ICE CREAM REVIEW in New York: Lucky Pickle Dumpling Co.

SADLY, LUCKY PICKLE DUMPLING CO. IS NOW CLOSED.

The craziest dish right now in the NY food world is a helping of pickle flavored ice cream from a dumpling spot on the Upper East Side that is part of a trio of restaurants with pickle in their name. I didn’t care for their dumplings (review to come) but that didn’t stop me from sticking around and ordering this strange ice cream flavor.

Unlike many others, I was actually excited about the idea of trying pickle ice cream. I’ve read articles where people said they had to hold their nose and force themselves to try it. Not me. I came to it very eagerly.

And believe it or not my biggest complaint with this pale green soft serve was that it just did not taste enough like pickles.

My initial reaction on the first bite was that it tasted like artificial pickle flavoring. It hinted at pickles but wasn’t actually pickles. And then the components started to reveal themselves to me – there was sour lime, fresh earthy cucumber, and a healthy dose of salt. But I didn’t taste any dill, garlic, or vinegar. And those to me are the flavors that make up a pickle.

Granted, most people would not want those last three ingredients in their soft serve. So I imagine the chefs here creatively brainstormed to figure out what tasty ice cream-ready ingredients could add up to a pickle.

This wasn’t a bad ice cream – in fact it tasted quite refreshing and unique – but it just wasn’t what I had ordered. The candied pickle chip was a nice touch but it too was a bit sweet and oily to make me think of a pickle.

I understand that ice cream made from actual pickles might be terrible and alienate the majority of diners, but then why bother calling it that in the first place? Just call it Salty Cucumber Lime Ice Cream and leave it at that. Selling it as pickle ice cream feels like those old snake oil salesmen that tell you they have one thing but when you buy it, you discover it’s actually something else.

Is Lucky Pickle Dumpling Co. the best ice cream in NY? Perhaps their other ice cream flavors take more like what they are supposed to (chocolate, matcha, etc.) but the pickle ice cream as the one judge here gets a 7 out of 10, because it tasted good and creamy but just was not as advertised.