Bombay Ice Creamery

552 Valencia Street (at 16th Street), San Francisco, CA
Hours: Tue-Sun 11am-9pm, Closed on Mondays
http://www.bombayicecream.com

Yummy! I love exotic flavored ice-cream! I mean, Zhuang and I have our traditional favorites -- Haagen Dazs green tea, coffee, french vanilla and Ben & Jerry's chocolate chip cookie dough and mint chocolate chip but you can get that anywhere anytime -- so where's the fun in that?

Anyway, I've heard of Bombay Ice Creamery from a while back, on a show on the Food Network and it's this cool little shop in the Mission that serves flavors of ice-cream that many people would cringe at. Zhuang and I, however...well, let's just say the last flavor ice-cream we tried was wasabi ginger from Cold Stone Creamery. We kinda stumbled into Bombay Ice Creamery while on our way to Roxie Theatre. It's easy to miss, although you can't miss the huge Bombay Bazaar right beside it that sells saris, indian bangles and a ton of Indian condiments.

We had a double scoop of Saffron Rose and Masala Tea and mmmmm, it was sooooo good. The double scoop (big scoops too!) was $3.75 while a single scoop was $2.25. It was not too creamy (like Mitchell's - yuck), it was light and very tasty. You would expect a flavor like Saffron to be pretty intimidating and heady when it comes to taste, but the two flavors actually complemented each other really well and I could have probably finished the double scoop on my own. They also had flavors like Cardomon Rose, Pistachio Saffron and Ciku (yes, Ciku - the hairy fruit that looks like a ball).

Bombay Ice Creamery also has kulfi -- a creamy (yogurt?) mixture with condensed milk and garnished with rice noodles and rosewater syrup and lassi. It may sound a little strange to have rice noodles as dessert but if you've tried Gulab Jaamun, you know what I mean.

If you're looking for a savory snack, the big samosas come highly recommended. We were saving our stomachs for Pancho Villa, so we didn't have any, but will definitely go back for it. For a tiny place, Bombay Ice Creamery has a few tables for dining in, so it makes sense that they also serve Chaat, a sorta curry made with yogurt and potatoes.

For complete menu, check out the Bombay Ice Creamery Web site.