Coffee Heath Bar
Meletharb Homemade Ice Cream1 is in a little strip mall just inside I95, halfway between I93 and Route 1. It's in a mostly residential area, but it's only one exit away from the last Fuddruckers in the state.3 It has a two-station indoor serving counter and indoor tables and chairs.
The ice cream flavor list is fairly long - they also have soft serve, but only vanilla and chocolate. They have a toppings list (hot fudge, whipped cream, salty caramel, etc) and a separate "Crunchy & Squishy Toppings" list (including Heath Bar, Krunch Kote, and Gummi Sharks.) They are also the first place I've seen with "Real Chocolate Jimmies"4.
Ice cream servings are Kiddie, Small, Medium, and Large; they also have design-your-own Sundaes (plus a Brownie Sundae and a Banana Split.) They have frappes, freezes, slush5, ice cream sodas, and floats, as well as a freezer case full of ice cream cakes and ice cream cookie sandwiches. They also have a short frozen yogurt list, two non-dairy flavors, and Orange Sherbet.
First Visit
I started with "Peppermint Bark" - a vanilla base with bits of peppermint candy and chocolate. Nice strong mint and a lot of crunch, but the ice cream itself had a somewhat "stretchy" texture to it - not unpleasant, but I've never noticed it anywhere else, and it made taking spoonfuls one-handed6 a little tricky.
The other half was "Coffee Heath Bar" which didn't have the texture issues the Peppermint Bark did. It had a distinct but relatively mild coffee flavor, which weathered the mint quite well, while still being pretty far over on the Latte side of the coffee flavor scale. Heath Bar is a really good crunchy add-in (it's also available on their Crunchy Toppings list.)
Future Visits
The flavor list has some of the more interesting variations I've seen; next time I'm here (they do appear to be open all winter) the "Cinnamon French Toast", "Baklava", and "White Pistachio" are all tempting creative choices; if I'm instead leaning towards crunchy classics, they also have Maple Walnut and Grapenut. If I'm feeling more indulgent than usual, I'll construct a Sundae with strawberry and whipped cream, and about half of the Crunchy Toppings list on top...
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The website had a relatively accurate menu, but it hasn't been updated since 20162. They were open until 9pm in late November so at least that has remained consistent for nearly a decade! ↩
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Another ice cream blog points out that it opened in the early 1980s, and the name is indeed the scrambling of "Bartholomew" (founder's family name) that it appears to be if you stare at it too long. ↩
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It's directly between a Chinese Takeout and a pizza place, but you probably guessed that, since I already said it was in a residential strip mall... ↩
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Herrell's had a near miss with "Real Chocolate Sprinkles"... ↩
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Slush isn't technically a non-infringing new-england-weather-inspired concoction but it might as well be. ↩
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I'm generally giving the ice cream my full attention while doing these reviews, but when I end up eating in the car I usually end up doing something awkward to take and spot-check phone-camera pictures of the dish before it melts all over me - the "stretchy" texture would have been fine (though still unusual) if I were holding the cup with one hand and spooning with the other. ↩
West Side Creamery (yes I'm the sort to be amused that the URL is wwww SCREAMERY :-) is in Acton center, a block away from the Acton Coffee House which used to be one of my go-to coffee shops for sipping-and-sketching (not that they've changed, just my habits have.) Right on 111 (as in, drive out rt 2 past the former-prison rotary, take the weird straight-left exit for 111 and keep going straight for another 3 minutes.) Street parking, indoor and outdoor seating. (It's also right across from the Gardner Field park, which has additional parking, picnic benches, and tree shade, though it's mostly a 2-12yo playground - to be fair, on a random Tuesday there were a lot of 6-8yo kids at West Side, apparently ice cream with gummi bear topping is the Best Thing Ever.)
I had "Coffeehouse" (more coffee-flavored-than-usual coffee ice cream), "Green Monster" (Boston-area standard green mint with chocolate cookies and chocolate fudge), and Coffee Heath Bar (what it says on the tin.)
What I missed out on, since it was a First Visit:
- ice cream "flights", 3 or 4 "tasting" scoops your choices of flavor
- ice cream sandwiches made individually with your choice of cookies
- butterscotch explosion
- peanut butter sauce
I'll definitely be back, probably late summer/early fall when I can enjoy the outdoor seating.