A few wrong turns and an hour later we arrived at Toscanini's after much anticipation. Having heard The New York Times dubbed it "the best ice cream in the world"(take note of the statement plastered across the window) we knew it was the perfect place to start on our long journey. Upon entering the establishment it was clear we were Toscanini rookies- we were confused by the loft style setup and we had no idea where the flavors were listed. After taking in the whole situation we noticed they had a pretty good coffee scene as well, with unique drinks such as: vanilla hot chocolate and vietnamese tea.
Flavor Originality: They had a good selection of flavors including: brown sugar, fluffernutter, 3drunkenmusketeers(kahlua, baileys, rum), green tea, ginger, pineapple basil sorbet and many others we've never seen before.
Service: It was set up in the style where you order and are served by one employee and then pay at the register with a different employee. The employees were college age and friendly. Service was quick and down to a routine- they were well weathered Tuscanini employees.
Location: Located at 899 Main Street in Cambridge, MA this spot has little parking but a great view for people watching
Size/Price: Not the best bang for your buck at $3.85 for 1 scoop, $5.15 for 2 scoops.
Atmosphere: Not necessarily the place your 5 years olds will beg you to go, it is more the Starbucks of ice cream shops. Here you will find the 20-30 somethings reading the news paper and indulging in their drink or ice cream of choice.
Overall taste: We were not as impressed by the standard The New York Times set up. The best ice cream in the world was not at our fingertips as we had naively hoped. The coffee hydrox(essentially coffee oreo) recommended by the scooper was average at best and the mango sorbet was not as refreshing as I had hoped, but it was true to the taste of fresh mango fruit.
It was definitely a different experience from the typical ice cream parlor, if you are looking for
a place to sit and ponder the human existence while sipping a vietnamese tea or sampling one of the
interesting flavors than this is the place for you.
