On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Loading...
Had this at a work event and thought it was the coolest thing ever.
A small truck. Your choice of a cookie and ice cream and voila! Your own made to order ice cream sandwich.
I had the chocolate chip cookie w/vanilla bean ice cream. Delish!
Favorites:
ginger cookie/mexican chocolate ice cream
chocolate chip cookie/cinnamon ice cream
brioche/balsamic fig & mascarpone ice cream!
+ cool employees. :)
My cousin told me the ice cream is awesome so I had to try it. I was lucky enough to get the truck around my area in NoHo. Coolhaus has choices of different ice creams and different cookies for the pairings of their ice cream sandwiches. I decided to go with the mascarpone/fig ice cream with chocolate cookie and my bf had the peanut butter ice cream with chocolate cookie. Both were delicious! The ice cream was nice creamy, but the only small problem I had was the cookie was not chewy enough for my liking.
The ice cream sandwiches go for $3.75 each. Some people may think it's a little pricey, but I think it was a good price for the big scoop of ice cream it comes with.
I will definitely try to find the Coolhaus Truck again since they have a variety of unique ice cream flavors.
I love a good cookie. I also love good ice cream and since Coolhaus gets theirs from Milk, i knew it would be good. And believe me, I had every intention of getting an ice cream cookie sandwich. But i didn't. What i got was a straight up ice cream sandwich. I knew i was going to try the brown butter and candied bacon, as i enjoy the sweet/savory combos. But when i was deciding which cookie to choose, it dawned on me that brioche would make a perfect companion to my salty ice cream.
A heaping mound of sweet brown butter ice cream with large chunks of real bacon swirled in, pressed between two pillowy soft pieces of brioche bread. Amazing. And while i was eating it all i could think was i was eating some mutant ,sugary BLT.
Coolhaus needs to work on their corporate customer service.
I contacted Coolhaus back at the beginning of September to reserve their truck for a 1 hour block for my friends and I for our birthday party at Bigfoot West. Bigfoot west is a very popular new bar on the westside that is always packed on the weekend. And here's what went down....
"Hi Ben! We'd love to stop by. How does 10-11pm sound? The only logistical issue is parking - is it possible to reserve a spot for us? Haven't been there yet so not sure what the parking situation is like."
"We'll also have some new fall flavors on board ie pumpkin, almond, fig balsamic, yum!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
to which my response was
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Great ! I've seen trucks parked out front many times before as I live down the street, so doubt parking will be an issue. I'll talk to bigfoot west this week and get the parking information. "
"The fish lips sushi truck is coming also, and Marke5 might be coming for burgers. You'll be our only dessert truck, can't wait to try your new flavors!"
Best
Ben"
end of story right?
NOPE
I contacted the person i'd been speaking with one week ago (Oct 17th) via email to confirm a second time, yet she didn't write me back. So I called them the day of our event. To which she told me that since her truck had to drive from downtown LA; I now had to guarantee they would sell 40-50 sandwiches an hour. And was told that if they didn't I'd have to cover the difference!
This was never mentioned to me in advance, they had confirmed the event with me a month prior.
She had asked me one question in her previous confirmation email regarding parking. Now had she contacted me when I emailed her on the 17th I could have told her that she simply needed to talk to the valet on arrival to move any cars for her. Yet she never wrote me back...
Unprofessional!..., I had also specifically avoided calling any other trucks after she confirmed with me. And i'd told my other friends not to book any other dessert trucks, so that they wouldn't have any direct competition. I tried to find another truck to cover dessert for our party at the last minute when Colhaus backed out, however by that time it was to late. :(
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I did let Coolhaus know how unhappy i was, and how unprofessional i thought they had acted.
After one very frustrating conversation on the phone they called me back to say sorry, and offered to make things right in the future.
I left it at that and didn't expect to talk to them again.
Of course the truck didn't come by, but they actually went to the trouble of sending someone to our party with 10 ice cream sandwiches for the group. I thought that was pretty cool and totally didn't expect it, their sandwiches were indeed still yummy. Albeit slightly tainted with frustration from the above events. I do understand mistakes happen and we had a great time nonetheless, hopefully they will stick to their word with bookings from now on.
Had they come to bigfoot that night they would have made a killing, as the bar was near capacity with over 200 people.
No, I don't wear blue lipstick...Yes, my lips are still blue.. watch out for the food coloring in… Read more »
Expectation management.
I had higher hopes for Cool Haus.
I've been following them on twitter for quite some time. And the day came when we went face to face. Katrina S. and I stood in front of the truck, eyes wide with delight and slight confusion as to what combo to get. On that particular day, the secret flavor of the day happened to be bacon. Errrt! I'd be the only pig coming between me and my sammie, thank you very much. I decided on the chocolate chip cookie -cinnamon ice cream - oatmeal raisin cookie trifecta.
