Location: Willow Street (duh!)
Boo's Rating: 3 1/2 Screams
I know you think I'm crazy, but this place was recommended to me by a local. She read my Bruster's blog and said that the H.O.P. will be my "answer to a raspberry ice cream cone." Who am I to turn down an ice cream recommendation from a local? I googled directions to the place and Monday afternoon I set out to sample. Too bad the Willow Street House of Pizza is closed on Mondays! DENIED! It's a good thing I'm persistent and not easily deterred. Tuesday afternoon, I drove back out there. It was right around lunch time and there were a few people dining on some delicious looking pizzas and subs. I might have to visit again for lunch sometime. Around the corner from the pizza counter is the ice cream counter. The raspberry flavor is actually a soft serve, which I haven't reviewed yet in the Lanc area. I sampled just a small taste of it and it was so creamy and delicious that I made it my choice of the day. The H.O.P. has chocolate, vanilla and raspberry soft serve as well as a half dozen or so hand-dipped ("hard serve") flavors.
However, the most exciting thing about the H.O.P. is their menu of cone choices. Yes, they have "cake" cones and of course sugar cones, but they have something else I've never seen in all my 29 years. They call it a "pretzel cone." Ok, take a minute and recover from your excitement- I know I needed to when I saw it one the menu. The lady behind the counter had no information regarding the pretzel cone, so I really had no choice but to try it. You know, for research! Don't you agree that it's a completely BRILLIANT idea? Because of their saltiness, pretzels are the perfect food to pair with sweets! Here is some evidence:
Take 5 candy bars
Chubby Hubby ice cream
Chocolate covered pretzels
Need I say more? Well, even if I don't need to, I will. I can't believe I had never encountered a pretzel cone before! It really seems like pure genius to me and after tasting it, I think it's got real potential. I ordered the raspberry soft serve in a pretzel cone and the combination started out AMAZING. The salt on the outside of the cone was perfect with the ice cream- every lick was absolutely delicious- the perfect combination of salty and sweet. I was disappointed when I bit into the cone, though. The texture was really hard, but not in the crisp pretzel-like way I had anticipated. It was very difficult to bite into the cone and the flavor of the cone was nothing like a pretzel. I think that if someone really set their mind on making the perfect pretzel cone, they could possibly move on from there to world domination. I'd like to suggest chocolate dipped pretzel cones as an option as well for anyone who pursues this amazing invention. This area has cornered the market on perfect pretzels, so I'm sure there's someone around here who can make it happen. If you know anyone in the pretzel business, please have them contact me. This could be the next great development of our time.
OK, enough about the pretzel cone. All in all, the H.O.P gets 3 1/2 screams because their flavor choice was limited, and while the raspberry was rich and creamy, it didn't blow my mind. If they had a better pretzel cone and more flavor choices, they'd really up their rating in my book.
2 comments:
I am the inventor of the pretzel cone and think of it as my "dunce-cap." It's a good idea, but cost me plenty, and never really got good acceptance exactly for the reason you stated. Because of the necessity of forming, cooking, salting and baking required to make a pretzel and the difficulty of maintaining the cone shape during the cooking and baking proceedures after the cooking step, rigid forms are used to maintain the shape, and the forms prevent the cone from properly baking. Also, there is a problem with shrinkage of the cone during baking which can either cause checking (splitting) of the cone or shrinkage during baking. It's a good idea but technologically difficult.
Wow! That's really interesting. I had no idea. I still applaud your efforts because I really believe the idea is genius! Too bad the execution can't be perfected.
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