Desserts from The Melt

Update Review, 2020 & 2021 Visits

April 2020, 925 Market St. Location

Week #6 of quarantine life, and San Francisco decided to treat us to a beautiful day.  72 degrees, sunny, and warm.  I wanted to get out, take a walk, and, eat ice cream.  It was *perfect* ice cream weather.  And I adore ice cream.

I immediately wanted a soft serve ice cream cone, and, The Melt came to mind instantly.  I knew they were open AND I knew I had a birthday reward on my account that was I was saving to use for a special time.  This seemed like the perfect chance to perk myself up.

I headed into the Market Street location, intending to get just a cone, but still lamenting that The Melt does not offer toppings besides the chocolate cookie dust (that I dislike).  I had sprinkles in my bag, because I'm #alwaysprepared, but still, I wished for more.  Plus, a simple, cone, the cheapest thing on the menu, seemed like such a waste of my precious reward!

I pondered the milkshake, twice the cost, even though I'm not really a milkshake fan, and I hadn't cared for others I've tried at The Melt before .  They did have some new flavors on the lineup though, including a strawberry one (and every once in a while I do love strawberry milkshakes (like the one I had at Holy Grill years ago ...).   I asked if it was made with real strawberries (rather than just syrup), and the staff member taking my order said yes, AND got very excited.

I told her I was using my birthday reward, but really just wanted soft serve.  She told me that nearly everyone gets a shakes with their rewards, because its a far better value, just like I thought, and strongly encouraged me to do it.  She loves the shakes, and continued to go on telling me how much she loves them.  Another staff member walking by jumped in to say that my server was the reason the strawberry shake had been added to the menu!  They both told me they love the shakes.  But still ... I hesitated.  I really just wanted ice cream after all.  A lot of ice cream.

"Perhaps I could just get a nice big ice cream? In a cup?".  My amazing server was on board.  "I'll just make it in the milkshake cup, and put a cone on top, how is that?  I'll make you ... a milkshake, hold the milk, hold the blending, heh!"  she said.  "And I'll ring it up as the shake."  This arrangement sounded great to me.  Then, entire staff sang Happy Birthday to me.   They didn't look annoyed to *have* to do something like that, and really seemed to be having fun with it.  Honestly, it made my day, more than I ever could have imagined, and remember, this was in the early depths of pandemic isolation despair.

And then, my day got even better.

A Very Off Menu Strawberry Sundae. $5.49.

"Strawberry shake, hold the milk, hold the blending."

Another staff member went to make the "shake", and was clearly confused of course, as my server called over, "it says strawberry shake on the order, but its just a big ice cream cup! Perch a cone on top at the end!", but that person hesitated, confused, which, well, makes sense.  

"Or I'll come do it, and make it with love!!!" my server called out.  So she did.  She filled my cup up, a huge milkshake cup, filled with ice cream.  Sooo much ice cream.  I was thrilled.  And she asked me, "Do you want ... chocolate sauce?  Cookie crumb? I can add toppings!"  I opted for the strawberry topping, to honor her strawberry shake adoration.

I was handed over a glorious creation.

Um, yeah.  This was a *ton* of ice cream.  Is it the best soft serve around?  Nah.  Super Duper has richer, creamier soft serve.  But it is decent, creamy, nice consistency, good vanilla flavor, and is made by Fosselmens.  Adding the strawberry turned out to be an amazing move, as, well, I had a legit sundae at this point.  A generous scoop of strawberry topping was applied, soft, slightly stewed, in its own juices.  All different size chunks.  Not quite the same as fresh berries of course, but this was more suited for ice cream topping anyway.

And with that, I had a fabulous ice cream sundae.  I walked out with glee, and literally every other customer stared.  As did the folks on the street.  I'm sure I looked like a kid in a candy store, so very, very excited.

I made a mini cone first, scooping some ice cream into the cone, layering with fruit, and added my own sprinkles.  It was fantastic.  I stashed the next scoop of ice cream in my vacuum mug I had with me (like I said, #alwaysprepared), and then polished off the rest with a spoon and a slurp, as it turned into a melty-almost-milkshake anyway.