Katrina went for the ginger cookie and cinnamon ice cream combo.
I was immediately jealous when I saw the large crystallized ginger clunks in her cookie. My cookie tasted like something that came out of a pepperidge farm- whooops, did I just say that? Well the ice cream was nice and creamy, but it would be terribly sad for an ice cream truck to not deliver on their ice cream.
I'm going for a 3.5 and with full intentions for another go round and crossing my fingers for a secret flavor of egg nogg or pumpkin or something super festive and crazy. Heck, give me ugly sweater flavor and I'll hug you!
When I was a child, I loved the ice cream truck. So as an adult, I am not shocked to find that nothing has changed. Only as I have gotten older, the trucks have clearly become more sophisticated. The Coolhaus truck is the perfect combination of quality gourmet dessert foods and the whimsy that appeals to my ever present inner child.
Homemade cookies and fresh creative ice cream flavors make their ice cream sandwiches some of the best ice cream sandwiches I have ever had. One of my personal favorites, oatmeal cookies with peanut butter ice cream. The flavor of the day the last time I caught the Coolhaus truck was bacon butter ice cream. Of course, I decided to pass, but the girl I was with could not fight the feeling for some sweet creamy bacony goodness. Surprisingly, it was good.
The only downfall, $3.50 for an ice cream sandwich is a little steep, especially when I can go to Diddy Reese and get two fresh cookies filled with ice cream for half the price. Also, the rice paper wrapper, while eco friendly, creative and very cute, is not all that practical. I had ice cream dripping all over me only half way through. I had to even throw away about a quarter of my sandwich since it was getting too darn sticky.
In a digital world where the music box song of the ice cream truck has been replaced by the updates on your Twitter page, you bet I will be logging on and seeing if I can find you Coolhaus truck, you are just the right treat for a girl who will always be a kid at heart.
A great way to find more information about coolhaus--
http://coolhaus.tumblr.../
-they offer music suggestions, great articles about them, they're reinventing ways on how to approach their customers and addressing problems to fix them in the long one by commenting customers personally on facebook and on twitter.
Your information and feedback is vital in making CoolHaus better.
thats a great proactive approach to the food market and to overall business!
I LOVE COOLHAUS! Coolhaus is pretty innovative everything from their food to their postal service truck. The menu is pretty cool, they have various specials for winter they've had RED VELVET ICE CREAM NOM NOM NOMZZZZ. The best part of that sammie was I got it for free at a special event Coolhaus was at. Anyways, definitely try Coolhaus the sammies are about $3. The sammies are pretty good sized, and they come with edible eating wrappers w00t.
Dear Yelpers --
If you're god-honestly going to compare the level of desert quality of CoolHaus to Diddy Riese, please do us the favor of ceasing reviews of food. Seriously though, if your taste buds can't distinguish the obvious difference, then remain in Westwood, eat your Diddy Riese, and keep going to your Taco Tuesdays.
1 star off bc I agree with the futility of their edible paper, and yes the price is slightly steep, but is on par with what you'd be charged getting a gourmet desert @ Milk. I'm totally fine with that.
I thoroughly enjoyed my Coolhaus Sandy, and I don't know why everyone is being so darn harsh with the 3 stars. SO I have 3 things to say about Coolhaus.
1) Diddy maybe the king of ice cream sandies, but who wants to drive to Westwood park for $15 and wait in an hour line?
2) Coolhaus maybe $3.50, but when the truck is right there staring you in the face, with no line, it's hard to resist.
3) It's organic and freshly made. My god...fresh cookies are amazing no matter what anyone says.
I stumbled upon the Coolhaus truck at the Abbot Kinny Street Fair. After I admired their architectural schemed menu, I went for classic chocolate chip cookie and vanilia ice cream. Both ice cream and cookies were of high quality, and hit the spot! I split the one sandwich with someone else, and it was enough to satisfy both our ice cream cravings.
So in conclusion, I will be getting another ice cream sandwich from Coolhaus if I ever come across their little truck again!
The price is a bit steep, but not so bad that I would deduct a star. Anyway, the ice cream is delicious and more unconventional than most, and cookie pairing is fun. Fig and vinegar, bacon, pear and hazelnut, etc. Tried most of the cookies and they are all tasty. The brioche is a bit bready, but maybe that's what you're into. (In the Philippines they eat ice cream out of a hamburger bun... butter flavored ice cream, and I've seen corn flavor as well.)
