Kat's 9 Lives

My constant quest for the best places to eat continues. While I was up North, I decided to try all the popular ice cream places. Is it really worth the wait? Does it live up to the hype? We'll see now won't we. =P After the long wait at Ici, I decided to check out all these places early so I can avoid a rush. Also to not miss out on the flavors by going too late. We ended up running out of time so the last week or so was packed with tons of food. First we decided to try Bi-Rite. We went on Sunday around 6-7PM and there was a line but not as bad as Ici. It's a small store so not many people can be inside. They do not have any AC on and that day was sort of hot. I guess to minimize heat, they turned off the lights so it seemed like they were closed. They announced that no samples would be given any more so that the line would move faster. The manager that day was a little Nazi-like.
Ms. Lin decided to try the Balsamic Strawberry, Salted Caramel, and Honey Lavender. We both got it in a cone and I guess they can't do 3 scoops in a cone. So they gave us the portion of 2 scoops with 3 flavors and charged us for only 2 scoops. The lavender flavor took some getting use to, but it wasn't as bad as we had thought it would be. I thought the strawberry was only so-so, nothing that memorable. What I really liked was the salted caramel! How can you ever go wrong with caramel ice cream? If I knew it was that good, I would have picked up a pint or quart for home. Unfortunately, I only found out after we paid that it tasted great and I am not willing to stand in line all over again. I decided to pick different flavors from Ms. Lin. They were "Rituals" Coffee Toffee, Malted Vanilla with Milk Chocolate Peanut Brittle, and Mexican Chocolate with Salted Peanuts. I really enjoyed the brittle and the contrast in flavors. The Mexican chocolate was my least favorite. I love nuts, but they did not work for that ice cream at all. It actually became a big nuisance and grossed me out a little. The coffee was only decent, nothing too special.
All in all the ice cream here was good, but costly. I think for 2 scoops it was around $5 each. One thing that bothered me was how they were not frozen enough. Ms. Lin got lucky with her choices that they were taking from a fresh batch. Mine were the flavors still in the case and they were thoroughly melted. I felt rushed in gulping down the ice cream because it was becoming extremely messy and melting rapidly. Would I come back? Yes, and I would buy a nice tub of the salted caramel for home and maybe a small pint with the brittle. =P

Bi-Rite
3692 18th St
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 626-5600