And I was happy.  Very, very happy.

****.

May 2020, 455 Market St Location

A month later, in May, the weather in San Francisco took a two day turn for amazing summer weather.  80*.  I had no choice.  Time to get get more ice cream.

I again decided to "hack" the menu, in exactly the same way.  I almost went for the snickerdoodle "sundae", rather than strawberry, when I learned that the snickerdoodle shake is made with cookie butter added in (yum!), but, at least minute, I went back to my original strawberry creation.

It was a great decision, and I realized something about this genius trick: the best part is that you get 3 desserts in one, really.  You get a strawberry sundae on top.  You can then make an ice cream cone.  And, all the melty goodness you don't use for the other two, turns into a milkshake in the cup.  For someone like me who hates deciding on things, this was perfect.  I had it all!

Off Menu Strawberry Sundae #2.

I ordered the same way, this time intentionally: "Strawberry shake, but not blended, no milk, just as a big cup of ice cream with strawberry stuff, and a cone on top.  Here is what it looked like when they made it last time", and I showed my photo.

The cashier definitely paused, and I said, "and you can ring it up as a shake".  Once it was clear I wasn't trying to cheat the prices, he was game to try.  The other staff member nearby was pretty excited about it too.

The result was much the same as the previous, although, he was far less generous with the ice cream.  Perhaps he added the proper amount they use for the shake?  The previous one was full to the very very top with ice cream, and then had the strawberry and cone added, whereas this, with topping, was still well below the top line.  Probably a more reasonable portion, but, it was less.

The strawberry sundae worked just as well as before.  That strawberry goo really is great, juicy stewed berries, and very sweet.

The ice cream however was a bit of a letdown.  It was more icy, grainy, and more milk-tasting.  Definitely didn't taste like vanilla, wasn't very creamy.  It was a different location, but it was sad, as it reminded me of why I originally didn't have a strong opinion of the soft serve at The Melt.  I wonder if the machine just hadn't been cleaned as often?  Or if this machine works less well?  Who knows.

I still enjoyed it, but, the difference was quite noticeable.

The part that melted down (after I made my ice cream cone, stay tuned), tasted exactly like a strawberry shake, and was pretty delightful that way.  It almost made me consider getting a real shake in the future.  ***+.

Off Menu Strawberry Shake - cone part!

I did of course utilize the cone and made a mini cone, stuffed with ice cream, a bit of the berry (but I tried to avoid it) and I added my own sprinkles and crumble that I came prepared with.

The ice cream lack of creaminess and iciness was more obvious in this form, but, it still was a soft serve cone, in San Francisco, on a hot day, and I was still pleased with it.

*** for the cone part.

May 2020, Embarcadero Center Location

The weather was great again the next day, so, I went back, picking the Embarcadero Center location instead, just a few blocks further, to try the difference in the ice cream machines.

3 Treats in One!  Cookie butter snickerdoodle sundae /
Cookie Butter Lined Cone with Soft Serve (and my own sprinkles) /
Melty Cinnamon Shake.

And ... I went for the snickerdoodle version, just, of course, not as a shake.

Again I loved the fact that I got 3 dessert experiences out of it: a sundae to eat at first, a cone to make and enjoy next (really my favorite way to have soft serve!), and, a melty shake at the end.

I *adored* this one, in particular the cone - because I lined it with the cookie butter!!!  I almost would say it was even better than the strawberry one, but really, it is just different.  The strawberry one is very sweet but has fruitiness (not the same as fresh fruit, or feeling healthy, but, still, fruity), where this one is much heavier ... cookie butter is not a light item!

Off Menu Snickerdoodle Sundae. $5.49.

I ordered the same way of course: "Snickerdoodle shake, but not blended, no milk, just as a big cup of ice cream with cookie butter and a cone.  Here is what it looked like when they made it last time", and I showed my photo, saying, again, "just the snickerdoodle topping, not strawberry this time please".  