I like this little truck's vibe. Saw them bringing a six pack of fat tire inside when parked down on Abbot Kinney. Didn't see them drinking it though so the guy was probably just getting some weekend shopping out of the way. ;) Hopefully that wasn't for the ice cream cause I've attempted making beer ice cream before, and it was far from successful.
So my Wife and I are driving down the street heading who knows where and L@@K the Coolhaus truck and NO line, OK...gotta give it a try.
Wow $3.50 each...Diddy Riese is only $1.50, so it's basically the same set up where you choose from a selection of different flavor cookies and ice cream to make the flavors you want.
My Wife chooses the Oatmeal Cookie with Strawberry Ice Cream and I choose the Sugar Cookie with Cinnamon Ice Cream, at first bite I notice that the cookies are too hard and tends to break up and fall apart (NOT GOOD) makes for sloppy eating, next I notice that the Ice Cream is a MUCH HIGHER QUALITY than Diddy Riese, but unfortunately for some reason it melted rather quickly.http://www.yelp.com/bi...
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
So overall...
Cookies, Diddy Riese WINS..........
Ice Cream, Coolhaus WINS..........
So is it worth the $3.50..NO I'd say $2.00 - $2.50 and you need to soften up your cookies so they don't fall apart when your eating it.
OH...and how I almost forgot about the edible paper they wrap it in, well it's edible so of course I ate it!, after the ice cream melted all over it the paper became soggy and easy to eat. Kinda like when you were in School and had those little cheat notes for your test then ate it to get rid of the evidence!, you know that you did it too.......just tastes like paper guess it's environmentally friendly!......
I was at the redull soap box race when I saw an ice cream truck.. and I suspected it was probably one of those twitter like creatures.
I had a cinnamon ice cream sandwich for $3.50, and it was good, but not GREAT. I've had better ice cream in the bay area (bi-rite creamery, ici) or even the interesting italian ice at frosties in cypress (orange county).
In sum, not bad, but not great.
Remember when you were a kid and the ice cream truck came rumbling down the street? Even though they sold the same ice cream you might have had in your own freezer there was an excitement in chasing down the truck and getting some frozen novelty.
Now, as an adult coolhaus captures the same feeling with an adult spin. Instead of pop goes the weazel blaring from speakers coolhaus draws you out of your apartment with a twitter blast and instead of orange pushups they offer up blood orange sorbet between two delicious cookies. But it is still that same excitement of tracking down the truck and getting something tastey.
I think the best time I had coolhaus was when they appeared in Century City recently. Nothing can turn around a slow day at the office like tracking down the ice cream truck. And they had the fall flavor I hoped for...PUMPKIN. It was great because it wasn't overly sweet. And their cookies are some moist. When I brought it back to the office, my coworkers were all ohing and awing over the huge scoop of ice cream I was carrying between two cookies.
YUM!
Growing up as a kid, it was de rigeur to run after Mom and Dad for spare change once we heard the familiar sound of the ice cream truck coming from down the street. Once it stopped, we'd wait in line anticipating when we could get to the window and order our favorite icy treat whether it be a strawberry cheesecake bar, the creamsicle bar, the fudgesicle, the pushups or the always popular ice cream sandwich. These ice cream trucks are still around, but today, one ice cream truck in particular has upped the ante and goes by the name of Coolhaus.
Coolhaus is the first project by Freya Estreller and Natasha Case under their umbrella organization that they call Farchitecture, which is shorthand for food + architecture. Natasha, who's an architect, came up with this concept of marrying food and architecture while in grad school and finally fully realized it in the form of an ice cream sandwich and edible wrapper at a craft fair while working for Walt Disney Imagineering. Her roommate Freya, who's a real estate broker, soon came on board and after much experimentation, they launched Coolhaus in a 1984 renovated postal truck at the Coachella Festival this year. If you'd like to find out more, please click here to read the LAist interview.
My first experience with Coolhaus happened as a result of one of my Assistant Organizers from my dining group, arranging a private tasting with Coolhaus on a sunny afternoon in July. Our sampling was going to include halves of 6 different ice cream cookie sandwiches. It started with Freya giving us a little background about Coolhaus. She also further explained how the ice cream cookie sandwich was a perfect representation of architecture because it had a floor, a roof and four walls and as such, each of them were named after a well-known architect. After that short talk, we were ready to begin.
The first one up was the Mintimalism, a chocolate cookie with mint chip ice cream. That chocolate cookie was quite rich and almost had a cakey brownie quality to it. I would have enjoyed it a lot more if the cookie wasn't so hard to bite into. Unfortunately, the Mintimalisms were prepared ahead of time, which meant they had time to sit in the freezer and harden. Freya did mention that in the future, they might steer clear of preparing ice cream sandwiches too far in advance, noting that they aren't as enjoyable to eat.
