Ben & Jerry’s

Every time I think of Ben & Jerry’s icecream I get those Leo Sayer song lyrics in my head ‘You make me feel like dancing, I wanna dance the night away’. Yep… every time. I hope that tune is in your head now too.
Anywho, back to the icecream! Delicious. Get in my mouth right now you little balls of creamy flavour explosion! Om nom nom! I thoroughly enjoy the massive stoner references too in the icecreams that I think the real Ben and Jerry probably had a significant influence in (pretty sure those dudes were big time Cheech and Chong fans back in the day). ‘Hazed and Confused’, ‘Half Baked’, ‘Cherry Garcia’ etc. aaaah so amusing.
‘Hazed and Confused’ actually tastes like someone stuck a jar of Nutella in there and added fairy dust and sparkles to it just to make it extra special. It’s my fave! ‘Salted Blondie’ is also tops with it’s salty caramel sweetness and all round happy joy joy good times. They’re perfect to share with somebody who you really really like. Don’t share B&J’s with no ‘acquaintance’. Only BFF’s need apply here thank you very much.
My 1 star off is simply for the price as it’s bloody expensive! 2 scoops is $ 7.20 and 3 scoops is *gulp* $ 9.20. With some really fantastic icecream places around it’s getting more and more competitive. Therefore B&J’s is a sometimes treat.
The staff are lovely and they let you try numerous flavours too. My kind of people. It’s situated next to the Hoyts Norwood cinemas so you can grab some scoops while you wait for your overhyped action film with a screenplay that could have been written by a trained monkey. It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times…
I give Ben & Jerry’s 4 stars of amusing ‘stoner reference’ goodness.

My first visit to a Ben & Jerry’s, so all new to me, of the two ice creams I tried the Peanut Butter Pretzel Batter and the New York Super Fudge Chunk flavours, my favourite was the Peanut Butter one, the saltiness of the peanut butter and pretzel batter made this really good.
One tip, read the ingredients of the ice creams closely, some are long to read but there are some with nuts in them, not really an issue for me but came as a surprise as I didn’t read the whole description.
One gripe, I feel $ 7.20 for a two-​scoop cup or cone is a bit steep, the cup I had wasn’t filled, there were gaps, other places will fill the cup and pile on more for less $ than here.
A good option if you don’t feel like sitting in a crowded gelato store but there is only one sitting bench here as well so it’s a grab ‘n’ go setup.

Let’s face it-​there are a lotta’ choices for ice cream these days. And they are all pretty much good too.
But Ben & Jerry’s has always been, for me, the cream of the crop (ouch…sorry).
So, I was delighted last night when I saw that they had a scoop shop next to the lobby in Hoyt’s Norwood cinema. We were on our way to a free promotional screening for a new movie and made immediate plans for a post-​movie scoop.
I had been to other Ben & Jerry’s in Australia, and even the Ben & Jerry’s movie night at Glenelg (Uh Oh, movies + Ben & Jerry’s – I see a pattern). But they had never had my favourite: Cherry Garcia.
Named in honour of Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead (another favourite), it has large flakes of chocolate fudge and big chunks of dark cherries that flavour the vanilla base. But alas, it seemed nowhere to be found. My wife even said she thought they had discontinued it. «No,» I protested, «Jerry may be discontinued, but Cherry Garcia will live forever!»
And last night, up there on the menu in big sweet letters, there it was.
Now, if you’ve never had B&J ice cream before, I’d recommend picking a flavour that suits you and just getting a small or regular serve. The ice cream, in any flavour, tends to be rich, thick and full of flavours and sweetness. You won’t find the pre-​packs on the diet aisle, kiddo.
After you have tried one or two flavours, you’re ready to graduate to one of their larger desserts, but those are often best split with a friend.
So how was my Cherry Garcia. Like most things great in the world, it lived up to my expectations in every way and was every bit as good as the memory. Few things can stand the test of time like a Ben & Jerry’s scoop.
The service was cheerful and the scoop shop neat and tidy. There’s a large group table and more seating in the theatre lobby. And it’s all air conditioned, so your scoop doesn’t turn to soup before you finish.
So if you’re in Norwood, treat yourself.
Eat, drink and be merry – but not too much. JD