My cashier was again totally into it, asked if I wanted both strawberry and cookie butter (which I was THRILLED to say yes to!), but then he couldn't figure out how to ring it up that way.  The person making it was again totally amused, and had a ton of fun.  She asked if I wanted cookie butter layered throughout or just on top, and if I wanted cinnamon sprinkled all over and throughout too.  I loved how excited they were for me.

The "milkshake" was handed over with glee "Tell everyone {her name here} made this for you!", she exclaimed, so very clearly proud of it.  I too was proud!

The "shake" was again a huge cup of soft serve with toppings on top (I opted to not have it layered, in case I didn't like the cookie butter).  This time it was filled right up to the top! I honestly think this is ... a pint of ice cream, gulp.  Its sooo much more than you get in a cone, which makes sense, the price is much higher, but its also considerably more than ... well, what someone should eat in one sitting.  Don't mind me ... just call it a large sundae from an ice cream shop and it will make sense?

The ice cream *was* better at this location, slightly less grainy, and I did like the milky taste this time around, particularly with the rich cookie butter, but the 5th & Market location definitely is best.

***+ for the ice cream alone.

Snickerdoodle Toppings: So much cookie butter!

Here you can see the "Snickerdoodle" toppings: cinnamon and cookie butter!

The giant glob of cookie butter was enough to make my eyes go a bit wide (I do know the nutrition stats on this stuff!), but also, it made me smile with glee.  I hoped I liked their brand!

And I did.  So, "cookie butter", if you aren't familiar, is basically Biscoff cookies (or knockoffs of them), turned into a spread like peanut butter.  You can use it anywhere you use peanut butter, and its pretty glorious.  It became quite popular when Trader Joe's introduced a version a few years ago, and I've since discovered that I do quite like it (you can even get little snack packs of just cookie biscuits and biscoff spread dip now, which I've reviweed before).

It is heavy, it tastes like ... well, a spread made from graham crackers, its really buttery, really rich, really thick ... and pretty delicious, in small bits of course.  It is intended to be blended into a shake here, not consumed in a giant lump of course.  There was also plenty of cinnamon on top, and the cinnamon and cookie butter combo is a great one.

Mini cone filled with cookie butter!!!

So what did I do?  I made something *amazing*.  Yes, I took the cookie butter, and lined the inside of my cone with it. And then I filled the cone with ice cream, and topped with the sprinkles and crumble I brought with me.

Now this, this was glorious.  The crunchy cone, the decadent sweet and rich cookie butter throughout, and the melty milky soft serve?  Glorious.  I loved this so very much.

I was inspired to line the cone remembering the epic creation I had at Turn Dough down in Santa Monica - now *THAT* was a thing to behold, omg - a freshly made churro chimney cone, lined with cookie butter, filled with soft serve, and then topped with mint chocolate sauce, white chocolate sauce, sliced almonds, AND rafello ... yeah, um, that was insane, literally 4 desserts in one.  And really, really, really good.  But yes, this cookie butter lined cone was inspired by that cookie butter lined creation, I can't claim to have thought it up.

This was magic, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. **** for this creation.

Snickerdoodle Milkshake.

And then, after all that ... you are left with a cup of melty ice cream (because, really, there is no way to consume THAT much ice cream fast enough, particularly if you are, uh, taking time to line your cone with cookie butter, make a cone, add toppings, etc), so you do basically get a rich milkshake too.  It was great to drink at the end, tons of cinnamon and some cookie butter made it in, and it was a great way to polish off way too much dessert.

Embarcadero Center Location June 2020 Visit

Soft Serve In A Cup (but with cone) + Cookie Crumble.  $2.99 + $0.50.

A few days later, our heat wave came back *again*.  I was thrilled.  But not ready to commit to a huge sundae this time.  Thus, I just wanted a cone.  For me, there is nothing better than soft serve, in a cone, with sprinkles, on a hot day.  So many childhood memories.

I was asked if I wanted a cup or cone, and I actually asked for a cup, but with a cone on the side - because usually, if you do so, you get more ice cream!  And also, it would give me some damage control for when it melted too fast.  What I was handed however was a cone, made as a cone, and then just turned upside down into the cup.  Doh.  It still worked fine, but, not quite what I intended.