Up next was the Frank Behry which was a sugar cookie with strawberry ice cream. It was a nice pairing of sweet and tart and it doesn't hurt that I love sugar cookies, but like the Mintimalism, it was still a little bit too frozen. One suggestion though? Why not take the sugar cookie to the next level and have one ice cream cookie sandwich with snickerdoodles instead? I'd be first in line.
The Richard Meyer Lemon Ginger was third on the rotation and was my favorite of the whole tasting. By this time, Freya and Natasha were putting together the cookie sandwiches to order, which meant the cookies were nice and soft. The spice of the ginger and the tartness of the lemon really did it for me. My palate shies away from the bland so this particular ice cream cookie sandwich is one I'd definitely order again plus it wasn't too sweet.
Next on the agenda was the IM-Peinutbutter which was a double dose of peanut butter in both cookie and ice cream form. When it comes to peanut butter, I've been known to eat a spoonful or two right out of the jar. In this case, it was just too much of an overload for me. I would have preferred one or the other, but not both. I did seem to be the minority of the group since a lot of people were digging it.
Next to last was the Mies Vanilla Rohe, chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream. Simply, this was a classic and like most classics, it didn't fail to please.
To end this prolonged sugar rush that probably lasted the rest of the day, we were treated to the Renzo Apple Piano, which was an oatmeal cookie with an apple pie ice cream. This particular sandwich is usually sold exclusively at Wurstkuche, so this was an unexpected treat. What made this one stand out was that it was wrapped in an edible rice paper with an image printed using food coloring of Bergamot Station, the location of an event they were going to later that night. Again, I think I was in the minority because for me, this sandwich was way to sweet. The oatmeal cookie itself was fine, but the ice cream was a little too much for me. One thing to mention is that all the ice cream is now coming from Milk in Los Angeles.
Overall, Coolhaus did put a smile on my face and the quality of the cookies and the ice cream is definitely not something you'd find on your local music tinkling ice cream truck.
To see review w/pics, go to:
http://pleasurepalate....
It looks like LA's trend for food trucks is stilllll going strong.
Coolhaus sets itself apart from other ice cream trucks (because, you know, those have been around before Kogi) with its architectural theme.
I wanted to love this place. The girls love how tiny the truck is (summoning WAH! noises because they are Korean), I got a $ .50 / sandwich discount for finding out the secret password (they linked to a .jpg of a train station and asked people to ID it). All of it is really charming.
They've got some nice flavor concepts, like chai, caramel + sea salt, and earl grey, but unfortunately, for the price, I don't think the quality of the ice cream met my expectations. I'm sure that, if they keep working on their ice cream, Coolhaus will be something great.
Trendy? Yes
Yummy? Yes
Worth $3.50? No
It is a scrumptious treat, but it's a lot to shell out for something that the size of a bar of soap.
I got the chocolate cookie with cinnamon ice cream. The cookie was like a flat brownie and the ice cream was very creamy.
If it were $2.50, I'd probably twitter the truck.
FYI, don't waste your money on the edible wrapper. I think a real wrapper would have tasted better.
Thank God I'm a glutton, because even when I was dirt broke, and saw the Coolhaus Truck at the DTLAAW, I ran to the nearest ATM (which was by the truck), and pulled out $20 on credit. LOL. Yes, that's how much of a glutton I am. I ordered the Bacon and Brown Butter ice cream and had it in between a brioche bun. Awesomeness. I had a cold, so I couldn't even taste that well, but it was still awesome! BTW, ice cream is the worst thing you can have when you a cold, so I get extra brownie points for having Coolhaus while sick. Love Cool Haus, and I love it even more, because I have an architect in the family, so Coolhaus, and their architecturally inspired desserts definitely takes the cake.
I like the philosophy behind Coolhaus a whole lot; not only is loyalty on Twitter frequently rewarded with a password good for shaving about 50 cents from one's purchase (resulting in a $3.00 artisan ice cream treat), but said password, decor and flavor-gimmicks tend to relate back to art, architecture and culture on one level or another.
I support the arts. I also ardently support seemingly-kooky flavor-mashups.
For instance, at Barnsdall Park's "Beyond Eden" this weekend, I opted for Brown Butter & Bacon ice cream sandwiched between two chewy sugar cookies. I found that the cookie architects are happy to provide a cup or scoop the ice cream onto separate cookies halves in the event that you're sharing, or happen to be a slow eater. The edible wrapper is a nice touch. Go green; eat your wrapper, ink and all.
This is one ice cream truck I'll happily go out of my way for.
