The Merry Dairy
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Honestly surprised I hadn't heard about this joint until I arrived in a big group to try it out. I had excellent ice cream here. The ice cream's homemade. There seem to be a lot of great vegan options, many of them unique to this store. I was fearing that this would compromise the texture, but this was fortunately not the case. I got for myself two scoops of peach sweet tea and ube macapuno (vegan!) served in a waffle cone (not vegan). The peach scoop is a very good flavour that I'd recommend to anyone looking for a fruity taste. The ube was more alien to me, but when I tried it out, it was very similar to a taro milk tea that you'd get in a boba store (they're both tubers, right?) Very outstanding. The staff were very patient in taking our orders, given how many of us were in line. Solid recommendation from me.
Today was my first time trying this ice cream shop. The reviews speak for itself. I cannot speak for service or ambiance since my order was delivered. My oh my it was decadent!!! Everything at the shop is homemade and doesn't taste processed. All the ingredients are locally grown. I had the ice cream sandwiches. Chocolate, snickerdoodle and oatmeal with raisin. The cookie was soft and easy to chew but held the ice cream perfectly. Each ice cream sandwich was not dry and the flavours were textbook. The ice cream was not sweet and you could taste the hints of vanilla. I'd buy from here again without hesitation. Definetly I'll be back!!
Simply amazing local-made ice cream! You can really taste how rich the flavours are and how thick and creamy the chew is, without any crystals forming from over-freezing. Exactly what I was looking for in a local ice cream shop. You really can't get these flavours and texture in any store-bought ice creams and for a decently priced scoop (or two)! I got some berry flavour (it was like a vanilla ice cream with cranberry swirl, cheesecake flavoured and blondie bits) and it was amazing. It tasted so fresh and delicious, making me want to go back before they change their flavours again. Highly recommend. Ps - check out their Facebook page in December! They offer a free cone for anyone whose name is the "name of the day"
I have to admit, Merry Dairy isn't a go-to of mine. I've only really had their ice cream once, years ago from their food truck in sandwich form - vanilla (I think it was actually frozen custard) in between two ginger molasses cookies. Their ice cream and cookies are homemade, so that was the biggest draw for us at the time. This time around I saw that they had an ube flavour, which is a purple yam that is super popular in the Philippines and in Filipino cuisine. As a Filipina myself, I had to have it. I had never seen anywhere, especially in Ottawa, serving up this flavour other than maybe T&T, but definitely not homemade. I'm not sure if Moo Shu has had it before, but if so, I totally missed it. After parking on the street, we noticed there was a drive-through pickup around the building that seemed to be popular. The take-out window also had a small line-up, but both lines looked like they were moving pretty quickly. I asked for one pint of the ube flavour and one pint of the ube macapuno (ube + coconut "sport", kind of like jelly strings?). They were sold out of the ube, which surprised me. I guess all of the fellow Filipinos and other ube lovers scooped it right up (see what I did there? haha). While slightly disappointed, it was actually kind of cool that it was so popular. Wonder how many they made. There was still some ube macapuno left, so I definitely took a pint of that, and I was also surprised they called it by the right name and not just some super simplified English version like "purple yam and coconut" or something, which I've seen before and isn't completely accurate. Although it's gotten better over the years, Ottawa still seems to be lacking Filipino cuisine, so I was really happy just to see something like this on any menu. Another surprise - it was totally vegan! I think the ube is the same as the ube macapuno in that it's labelled plant-based and dairy-free, and all-natural, too. I'm not sure if other ube ice creams are dairy-free, but it's a great option for something different that more people can try. I wasn't sure what to expect flavour-wise, but it was really great! Easy to scoop, smooth, not too sweet, and not a food coloring kind of neon purple that a lot of ube products usually have. Really hit the spot for me and super satisfying! Bonus points for the ube on the menu, but sorry folks, they're closed now until February!