Of course I knew the only "approved" topping for ice cream is the cookie crumble, which I haven't liked before, but I still asked about other options.  None were offered, and I decided not to be complicated and ask for a scoop of strawberries or cookie butter, or even a sprinkle of cinnamon, since I knew they wouldn't have any idea how to charge for it, or ring it up.

I gave the cookie crumble another chance, for $0.50.  The cone itself is one size only, for $2.99 which feels a bit high for the size and quality compared to other fast food places, but, I do know they use a nicer brand, even if I don't love it.

Soft Serve with Cookie Crumble - As a cone!

I pulled it out of the cup to enjoy.  It did come out easily, no real loss.  So, dumping it into a cup was really no different than getting a cone at least.

The soft serve was good, still not the richest, creamiest out there, and the vanilla flavor has a slightly odd taste, but, it wasn't too grainy or icy.  It also wasn't too soft although it melted quickly due to the warm weather.   This location has their machine well calibrated.

Alas though, I still did *not* like the cookie crumble.  I'm not sure why, but I really, truly just do not like it at all.  Gritty, just chocolate cookie (*not* cookies and cream, if you are wondering! No cream!) I half-heartedly ate a little, then just knocked the rest off.  I just really didn't want the coating.

I wish they offered sprinkles.

Soft Serve ... with *my* sprinkles and peanut crunch.

But of course I was prepared for such a "disaster".  I always am.  I added my own sprinkles (100s and 1000s from Australia!) and peanut crunch.  Saved!  I enjoyed my cone this way.

***.

Update Reviews, 2018 & 2019 Visits

The dessert menu, like all areas of The Melt's menu, has evolved over the years.  Gone are the dessert melts.  Gone are the sundaes I never actually got to try.  The offerings now are pretty ... sparse.  Simple chocolate chip cookies and soft serve ice cream, vanilla only, that I have tried before.  The milkshakes remain, although the lineup has expanded.  Root beer floats were added (I argue that the later are not *really* desserts though ... aren't they just decadent drinks?).

Anyway, nothing very inspiring on the dessert menu, but The Melt does give you a free dessert item for your birthday, so, over the years, 've tried a few,  because I can't resist freebies.  Shout out to The Melt for not giving you only a handful of days to use your birthday reward - they have no expiration date!

Soft Serve Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Chocolate Crunch. $2.99 + $0.50. (August 2018).

I've had soft serve at The Melt before, but it was years ago.  Back then, I wasn't impressed.  I was sad that they had only vanilla, more sad that they had no toppings, and even more sad by the sour taste.

Things were slightly better this time.  They still have only vanilla, and only one size.  But, they added a topping: chocolate crunch, which you could add on for $0.50.  Since I'm a serious lover of sprinkles, I opted for this, hoping it would be like crunchy chocolate bits or something.

My name was called out, and I went to pick up my ice cream, only to be handed a plain cone.  I reminded the staff member that I had ordered the chocolate crunch.  She looked at the receipt, and went back to the machine, but was confused.  "Uh, what is the chocolate crunch?", she asked someone nearby.  He pointed her at the topping, and then swooped in to help when she started very awkwardly spooning it on.

The result was the creation above, with the topping sorta covering half the ice cream.

The chocolate crunch wasn't crunchy.  It was basically Oreo powder.  I didn't care for the gritty texture all over my cone.  I really wanted sprinkles, or better yet, the crispy crunch coating I've had at some ice cream stands.  I would not get it again, and was happy when most of it blew off anyway (not exactly applied well!).

The ice cream was better this time in that it wasn't sour.  It was creamy.  It melted nicely.  But it still didn't really have any flavor, and wasn't particularly rich.  I'm sorry to say, I think generic fast food restaurant soft serve is better.

The cone was at least fresh, not stale.