Wow. Not sure what to say about all of these reviews. I've never had this brick & mortar place that everybody is talking about, but Coolhaus came out to the ALC training ride this past Saturday and, even though I'm on a diet, I decided to splurge.
WOW! is all I can say! I had the chocolate chip cookies (great flavor, fresh, good texture) with mint chocolate chip ice cream. The ice cream was pure heaven - it had actual pieces of mint leaves in it and tasted so fresh it was like they just made it.
The only downside is that I've been Jonesing for one since Saturday and can't make it to get one anytime soon!
It's like an old school ice cream truck on steroids!
The cookies are delish, the ice cream is delish and the ladies who own the thing are cool and friendly as hell.
I of course went for the choc ice cream / choc cookie combo and was licking my fingers well after the ice cream had gone.
Coolhaus? That supposed to be German or Swedish?
http://www.youtube.com...
http://www.youtube.com...
I do have to give props to these guys for making a special appearance at Akbar just for us Yelpers, so definitely some brownie points there
First of all, lemme just tell you about the truck. It ain't no full size taco truck like Kogi or El Taquito Mexicano. This is seriously the SmartCar of food trucks. It's almost like a clown car.... Like you expect 10 people to come climbing out of there (not that 10 people would fit in a normal sized taco truck, depending on the layout.
Pretty straight forward concept. Not new either. Diddy Reese IMO is still the king of ice cream sandwiches, then Milk has its originality with the use of large macarons instead of conventional cookies, and then there's these guys, who were quick to jump on the mobile/food truck phenomenon that has swept LA and other major metropolitan areas like a virus in these grueling economic times. It also helps that its summer and its freakin' hotter than an armpit up in here. Yes, I just said it's hotter than an armpit. Soak on that visual for a second. You good? Ok... moving along
You have a choice of 5 cookies: chocolate chip, chocolate, oatmeal, sugar, and ginger cookie. Then you have a pick of maybe 10 different flavors of ice cream, ranging from vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, cinnamon, mint chocolate chip, and a few others, including a... la couv... earl grey.
I opted to mint chocolate chip on a chocolate chip cookie. Within 30 seconds, I had my sandwich, semi wrapped in an edible wrapper. Total damage, a Yelper special price (for the event) of SHHHHH!.. $3.00.
Ok.. so speaking about the edible wrapper... neat idea, but is it really necessary? I mean, I guess it works so you don't have to worry about throwing out any trash, which for a food truck would be a little hard to manage. Just a novelty I guess.
Other people got other combinations such as cinnamon on a sugar cookie (good call Laura) and peanut butter on oatmeal. Maybe I should've gotten one of those
My initial impression: not bad. Its definitely a great way to beat the heat. My final impression: I dunno if I'd be willing to pay $3+ for something smaller than what I could potentially get at Diddy Reese for half the price, but I did concede to the fact that it being mobile does help justify the price a little bit.
Definitely wouldn't mind giving it another try to try out another combination, but I'm not about ready to go hunt it down unless I know I might be in the vicinity.
Coolhaus rocks the block with their organic ice cream and homemade cookie combos all cleverly named with an architectural spin. With ice cream like cinnamon, peanut butter, mint and a sinfully rich chocolate and cookies like oatmeal, sugar and chocolate chip, the combination options are nearly limitless. Goodies aside, the truck alone merits five-stars. Can't think of much else I'd rather have dripping from my face and fingers on a hot summer day.
The only thing that could make this better is if they added my street to their regular route. But then, I'd eat ice cream sammiches every day. And I wouldn't be able to get into any of my clothes. And I'd have to buy all new ones. Or I'd just have eat my ice cream nekkie. And then I might get arrested. And that could get mighty 'spensive. And I don't look very good in orange. So yeah, this is as good as it gets!
The idea of an ice cream truck? Not so new or cool.
Idea of a twittering ice cream truck that's architecturally themed and has rotating flavors of unique cookies and ice cream from Milk? Pretty cool!
I was on the bus on the way back home from downtown LA when I check my twitter on my blackberry and see that Coolhaus had updated saying that they were right outside my busstop by USC! I'd been following them for awhile but they'd never even come close to USC so I definitely wanted to try it and see what all the buzz about this truck was about. So when I got off at my stop I grabbed my bike and headed over to the cute little truck (it's so tiny, compared to the Bool and BullKogi ones across the street from it) and talked to the guy inside there.
He let me try three different types of ice cream - Earl Grey ice cream, Blood Orange sorbet, and Peanut Butter ice cream. He explained that they're the ones that come up with the flavors but Milk is the one that actually makes them, which seems pretty cool to me. They have cool flavors that rotate on a daily basis (kinda like Scoops), and different types of cookies to put the ice cream in (like Diddy Riese!). I later checked their website and I wish they'd had their Chai or Sea Salt Caramel because I'd have wanted to try those. Or at least that the guy would've informed me that their special of the day was Coffee and Bacon ice cream.
