Sugar and Cream or Milk and Chalk?
As part of a team building exercise, my manager took myself and our team of crack-shot multimedia designers out for Ice Cream. We shopped around, looking at different places. At the top of the Yelp list for Milkshakes was Sugar and Cream in the Roseville Galleria, and the food looked beautiful.
We met at the stand, which had delightful colors - white and pink, accenting a cute and accessible parlor. The attendant rushed from outside the stand, went inside, and greeted us. We could see that they were using Gunther's Ice Cream and Great Value milk as she prepared our shakes.
She seemed unhappy that some of our group wanted samples, which was odd. Our party of 6 people spent a total of around $48.00 before tax on these Milk Shakes, so we expected a bit better attitude. Nevertheless, she was prompt, and not completely rude - but no garnishments were volunteered. I myself had to ask for whip cream on my shake.
Once I got my shake, a Birthday Cake with Whip Cream, I noticed that the chunks of cake batter flavor were gobbed up at the bottom. It wasn't anywhere near as colorful or pleasing to look at as the images the company posted to Yelp, which was a massive disappointment. The consistency of the shake was somewhat watery and chalky - likely over blended, with too much milk - but the smell was satisfactory. The taste was like sweetened milk, not quite a milkshake, and the shake was a bit warmer than what I prefer. The whipped cream was a nice addition to help this.
Mark, my boss, got a Cookie's and Cream shake. Normally his shake of choice at any other establishment, he described it as "the tap water of ice cream." Bland seems to be the running theme here.
Our group noted that there was a minor burning in our throats after consuming the shakes - Completely normal for ice cream. One thing that could have improved that would have been to receive ice water with the shake to help mitigate the dehydration caused by the shake.
There wasn't a place to really sit down and enjoy it without walking nearly 100 feet to the food court. Once we sat down, we looked back at Sugar and Cream - we noticed that the place wasn't shining or standing out. Our lead designer, Austin, felt like the menu should have been better showcased on the digital screen that they had, and described it as "basic, with little character." There wasn't much bringing you to the stand, other than a moderately cute appearance that lacked the "wow" factor with the display to really engage passersby who may want a quick and sweet snack. It's easy to see why this place could go unnoticed - it practically blends into the walls behind it.
Overall, it was a little bit less than mediocre. Some basic improvements like keeping the ice cream colder, using less milk, and blending the milkshake for a shorter amount of time would have upped this score a star or two. We can only speculate, but we think about 80% the cost of the shake went just to pay the expensive rent Westfield's Gallerias are notorious for. Save yourself six bucks, go get a shake from a Fast-food restaurant, the quality will be marginally better than Sugar + Cream. read more