Overall, just highly mediocre.  The cone was much bigger than before, but I can't tell if that was just the luck of the staff member I had, or if they have increased portion sizes (the price has only gone up by $0.04).  I'd consider another if I had a freebie, and it was a hot day, and I brought my own sprinkles, but, this offering could use some improvement.

Soft Serve. $2.99. (June 2019, Embarcadero Location).

Another visit, another cone, just plain this time.  I was hoping The Melt would introduce a second flavor of soft serve, or another topping besides cookie crunch, but ... alas.  Still the same vanilla only, cup or cone, cookie crunch only option.

So, vanilla it was, in a cone.  I brought my own sprinkles.  #alwaysPrepared

This was a hot day, and the server apologized for the cone not being pretty.  I handed this one over to my companion, as we were both getting cones.  The ice cream also melted very fast, but I don't consider that a bad thing.

Soft Serve. $2.99. (June 2019, Embarcadero Location).

The next one came out better ... because the server "cheated", and used a spoon to prop it up after she made it, lol.  She really did want them to look nice when she saw me taking photos.

The ice cream was better than I remembered, although still not particularly special.  Creamy, sweet, but just simple, not an intense vanilla flavor.  I really wanted it to be something more.

I added my rainbow sprinkles, and I added candied pecans, and enjoyed it more, but I kept wanting chocolate dip, or even a drizzle of caramel.  Just something to make it more interesting.

Soft Serve. $2.99. (August 2019, 1st & Market Location).

I've often lamented The Melt's soft serve, due to its lackluster nature, and lack of toppings besides the chocolate crumb, but I still gave it another try, on a particularly warm day, when all I wanted was ice cream.  Luckily, I had additional toppings in my bag (#alwaysPrepared).

I was fairly surprised when the cone was handed over, as it looked different than any other the Melt has ever serve me. I was more hopeful, as it seemed to have better integrity than the previous ones, actually standing upright on its own.

And it was better.  It still was a fairly icy style, not as rich and creamy as I'd like, not an interesting deep vanilla flavor, but it was hands down the best I've ever had from The Melt, and, with my own sprinkles + crunch coat + cannoli bits to dip it into, I was quite pleased.

This one did come from a location I hadn't visited before, the newest location at 1st & Market, and perhaps it had a newer machine?  I'll return to only this location in the future for soft serve!

Cookies & Cream Milkshake. $4.99. (August 2018).

When I visited for years, The Melt had only vanilla and chocolate milkshakes.  Now they have a few more: Snickerdoodle, Mint Chocolate Chip, and Cookies & Cream.  All can have malt added for $0.50.

A friend opted for a Cookies & Cream shake, which of course he shared with me, even though I had my own ice cream cone.

It was very thick, impossible to suck up at first.  As it warmed up, it became drinkable, but basically just separated into milk and ice cream.  It used the same vanilla base as my ice cream, and thus didn't have much flavor, and the milk was also very plain.  I think it likely had the same chocolate powder bits blended in, although they worked much better here, creating a decent cookies and cream flavor.

Overall?  Not very good, and it turns out, exactly what I thought about it last time: milky soft serve.  The price has been raised by more than $1, and $5 seems pretty high for a very generic milkshake, given that it is the same price as Roam, which serves organic local Straus Creamery shakes or Big Mouth Burgers, with local Mitchell's.

Original Review, August 2014

I've been to the Melt a number of times.  I've gone for breakfast for the egg and cheese melts and the oatmeal, and of course for lunch/dinner for the classic melts and soups.  The regular melts haven't ever really done it for me, but their breakfast melts are pretty tasty.  You can read about all my earlier adventures in my previous review.

I hadn't been to the Melt for months, and admittedly, most of my visits were very early on, so I was curious how they were doing.  They are clearly successful, as they have a slew of locations now, and a fleet of busses too!  They've also really refined the menu, giving far more customizations and ingredients to add-in.  If ever I feel like trying another melt, there are a few new ones I have my eyes on, including the breakfast ridiculousness of an Egg-In-A-Hole, in a waffle.