I ended up getting the earl grey on ginger cookies. It was $3.50 (I wish I'd checked my twitter online because then I would've seen the password for 50 cents off), which is kind of pricey but the sandwich is huge and the flavors are unique and not what you'd get at a regular ice cream place. I also wish the cookies were softer because they were kind of hard and made it difficult to eat the ice cream sandwich at once, so I wrapped it up in foil the guy gave me and took it home to eat. The edible wrappers are really good after you wipe some of the melted ice cream on their - tastes like a wafer.
Overall, good ice cream experience. Thank goodness they don't come around all the time because then I'd be broke and chubs, but the once in awhile that they roll around USC I'd love to try their new flavors!
Dear Coolhaus truck:
Do you happen to know of a little place called "Diddy Riese" (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) in Westwood? You know, Diddy Riese - that place that has its own tier on my personal food pyramid and has been building ice cream sandwiches since the beginning of time?
I'm sorry, but you just can't compete.
I'll admit, your flavors are more exotic (e.g. my earl grey tea flavored ice cream with sugar cookies) and you may have that cool edible paper, but honestly now...$3.50 for an ice cream sandwich? When Diddy Riese bumped their prices to a $1.25 way back when, I was angry enough! Couple that with the inconvenience of having to track you down, I might as well go to Scoops (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) and buy a couple cookies along the way.
Please don't take this personally, I'm not saying you're bad...I'm just saying that I'll be saving my $3.50 for another treat. Sorry.
Sincerely,
Felicia
Ice cream is my favorite food/dessert/treat.....whatever you wanna call it. I love ice cream, i love ice cream trucks, i love ice cream sammiches, i love ice cream cones and I wanted to love Coolhaus. It's definitely more hip than your friendly neighborhood mexican man peddling store bought ice cream bars to all the kids (and me) in your neighborhood; but unfortunately, I don't think it's worth following something on Twitter and paying $3 for an ice cream sandwich.
I'm not on Twitter, I don't wanna be on Twitter, I'm not even on Facebook for christ's sake. So, we were lucky enough to have Coolhaus right outside our yelp event, yay! You can choose between 5 cookies and 8 ice creams to make whatever crazy combo your imagination can come up with. The possibilities are endless. I got mint chip with chocolate cookies, and my love got strawberry ice cream with chocolate chip cookies. After a very very short wait time, you are presented with a delicious treat wrapped in a themed edible wrapper!
The ice cream was tasty but melted very very quickly in the hot los angelesian heat. The cookies were also good. I just don't know if its worth all the effort. I would probably rather go to rite aid and get a gallon of thrifty mint chip with some microwaved chocolate sauce anyway, but I'm awesome like that! This truck is a tasty novelty and they will do well! Also, I ate part of the wrapper, and I didn't hate it! I'm not saying I would eat a whole ream of the paper, but it was a cute touch!
For anyone who knows me well, it shouldn't be hard to deduce that if there is an ice cream truck anywhere in the general vicinity, I will FIND IT.
Not that ice cream trucks are some sort of new concept like oh, say, teriyaki hamburger trucks with rice patties or something. I've been chasing these babies for years now. I was the trendsetter kid with two shiny new quarters on the corner every day waiting for that out of tune ring to come roarin' down the corner. So yeah. Don't mess with me. I know my frozen concoctions, bish.
Moving on.... here comes Coolhaus - ice cream for right angle lovers with a sweettooth (apparently). I'm not so sure where the whole architect theme comes in here? I was half expecting the sandwiches to come out shaped like little houses or something, but alas, they are just two freshly baked cookies with a scoop of the cold milky stuff smooshed in-between.
At $3.50, which includes a genius edible wrapper saving your hands from embarrassing public licking, I still think the price is a bit steep. Considering Diddy Riese as the competition, it's almost double the price at half the size. Gas inflation, I suppose? Nevertheless, the sammy was pretty damn good. I really don't need more than a few square inches of goodness here, and my oatmeal cookies + honeyhock ice cream tasted nothing less than fresh and unique. But on the flip side, if I ever come upon a taco/Coolhaus truck face-off with exactly $3.50 in hand...Well, let's just say I might have to think twice about gastrointestinal value.
Help me with this concept here... get a cool ice cream truck, have unique ice cream flavors, put it on some good cookies and then over charge everyone that wants one?
Don't get me wrong, the ice cream is good and so is the cookie but $3.50 for something that small? No thanks.
