Little Baby’s – Balasmic Banana

Philly’s Interesting Ice Cream

In North Philedelphia, if I was born and raised, this where I’d likely spend most of my days.

Little Baby’s Ice Cream is an unusual ice cream spot to say the least. They are daring with their creations, aren’t afraid of failure, and have a generally good consistency in terms of texture and creaminess. Furthermore, alongside having one of the top 5 most interesting good flavors I’ve ever tried, they also have one of the top 5 most interesting bad flavors too. Fortunately, this time around we will be discussing the former.

Balsamic Banana Flavor Profile

This one is tough to describe. I’ve had strawberry balsamic ice cream in the past, and have absolutely loved it. I’d describe those (strawberry balsamic) as a sweet, with a pinch of tart and some bitterness on the backend from the vinegar-balsamic.

Here, it’s slightly different. Banana doesn’t contain citric acid like strawberries, so the tart bitter combo isn’t apparent here. Also, unlike strawberry balsamics which can be found in salad dressings, among other noted gourmet dishes, banana balsamic really isn’t found anywhere else.

With the balance of these two seemingly counteracting flavors, you get this strange mix of a light banana and the fancy vinegar type of taste that somehow makes the whole creation seem… gourmet? But what’s important though is not the actual concepts of banana and balsamic, but the quantities in which they are consumed. Because believe it or not, the balsamic isn’t distributed evenly throughout the scoop. So there may be a pocket of intense balsamic flavor, followed by a few bites worth of straight banana. So in order to get the best balance of the two, it’s best to use the licking approach and travel as much of the scoop as possible. Otherwise if you are to bite into it, you might get an unruly dose of balsamic that is just to pungent to handle.

Beyond the strangeness of the flavor, I’ll admit the creaminess is on point. It’s a super soft type of ice cream and yet nowhere close to being soft serve.

Balsamic Banana Conclusion

It’s interesting… but in a good way… kinda. Not like you go to your friend’s one man play and say it’s interesting to spare his feelings, kind of interesting. Using the combination of banana base with balsamic vinegar mixed in is truly remarkable. It’s tough to bite into the balsamic parts in large quantities, but if licked gently, you can get a decent balance of banana and balsamic in a way that is seemingly gourmet.

If you want to try this unusual flavor and others, you can find them at 2311 Frankford Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19125.