Anyway, the one part of the menu that I had somehow not yet explored was the desserts!  The original dessert menu had a few different dessert melts, I remember one was a pound cake with raspberry filling, another was a biscoff and fig jelly melt.  Those have both disappeared.  The only dessert melt remaining is the chocolate marshmallow s'more melt, which I keep meaning to try.

This time however, I was drawn in by their newest offerings: ice cream and milkshakes!  I grew up in the land of soft serve ice cream, and have been pretty saddened by San Francisco's general preference for soft serve froyo instead.  So I was eager to try out the soft serve.  And of course, I went on a milkshake crusade last summer, so I needed to see how The Melt's measured up.  And, I always like to bring things home for Ojan, so he got to try out the cookies.  Unfortunately, the ice cream products weren't hits, but the cookie was decent.

Vanilla Bean Milkshake. $3.95.

I started with a milkshake.  They offer only two flavors of milkshake, classic vanilla or chocolate.  Both are made with soft serve ice cream and milk.  In fact, that is all the vanilla milkshake seemed to be: just a bunch of the soft serve, sorta mixed up with milk.  It was way too thick to drink through the straw originally, so it really was just slightly milky soft serve.  Super strange.  As it warmed up, it didn't do so in a very nice way either, turning into a pool of milk on top.  It also didn't have much flavor.  Not that vanilla milkshakes are usually that interesting, but I was expecting more vanilla flavor, or something to make it enjoyable.

It reminded me in a lot of ways of the fairly crappy one I had from Del Taco last summer, but at least that one had whipped cream on top.  I desperately wanted to enjoy my milkshake, so when I got home, I decided to spruce it up.  Inspired by the absolutely delicious strawberry shake I had from Holy Grill, I grabbed a bunch of frozen strawberries from the freezer, threw them in, and got to work with my handy immersion blender.  It was better once it tasted like berries, but it was admittedly a bit melted at this point.

The price was about in range for all other milkshakes I've had in San Francisco, but it was not worth repeating.

Vanilla Bean Soft Serve Cone. $2.95.

Next I moved on to the soft serve ice cream.  Now, soft serve ice cream is an important thing to me.  I grew up in the land of soft serve.  I've had a lot of it over the years.  Moving to the West Coast, where people eat froyo instead, has been hard for me.  I'm always overjoyed when I see places that offer real soft serve ice cream!

They had only one flavor: vanilla.  Which makes me think that the chocolate milkshake is the same as the vanilla, just with syrup added.  They also offer once size.  And only in a cake cone (I imagine you could ask for a bowl?).

The cone was a decent size, not overwhelmingly big, not too small.  The ice cream was a nice creamy consistency.  But it was a bit sour.  And really didn't have any vanilla flavor.  It needed toppings, sprinkles at least!

For a place that is all about customizations, I'm surprised they haven't added toppings, or at least a few additional flavors.  This was an incredibly unremarkable cone.

Chocolate Chip Cookie.  $1.25.

Besides ice cream, I also seem to eat a lot of cookies.  I don't actually even like cookies that much, but Ojan does, and I'm always trying to find ones he likes.  I read good reviews of The Melt's cookies, and they were displayed prominently in front of me in the shop, so I figured we needed to try them.

They offer only one variety, chocolate chip.  Baked fresh in house daily.  Not bad for a grilled cheese shop!

I tried a few bites of it at room temperature first.  It was fairly soft, not cakey-soft, but not crispy either.  A good consistency.  It was loaded up with seemingly high quality chocolate chips.  Nice buttery taste.  Average thickness.  Not mind blowing, but not bad.  Just a good standard chocolate chip cookie, and it tasted very homemade.  I ate the second half after warming it up in the toaster oven, since a warm cookie, particularly one oozing with melty chocolate, is always better than a cold one.  And I may or may not have topped it with some whipped cream, just because.  I liked it much more warm.  I of course brought one home for Ojan as well, and he really enjoyed it, exclaiming that it was rather amazing how something so simple could make him so happy sometimes.

The cookies were a large size, and cheaper than what you find at most bakeries.  Ojan loved these, and although I wouldn't necessarily want another, he'd happily eat more.