Sweet Tooth

ICE CREAM MADE BEFORE YOUR EYES WITH LIQUID NITROGEN!!!
This must be a new addition to this something-​for-​everyone ice cream shop. I draw that inference because (1) it is by far the most exciting way for ice cream to be made and (2) not a single previous review for this establishment mentions it.
They have a giant liquid nitrogen tank (just inside the front door), which is connected to a stand-​mixer. They pour in milk, sugar, and flavorings and then — like something out of Weird Science or Harry Potter — they pull a lever and a cloud of nitrogen vapor billows out of the mixer, as the milk and sugar instantly become ice cream on contact with the liquid nitrogen.
This has to be seen to be believed.
The result is creamy and tasty. My guess is that they will roll out more flavors over time. (Right now, they only have vanilla and chocolate available this way. They have everything else under the sun available as standard, scooped ice cream, in case you had something specific in mind.)
The flavor and texture is honestly slightly better at Ice Cream Lab in Beverly Hills (which pioneered this type of ice cream), but it’s definitely worth checking out here if you happen to be anywhere nearby (i.e., near the ferry landing for Balboa Island).

Decent ice cream at competitive prices for the area where it’s all overpriced. The location is in between buildings one of which is the arcade. It is not visible from the walkway along the water. They serve coffee as well, but I didn’t have a cup.

They didn’t have any frozen yogurt, but the frozen banana with nuts, was amazing. The banana wasn’t too frozen, to where your front teeth are going to snap off, it was just tender and so tasty, trust me if you like frozen bananas come here you won’t be disappointed.

The fact is there is much competition in the ice cream category. The places that sell ice cream are stepping up their respective game as well. The ice cream here isn’t bad, it’s okay, but compared to many of the other places I have been to recently, it can only earn a three-​star review. The service here is okay and the shop has charm and there are a decent selection of flavors to choose from. However, I found the texture and flavor of the product to not be as rich and flavorful as I would have hoped for. When you have a product like ice cream, it absolutely needs to be memorable and stand out good in terms of the creaminess, texture and flavor. When you can’t separate yourselves from the rest of the pack in these critical areas, you won’t have that cache of brand awareness and word of mouth recommendations that an ice cream shop needs for this type of business to flourish.

It was a cold evening and I was looking for something to warm me up. I found this spot after the holiday boat ride. It’s and ice cream shop but they have coffee and cocoa. I ordered the cocoa and was pleased to see her make it with milk not water. It was velvety and warm, it hit the spot.

So my friend and I were looking for a frozen dessert place on Balboa Peninsula since it was a pretty warm day and the surrounding beach weather just made us want to sit back and enjoy something cold.
The place is right across from the arcade (probably the back (?) side) and it was a bit warm inside when we were there.
My friend ordered shaved ice and the lady just shaved some ice and poured syrup on it. I had ice cream and when she scooped it out and put it on the table, I though she was going to do some sort of Coldstone trick with it. Alas, she didn’t and she just scooped it from there into the bowl (maybe because I didn’t get any toppings).
The desserts were just average or slightly below average, but I guess if you are on the peninsula you aren’t going to be exactly picky on what choices you have.

Delicious ice cream but bad service. Grumpy owners wouldn’t let me buy more sprinkles either. A smile goes a long way people.

This adorable ice cream shop has great ice cream and desserts so I was already a fan, BUT recently I tried their hot chocolate and I swear to god it was the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had in my life. I had no idea hot chocolate could even be that good! Germs be dammed I made everyone with me try my hot chocolate and expected them to tell me I was over reacting, but every single one of them admitted it was incredible. We even went back to get more for each of my friends. I am now a loyal Sweet Tooth devotee and will cross that Balboa Island Ferry anytime I get a craving for hot chocolate. The owners are really sweet too and practically live at the shop, so it makes me feel good to be supporting them too.

Nice little ice cream place.

So you’re stuck on an island, what should I do? Get mint ice cream!
We had a mint scoop with a waffle cone for $ 3.50 so $ 4 with tax. Kind of steep in my opinion. The ice cream was okay in my opinion, nothing phenomenal. They have a $ 5 card minimum so that’s a bummer.
Overall, okay place to grab ice cream while you’re on balboa island.