for $7.98 after a social media check-in discount.
Oddly opting to slightly heat cookies before stacking the ice cream and bagging to go, yet not really suffering any sog due to the hard-freeze chests, it was at one of the restaurant’s small tables that I sat down to enjoy and opting to deconstruct each and eat with a spoon my first bites of both chocolate ribboned Royal Caramel Swirl and creamy Salted Caramel spoke to a high milk-fat base, the flavors better than most-store bought varieties though certainly not on par with top-tier selections, nor Gelato Messina just down the street.
Moving next to more ice cream, in this case a less-than-memorable butter pecan set next to toasted almond that tasted both smoky and sweet, it was with the cookies that the tasting would end and although the Red Velvet and Snickerdoodle were no better than the stuff straight from Toll House or Pillsbury the Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter, and Oatmeal Raisin were every bit as good as scratch-made, the later particularly impressive with restrained sweetness save for the dried fruit and loaded with plenty of chewy cinnamon tones.
THREE STARS: Competently executing their mission of serving made to order ice cream sandwiches at a price that seems more than fair for the quality of the goods, CREAM is a nice option for those wandering Downtown Summerlin, though save for the cookies that outstrip Wonderland in both price and texture and the slightly lower price-point than Messina I’m not really certain there is any impetus for frequent returns.
RECOMMENDED: Oatmeal Raisin Cookie, Peanut Butter Cookie, Toasted Almond Ice Cream.
AVOID: Red Velvet Cookie, Butter Pecan Ice Cream.
TIP: Offering a free 99-cent cookie for social media check-in to those spending more than $5 and plenty of free samples to those willing to ask, be aware that seating is limited – particularly as the summer temperatures climb.
WHAT THE STARS MEAN: 5 World Class, 4 Excellent, 3 Good, 2 Fair, 1 Poor