Do you know how much i can get for $3.50? That's almost 12 ounces from yogurtland, almost 3 ice cream sandwiches from Diddy Riese, and a gallon of premium gas!
This was on the night that we chased down both Don Chow and Coolhaus so it was a fun-filled night of twittering. It was 3 minutes till 11 and we were scared that Coolhaus was going to pack up and go so we illegally parked on the streets of LA and ran out trying to get our fill of ice cream sandwiches.
The truck itself is the cutest thing ever. I love the concept and I love that the founders themselves are architects building the ultimate cookie sandwich. However, the execution fell a little short. First, the ice cream melts way too quickly. We ate it during a breezy night so the weather wasn't affecting it... perhaps they were closing up shop? Second, the cookies are WAY too sweet. Once you stick that thing in your mouth, it's like pure sugar. For some that might be "heaven" but at least for me, it was too much to handle. We ordered the toffee ice cream (I can't remember the exact name) with real toffee chunks with two sugar cookies. At $3.50 a pop, I don't think that it's worth it.
I can't deny it's trendiness and just overall concept but I don't think I would necessarily chase down coolhaus again. Definitely a good check off the list though.
Note: I really do like their edible paper though :)
Continuing on the theme of looking for great ice cream places...I recently discovered mobile ice cream with the Coolhaus ice cream truck. I first got a taste after the Yelp Duderino Party and thought, "this is convenient, I was fiending for ice cream and this truck is parked right in front of my face." Ice cream is great by itself but when it comes to you its at least 10,000 times better.
I should let it be known that my two favorite desserts are cookies and ice cream. Naturally, I was super excited to try the Coolhaus ice cream sandwiches..http://www.yelp.com/bi...
They have some interesting flavors like Earl Grey and apparently they switch them up from time to time. Plus they have some sweet cookie flavors like cinnamon and oatmeal.
I got the Coffee flavor ice cream mashed in between two Chocolate Chip cookies for $3 but then I had to add on the .50 to get the edible wrapper which was a neat treat. (It has a texture like shrimp chips that you get from Asian markets but without flavor and it ends up melting in your mouth)
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
But the stuff can get messy as the cookies are on the small side (that pic makes me look like I have giant hands) and the ice cream just overflows as you bite into it. Luckily, they have tons of napkins and hand sanitizer on hand.
The only problem is...I like getting my money's worth and these sandwiches are on the small side compared to other ice cream sandwich places. I guess you pay to have the ice cream conveniently able to move on a moment's notice to a place near you in a funky looking ice cream truck but I like having huge cookies and lots of ice cream.
I have to give them a 3.5 but closer to a 4. Coolhaus is definitely fun to try but after the novelty wears off, the edible ink doesn't so you're left smacking your lips wanting more and wondering how to get this black stuff off your lips and tongue.
I loved it!
$3.50 is a bit pricey, but the fresh ice cream sandwiches are totally worth it.
I got to try two delicious combos: mac nut ice cream with ginger cookie and then a rich red wine ice cream with double chocolate cookie.
Needless to say, I was paying the lactose gods that evening.
I had never heard of Coolhaus until last week when I attended the Yelp Duderino Party. I thought the petite pink and white ice cream truck was really cute, but didn't think their ice cream sandwiches were anything special. Granted, I do have a natural bias against ice cream sandwiches but I did want to give Coolhaus a shot. For $3 a pop, I don't think it's worth it. I could get a whole thing of ice cream from Ralph's at that price. I guess it was just the novelty of ordering ice cream from two really cute girls driving around in a truck and the fact that the sandwiches come wrapped in edible rice paper that intrigued me.
Coolhaus, thanks for showing up at our Yelp event, but I don't think you and I have any chemistry so I guess it's "Goodbye" for us.
I still don't really understand the food-out-of-a-truck craze, but I live near The Brig, which is a prime site for catching food served out of a truck. Kogi, Let's Be Frank, The Green Truck and now Coolhaus have all graced my street. And often these trucks are around at times when lines of crazed food-out-of-truck fanatics are not. Cause lines to buy food from a truck are not what I'm all about.
I've tried Coolhaus ice cream sandwiches twice. I got a free sandwich in connection with the 500 days of summer promotion about a month ago and I bought a sandwich this weekend as a 4th of July treat. I had mint chocolate chip in between chocolate cookies and I had cinnamon ice cream between oatmeal cookies. Both sandwiches were tasty. Not worth waiting in a line for, but nice sunny day treats. I didn't find the ice cream to be overly icey -- I'd say it is fairly typical texture for ice cream. The first day was rather warm and the ice cream melted super fast. Luckily I'm not above walking down the street with drips of mint chocolate chip dripping down my leg. Cause I'm classy like that.
