When is Coolhaus’s $6 Ice Cream Sandwich Worth It?

Twitter told me that Coolhaus was parked next to Bian Dang last week, and when I saw how long the Bian Dang line was, I decided I would have ice cream for lunch because I’m an adult and that’s what adults do: eat whatever they want for lunch. Right?

Right… even if that’s a $6 ice cream sandwich…

I really dig their magnetized menu, which helps them keep consumers informed of what’s in the truck at that moment. It didn’t feel very cohesive though; I didn’t see any clear cut “yeah those totally sound like they’d be AWESOME” together so I basically stood there staring for a long time. While I did that, a guy came over really, really excited, and said “GIVE ME THE BEST ICE CREAM SANDWICH YOU CAN GIVE ME” to the guy. I asked him if he was at all concerned about food allergies or, well, plain ol’ not liking what the guy chose, (and how he heard about the truck) but he said no, and that he’d just seen it while walking by and made a point to go to the bank to get cash out so he could have an ice cream sandwich. Then he asked me if I was a food blogger and I demurred, and he quickly left with his ice cream sandwich (coconut almond macaroon and pistachio ice cream, and another cookie type that I’ve forgotten). The guy in the truck told me that was an awesome combination but I’m allergic to coconut so no thanks – though I do wonder how that holds together as from my extremely limited experience, macaroons always seem like they fall apart super easily.

After a lot of debate and then a bit of panic when I realized the cookie I wanted wasn’t the cookie I thought it was (I wanted a regular chocolate chip cookie), I ordered chocolate chocolate chip, brown butter & candied bacon ice cream, and a cinnamon toast crunch cookie. I asked the guy if it was “weird” and he assured me that no, no it wasn’t.

It wasn’t particularly hot the day I went, so thankfully I was able to take pictures. Each sandwich is assembled when you order it, and comes with an “edible” wrapper. I clarified with him; it’s made of potato starch and isn’t “edible” like “you should eat this because it’s delicious” it’s just edible insomuch as “you CAN eat this, in case you’re one of those people who always ingests paper accidentally when eating wrapped ice cream goodies” – I feel like that was a wasted opportunity. There are edible wrappers out there that are delicious and meant to be eaten! Use them! Like roasted seaweed, and before you say ew, just think about that salty-sweet combination…

Here’s my finger, to show you how big the ice cream sandwich is! It’s not a small ice cream sandwich. Value-wise for $6 you could do worse: quality ingredients go into the ice creams, the cookies are specialty, blah blah blah. But the construction is only so-so; the cookies were too hard for me to take an actual bite of both cookies and ice cream, so I wound up breaking off pieces of the cookie, scooping a little ice cream onto the piece, and eating it like that. Which led to a sticky mess all over my hands. When regular ice cream sandwiches are made, the cookies naturally soften up a bit from being in contact with the ice cream for a bit, and the overall effect is a sandwich that you can bite through easily, and that sort of melds together nicely.

The brown butter ice cream is really delicious – I could happily eat bowlfuls of that. The candied bacon portion, I wouldn’t miss much if it were gone; a chewy, slightly meaty bite every now and again in the ice cream, but I didn’t think it was necessary. Gilding the lily perhaps? And my cookie choices were OK – neither were stand outs.

While I was eating my “sandwich” I noticed people walking by with cups of ice cream from Coolhaus, instead of sandwiches. Nowhere on the outside of the truck did it say that I could have just a cup of ice cream, nor did the guy mention it to me despite my asking him many, many questions. A little odd.

So… what’s the verdict – when is Coolhaus’s $6 ice cream sandwich worth it? When you really enjoy all the things about it that I didn’t.

THE + (what people who like this will say)

  • High quality ice cream and cookies, yes please!
  • I love ice cream sandwiches
  • Edible wrapper is so eco-friendly

THE – (what people who don’t like this place will say)

  • $6 for an ice cream sandwich? Seriously?
  • It’s super messy and impossible to eat without getting some on yourself
  • No.

Coolhaus – they were parked on the southeast corner of 53rd/Park when I visited.
Check their Twitter for their location, changes daily!

19 Comments

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    I love Coolhaus. I have been enjoying their sandwiches for years. But $6 is entirely too much money. I don’t think it’s a good price point for them. They should have gone with $5. That seems it would be more palatable to customers. Anyway, I only go now when they are giving away free sandwiches as part of a promotion. Sometimes movies and television shows hire Coolhaus to hand out free sandwiches whose theme match the show they are trying to promote. BTW, you can find Coolhaus sandwiches in various stores. Right now, Fresh Direct, is having a sale on selected flavors of Coolhaus sandwiches. Two for $7.00.

    • Oh great info, thanks slb! Fresh Direct is pretty awesome. And yes, I think $5 would have been a little more palatable.

  • I thought at first that maybe the cookie was too hard mainly because I bought an already assembled, pre-packaged Coolhaus ice cream sandwich when they were sold long ago at Brucie in Brooklyn. But then when I had a fresh one from the truck, I’d say that was still somewhat of an issue, though it may also depend on what kind of cookie, how fresh it is etc…. You are so right that as an adult you can have ice cream for a meal if you so choose. Did it fill you up at least?

    • Hmm, I wasn’t hungry after I ate it… I was probably hungry by the time I left work, but sometimes sugar and dairy sit weird with me, and I don’t specifically remember being hungry again quickly (this was the week before last).

  • I find that you can ALWAYS do worse value-wise in NYC. But if you’re going to Fresh Direct, why not go all out and pick up a quart of really, really good ice cream (Steve’s Double Rainbow!) at Trader Joes along with a package of your favorite cookies/muffins for that same $6, and make a whole bunch of ice cream sandwiches. (Plus have leftovers to share or eat later!)

    I just smh at the ridiculous prices charged by so many of these ‘trendy’ food purveyors. And lunch you buy in a market is just as much a ML as one you buy from a cart/truck/deli, right? Pretty sure most people have a freezer in the office pantry to store the extra ice cream too….

  • I have never successfully completed an ice cream sandwich from coolhaus. The cookies are very sturdy and the ice cream is soft, so it always squishes out. You’d think, since they seem to have an architecture theme, thy could architect a better sandwich.

  • That’s either a mighty short sandwich or a mighty long finger.

    Can figure out if I’m disappointed or excited.

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    Just from a value standpoint……

    I took my family out to dinner (2A + 2K) at Kona Grill in Woodbridge, NJ.

    They are featuring an fresh baked cookie/ice cream sandwich platter for desert.

    We received 3 cookie ice cream sandwiches of similar size of Coolhaus.

    $7 for the dessert. Enought for all of us to share.

  • I’ve been taking my ice cream in a cup over other delivery methods forever due to the mess factor. If I could get a cookie on the side? That would be pretty awesome.

    • I like sugar cones a lot. I’m sure they’d sell you the cookie on the side but I don’t think their cookies are that exciting, but obvs I’m not the majority as they do brisk business.

      • Aren’t cookie cones a thing? If not, shouldn’t they be?

      • Once upon a time, someone thought Pizza Cones should be a thing.

      • Pizza cones made up a new way to eat pizza that was really, really dumb (the old way is pretty solid). Ice cream in a cookie cone is a different way to do something we’ve all enjoyed for decades.

        That said, didn’t the Frozen Fresh Fruit Co. or whatever the name is/was do a different kind of cone?

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    It used to say on the side of the truck that you could get a scoop ice cream in a cup. I don’t know why they don’t list that menu item anymore, but as you noticed you can still just ask for one–a large cup costs $4. I did that yesterday because the sandwiches are too big for me to eat all at one time and we don’t have a freezer on our floor.

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