An easy recommend. It's obviously very popular with a line out the door but don't let that stop you. It's a hidden gem. The store has a nice look to it. The brick and mortar store has friendly staff doing their best to quickly serve the lengthy line of customers. The staff was very professional and friendly. The price is quite expensive at 9$ for two, single scoops in bowls but in my opinion it was worth it. I chose cookies and cream to get a feel for the quality and I was not mistaken. This was my favourite ice cream so far. Creamy and sweet without over doing it and not overly rich. Just enough to be refreshing and a good treat on a warm summer afternoon. I think the balance between rich creaminess and sweetness was perfect. I had to savour every bite because it was just that good. The only issue I had was the spoons for the bowl. The amount of ice cream you got from each scoop was perfect but it was a little unwieldy or inconvenient to use. It just felt a bit awkward to use the spoon so I would recommend getting a cone, however, that's my experience and might not be everyone's. A slightly longer handled spoon would have been better for me. Other than that I would rate it a solid 9.6/10. Easily one of the best ice cream places I've been to in a long while. If you want to try a unique flavour, I would enthusiastically recommend trying the ube. It's purple and not something I've seen before in Canada. Definitely worth trying though. You can also buy soft serve and pints here. Enjoy this great place if you get the chance.
So The Merry Dairy used to be an ice cream truck without a fixed store. They may still have a mobile truck, I'm not sure, but they now have a permanent location at Fairmont and Gladstone (where The Fairmont Confectionery and Sam's Café used to be). I went there with my husband recently and we both had their famous frozen custard. It was ok, but too sweet for my tastes. I got a small cup ($4) and my husband got a small regular cone ($4). You can upgrade to one of their waffle cones for an additional $1.50. The waffle cones had cool flavours like red velvet, and salted caramel. You can also add toppings for another $1.50 They also had ice cream sandwiches (I think they were around $4.50) and ice pops ($2 for the minis and $4 for the regulars). They have both soft serve and hard ice cream. The frozen custard was smooth and creamy, but a tad too rich and much too sweet for my liking. Perhaps I will return to try some of their other offerings. Service was friendly and efficient. The place is neat and clean. There is some seating inside (bar seating facing out the front window) and there are some picnic tables out front as well.
A long ride for a scoop ice cream? Yes! Was it worth it? Well...it's hard to say. I was expecting a wider variety of flavours for an ice cream shop with such high rating. The ice cream itself was amazing - very creamy, with fresh brownie and white chocolate. It is a real gem if you have a sweet tooth:) There are vegan options as well as regular dairy ones. If you live close to Little Italy or happen to be driving by then I recommend you to try their ice cream - it's worth your while (not if you live downtown like me cause the variety of flavours is underwhelming). I would totally return if it was closer to downtown tho.
There's good ice cream then there's AMAZING ice cream. The Merry Diary has to be one of my favourite Ice cream spots and it's really sad that it's in Ottawa ( please open a location in Toronto)!! It's also a super cute spot & they have some seating outside as well. Their ice cream is very very creamy but almost thick creamy, it has the consistency of custard and you can tell that they use high quality ingredients to make their ice cream. My favourite was the cookies & cream and the vanilla custard was pretty tasty! There was huge chunks of cookies and it wasn't soggy at all. The cone was crunchy and fresh! I would 100% come back here and a side note; the next day I came back and picked up 3 pints of ice cream to take home! Please please open a store in Toronto! Amazing quality & service! Keep Eating, Angela
I got the cookies and cream scoop and it's a must! That'll be my new go to! It was pretty busy 8 pm on a Sunday night but that's to be expected.
Tried the frozen custard soft serve -- although it was realllyyyy good when you first start eating it I find It's hard to come back to the taste after consistently eating the same flavour. I'll have to stick with dual flavour treats. Vanilla frozen custard : very smooth and creamy I enjoyed it Much! Price: 4$ for a small -- serving is a little on the smaller portion I'll have to come back and try other things here though !
Delicious and perfect on a warm spring evening! I finally came to the original location (not the food truck), after dinner. I got a normal waffle cone with one scoop of vanilla custard and one scoop of strawberry (which seemed really popular)! The vanilla custard was quite soft, but not too sweet, and really creamy...super satisfying! The strawberry tasted authentic and not fake, and was dense and creamy. They also have some seating inside and outside, and my friends and I sat outside and chatted with the others at our table; really relaxing experience, and will be back to try more flavours for sure!
