Results tagged “mashtimalone”

I’m not picky when it comes to most street foods. Being a happy New York-to-Los Angeles transplant, I’ve learned not to stress over our lack of a Papaya King or a Grimaldi’s. Instead, I simply bask in the fast food glory of LA stalwarts like In-N-Out and Mashti Malone’s. Philly cheesesteaks are the exception. Ever since my first weekend trip down to Philadelphia to grab a cheesesteak “wid” (with onions) from Pat’s, I noticed that what other cities pass off as “cheesesteaks” are in fact slurry sandwiches composed of equal parts Steak-Um grade meat and lousy cheese.

Last summer LAist embarked on an ice cream tasting trek of the city, and on our journey we discovered the deliciously different ice creams of Mashti Malone's. When every last drop was licked in those hot months, Mashti Malone's came up ranking #2 on our list, which isn't too shabby considering the vast array of choices in town. This weekend there's a special tasting event hosted by Pleasure Palate called "We All Scream for Ice Cream" at Mashti Malone's. For the $12 fee, you can enjoy a tour of Mashti Malone's original Hollywood location, an ice cream making demonstration, a Q&A about Mashti Malone's and ice cream in general, a tasting of 6 different ice creams, and a helping of your favorite Mashti Malone ice cream treat to end the visit. RSVPs and pre-payments for this event are required since space is limited. For more information about this event you can contact the organizer by email or phone at (626) 290-3443.

Sometimes grabbing an ice cream cone on a mellow LA evening can be a quick, inexpensive, and wholly satisfying thing. Having recently found ourselves exiting the Red Line at Pershing Square, on our merry way to an evening of Grand Performances, we were presented with the idea of snagging a cone at the just about to close for the evening Grand Central Market. The Market happens to be one of our favorite destinations for food and people watching downtown; this time we were in an out in seconds flat, for less than a dollar apiece. The Tropical Zone Ice Cream & Juice Bar--one of the two ice cream vendors there--is at the front of the market, on the Hill Street Side. They have a decent selection of standard flavors; we're not sure who their supplier is, and, unlike Bennett's, Fosselman's, and Mashti Malone's, we're pretty sure they don't make their own. One scoop of Rocky Road was loaded onto a regular cone, followed by one scoop of Strawberry Cheesecake on another cone for our ice cream indulgent companion. Happily we licked our 90 cent cones and almost literally walked off into the sunset. Dusk started to inch its way over the city, as we slurped down our ice cream. Craving: satisfied. Sure, Tropical Zone can't boast more than their bargain prices, but for this time, that was plenty to do it. We'll rank them #4. This week our Ice Cream summer was quick and dirty style. We'll be out tasting again next week...

Would you believe that it's our fifth week of ice cream tasting, and we're still as giddy as a kid in a candy store when we get in front of those freezers full of creamy, sweet goodness? This is why we feel slightly apologetic for having put the young lady behind the counter at Bennett's this weekend through her paces with our eager sampling and mild line of questioning. Bennett's, located in the north east corner of the Farmer's Market, has been family owned since 1963, and they make their own award-winning delicious flavors of ice cream on the premises. Typical for a tourist trap locale like the Farmer's Market, the cost of a cone is a little over the top, with a single scoop costing $3.00. We sampled our way through the case, starting with a couple of their most popular, like the coffee ice cream with caramel and banana concoction called "Fancy Nancy" (we regret not asking how it got its name), and "Choffee Choffee" which was another coffee based flavor with chocolate covered coffee beans in the mix. Both flavors were tasty, not too rich and not too sweet. We took a taste of the lighter and tangy Key Lime, which is one of our top pie picks, and makes for a decent ice cream taste, although not as thrilling as we'd hoped. The Green Tea was a bit nondescript, so we'd advise to head to Mashti Malone's for the more exotic tastes. Cherry Vanilla was a fantastic offering, with the cherry part thankfully not crossing over into the medicinal taste, as cherry can so often do. But we settled on a flavor we confess we've had there before, and a flavor that we don't often order: Butter Pecan. Our co-taster (who dove eagerly into her Mocha Almond Fudge the second it was passed to her) was happy with her choice, but had a little flavor envy. We tried to balance the melting danger with enjoying every lick; Bennett's ice cream is quite good, and is worth savoring! A trip to Bennett's can definitely serve as the upside to a trip to the Farmer's Market, if being there isn't necessarily your cup of tea. Final rankings so far in LAist's Ice Cream Summer have this spot pulling a respectable 3rd place!

There's nothing more quintessentially Hollywood than a legend of dubious origin. Such is the myth of Mashti Malone's, the curiously exotic ice cream maker that has set up shop right in the heart of Hollywood for 25 years. The truth is that when Iranian brothers Mashti and Mehdi Shirvani took over what was once the Mugsy Malone ice cream parlor, they couldn't afford to change the entire sign. So the tale is as sweet as the brothers' signature flavors of delectable ice cream, and as unique as the ingredients they use for their creations.

Glendale