Cute idea. Fine execution. But really, why wait in a line for an ice cream sandwich? Sometimes I think LA folks need lines to tell them what to think is cool.
It's aight...
I had a Coolhaus ice-cream sandwich at a park in Old Town Pasadena today, which was made to order with a scoop of dirty mint ice-cream smushed between 2 chocolate cookies, all wrapped in an edible wrapper (no trash - nice touch).
The concept is definitely cool, you get to select the cookie (ginger, chocolate, oatmeal, chocolate chip, sugar) and ice-cream (powell, lemon, vanilla, cinnamon, mint, earl grey) to suit your personal tastes, but unfortunately the ice-cream was not the best I've ever had. The dirty mint was made with real mint leaves, so unfortunately the flavor was more grassy than minty. The chocolate cookies were fresh and soft-baked, but there was too much cookie and not enough ice-cream. I ended up eating all of the ice-cream and was left with 2 half eaten halves of chocolate cookie.
Total price $3.50. Overall it was decent, but not stuff ice-cream dreams are made of.
I see the truck regularly in my hood and I have been tempted to just knock on her door! I finally had the chance to try it during the Atwater Village Fest.
Knowing the ice cream is organic helps. The ice cream (I had strawberry) was good but the cookie (chocolate) was mediocre. It was also tough for me to eat. I consumed less than 1/2 and then had to throw the rest away. I suppose I would have appreciated it more if I could have taken the rest home; that's a downside to food you eat on the street. The 'to go' options are pretty limited.
It's cute, it's kitsch and I'm sure she'll have continued success
Driving up the hill to Barnsdall park last Friday...we spotted the Cool Haus ice cream truck in front of us...
Me: (Screams like a girl) points at truck: Ice Cream!!
BFF: (who has never heard of Cool Haus::stunned::) WTH! I'm driving...
I had to remind her the whole psycho-babble about how we always crave and lust for the things that are not always available to us 24/7...and well... Cool Haus is just one of those trucks...you should probably chase at least once.
For $3 a sandwich...not bad
I couldn't help but giggle when I read somewhere in their website how they use organic ingredients ...when possible...Thanks for the honesty!!! Cool Haus = Organic Ice cream (sometimes!)
I bought myself a chocolate cookie and honeyhock ice cream and shoved a Sugar cookie and cinnamon ice cream in my BFF's mouth. Then 2 minutes later...I realized..I should've had the sugar/cinnamon one since the chocolate cookie was overly sweet. Stealing could have been an option...
BTW, for an extra 0.50 cents...you can add an edible wrapper...not that u need it...but it looks cool.
Ice Cream: not creamy/milky...it had more of an icy/sherbet texture to it.
Eating the sandwich can be a bit of a mess...may I suggest extra napkins...
Okay so...I probably won't end up stalking this truck...but if I ever run into it again...I wouldn't hesitate to try the other flavahz
Our final stop on our Venice food truck tour. What a way to end a hot summer evening then with Ice Cream Sandwiches!
It was pretty cool considering Kogi and Cool Haus were parked outside the Brig, I guess I won't go into a whole lot of detail into slapping some ice cream inside of a cookie but I will say it was really good. While standing in line we noticed an unlabelled news van prepping for a shoot. Then out of no where Mark Thompson jumped out like a ninja and started reporting! I fear this is the downhill spiral for this little truck. I await the deluge of reviews about hype and long lines.
I will say the ice cream was great the cookies were great and it was $3.50.I finally have nothing to complain about?
I was wandering around LACMA on this lovely afternoon and as I was heading to my car across Wilshire, I saw this tiny, tiny silver truck with a pink pop top one block over... surrounded by about 20 people.
Of course my curiosity piqued as this is the summer of the trendy food truck. Coolhaus. I've heard of this mobile ice cream shoppe on wheels.
Step one: Choose your cookies - Chocolate.
Step two: Choose your ice cream - Chocolate Mint.
My sweet sandwich did hit the spot but, $3.50? For a hot day, ok. For the convenience, ok. To say I tried it, ok. For the final product, ehhh... It was good but I think I was expecting "over the top" from all the hype. But, then, it's L.A. we're used to paying a bit more to be trendy, ok.
Um, YUM. Enough said.
When people are visiting LA and ask me where to…
My personal favorites when it comes to the…
You mean I have to go chasing these things down?…
I consider myself to be an authority on two things…
Here's a list of the mobile eateries that I've had…
Some of my favorite dining destinations in the…
Which ones are worth the hype and whihch ones are…
Oooooh, summertime. Where to go when you're…
