At The Bombay Report, we apply the scientific method to our expertise in the culinary arts, to answer questions that have plagued humanity for decades, and even some that have pestered us for mere minutes. Is Captain Morgan a better rum than Old Monk? Is it possible to scam the #1 restaurant in the country? And finally; What are the defining attributes of a shady bar? Some of the most pressing questions of our time. Our quest to answer humanity’s most urgent questions led us to this; What is the most efficient ice cream delivery system? We’ve all eaten ice cream from a cup or a cone, or by licking it off the back of our wrists. But if you’re really lucky, you might find a place that subverts the whole cup and cone duopoly for something far more exciting. This is the true story of the cone wars, and three great institutions that dared to stand up for what they believed in, however trivial it might be.
Where’s My Cone, Bandra
If you want to eat an ice cream here, you have to have it in between two toasty cookies, which are pretty damn amazing in their own right. Yes, the cookies will melt the ice cream in under a minute and make your hands stickier than a railing at Dadar station, but that’s the price you pay for trying something new. To be honest, as much as we enjoyed the ice cream and cookies, they don’t really go together too well since the cookies do an awful job of of keeping the ice cream in place. Where’s My Cone is the ideal choice for people who like ice cream, but also don’t mind walking home with a slightly sticky sensation down to their elbows.
The Budapest Bakehouse, Khar
For a place whose entire business model revolves around the crowds drunkenly stumbling out of Khar Social, The Budapest Bakehouse is pretty incredible. They serve their ice creams, not in a traditional cone, but rather what appears to be a chimney made out of freshly baked bread. This may seem odd, but it’s actually a kind of Hungarian street food. Budapest Bakehouse’s version of the cone is far more absorbent and tougher than the standard wafer or waffle and is excellent at complementing the flavours of whatever you put in it; sweet or savoury.
K Rustom, Churchgate
K Rustom has seemingly mastered the laws of chemistry, and has over 40 flavours of ice cream, from rum and raisin to paan. If this wasn’t enough, they’ve also somehow perfected the science of ice creams that never seem to melt, regardless of how hot it is outside, meaning the wafer thin biscuits on either side are actually of some use. K Rustom’s ice cream sandwiches are by far the simplest and most enjoyable to eat. The ice cream is cooled to a temperature that makes it firm, yet not too hard to bite into. The wafer biscuits have no real flavour of their own, but they’re ergonomically designed to be the exact same size as the block of ice cream, and their corrugated surface does an excellent job of locking the ice cream in its place, so it doesn’t shoot out every time you try to take a bite. Truly a feat of ice cream engineering.
Do you prefer your ice cream on a stick? Maybe you’re more a waffle cone kinda guy. Or do you eat ice cream straight out of a bowl like some sort of unimaginative loser? Tell us on Instagram and we’ll be sure to take your answers into serious consideration.
