Carmela Ice Cream

With today's helllishly hot weather, I kind of wish I was back in Pasadena...

if only to have more ice cream from this place...

Carmela, which rolls off the tongue beautifully....

Fresh from our Burmese lunch at Daw Yee Myanmar Cafe, we ventured into D's "other 'hood", Pasadena...

We parked for free across the street where there was a trifecta of places to visit: House of Cookies (which we sadly had to forfeit due to lack of time), House of Basturma (post is forthcoming) and Carmela Ice Cream...

Carmela Ice Cream is an "artisanal creamery" which has garnered many a rave review. Artisanal usually means "more expensive" and yes, while the prices were on the steeper side, I felt it was well worth it. The creamery iteself is not that large, just enough room to take your order and then, eat it outside.

In addition to ice cream, they also sold homemade marshmallows. chocolate covered coffee beans, caramel sauce and a few other items I don't quite remember.

D wanted to try their affogato which was made with espresso from a local coffee place which we would soon be visiting.

Their flavors of the day:


We all shared two smalls, with up to two flavors in each cup.


The remains of the delicious affogato...

Unfortunately, there wasn't anywhere to sit outside; the lone bench was occupied by the family who came before us. We ended up congregating in the meager shade of the push cart's umbrella.

Out two ice creams with housemade waffles. One the left, Intelligentsia Espresso with Salted Caramel; on the right, Toasted Almond with Earl Grey (TORC's choice)...

I loved how strong the Intelligentsia espresso was...complete with coffee nibs. Underneath was their luscious salted caramel that I really enjoyed; KD was not a fan of the saltiness though.

As for the Earl Grey, I couldn't really detect the "tea" flavor in there, but preferred the other flavor shared in that cup much more, the Toasted Almond. Every flavor was distinct and enjoyed (well, except for that tea flavor).

Who else went to Carmela?
Cathy of Mmm Yoso went early last year during one of her Pasadena float trips, as well as LA food bloggers, Gastronomer and  njinla

Carmela Ice Cream
2495 E. Washington Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91104
(626) 797-1405

www.carmelaicecream.com

Here's a few cool articles and writeups:
Carmela ice cream and sorbet,Hometown Pasadena, April 2011
Carmela ice cream class, Oh Joy Blogs, July 2011
Learning hospitality one scoop at a time,  PCC Courier, April 2, 2014

If you have the time, you can even see how they make their ice cream in this video:

OMG, I want some NOW!

Literally a few steps away was a Middle Eastern eatery where I wanted to go to get a little something for Bert..