Such an amazing ice cream store that sells lots of dairy free / vegan ice cream flavours? Count us in. Surprisingly they also dairy in their name! No issues from our end - just give us dairy free options. They also had types of vegan waffle cones. This keeps getting better. All of their staff were amazing to deal with. They were friendly and chatty in a nice way. As we were celebrating an event as well, this just added to our mood. The seating outside amazing as well. Our large group could sit together and have a good time. How about the ice cream? We were a diverse group and all of them just loved their flavours and even the milkshakes. All top notch. They had 7 vegan flavours when we went! Wish they were 500kms east towards us. read more
1 year ago
4 months ago
Honestly surprised I hadn't heard about this joint until I arrived in a big group to try it out. I had excellent ice cream here. The ice cream's homemade. There seem to be a lot of great vegan options, many of them unique to this store. I was fearing that this would compromise the texture, but this was fortunately not the case. I got for myself two scoops of peach sweet tea and ube macapuno (vegan!) served in a waffle cone (not vegan). The peach scoop is a very good flavour that I'd recommend to anyone looking for a fruity taste. The ube was more alien to me, but when I tried it out, it was very similar to a taro milk tea that you'd get in a boba store (they're both tubers, right?) Very outstanding. The staff were very patient in taking our orders, given how many of us were in line. Solid recommendation from me. read more
2 years ago
Today was my first time trying this ice cream shop. The reviews speak for itself. I cannot speak for service or ambiance since my order was delivered. My oh my it was decadent!!! Everything at the shop is homemade and doesn't taste processed. All the ingredients are locally grown. I had the ice cream sandwiches. Chocolate, snickerdoodle and oatmeal with raisin. The cookie was soft and easy to chew but held the ice cream perfectly. Each ice cream sandwich was not dry and the flavours were textbook. The ice cream was not sweet and you could taste the hints of vanilla. I'd buy from here again without hesitation. Definetly I'll be back!! read more
5 years ago
Simply amazing local-made ice cream! You can really taste how rich the flavours are and how thick and creamy the chew is, without any crystals forming from over-freezing. Exactly what I was looking for in a local ice cream shop. You really can't get these flavours and texture in any store-bought ice creams and for a decently priced scoop (or two)! I got some berry flavour (it was like a vanilla ice cream with cranberry swirl, cheesecake flavoured and blondie bits) and it was amazing. It tasted so fresh and delicious, making me want to go back before they change their flavours again. Highly recommend. Ps - check out their Facebook page in December! They offer a free cone for anyone whose name is the "name of the day" read more
I have to admit, Merry Dairy isn't a go-to of mine. I've only really had their ice cream once, years ago from their food truck in sandwich form - vanilla (I think it was actually frozen custard) in between two ginger molasses cookies. Their ice cream and cookies are homemade, so that was the biggest draw for us at the time. This time around I saw that they had an ube flavour, which is a purple yam that is super popular in the Philippines and in Filipino cuisine. As a Filipina myself, I had to have it. I had never seen anywhere, especially in Ottawa, serving up this flavour other than maybe T&T, but definitely not homemade. I'm not sure if Moo Shu has had it before, but if so, I totally missed it. After parking on the street, we noticed there was a drive-through pickup around the building that seemed to be popular. The take-out window also had a small line-up, but both lines looked like they were moving pretty quickly. I asked for one pint of the ube flavour and one pint of the ube macapuno (ube + coconut "sport", kind of like jelly strings?). They were sold out of the ube, which surprised me. I guess all of the fellow Filipinos and other ube lovers scooped it right up (see what I did there? haha). While slightly disappointed, it was actually kind of cool that it was so popular. Wonder how many they made. There was still some ube macapuno left, so I definitely took a pint of that, and I was also surprised they called it by the right name and not just some super simplified English version like "purple yam and coconut" or something, which I've seen before and isn't completely accurate. Although it's gotten better over the years, Ottawa still seems to be lacking Filipino cuisine, so I was really happy just to see something like this on any menu. Another surprise - it was totally vegan! I think the ube is the same as the ube macapuno in that it's labelled plant-based and dairy-free, and all-natural, too. I'm not sure if other ube ice creams are dairy-free, but it's a great option for something different that more people can try. I wasn't sure what to expect flavour-wise, but it was really great! Easy to scoop, smooth, not too sweet, and not a food coloring kind of neon purple that a lot of ube products usually have. Really hit the spot for me and super satisfying! Bonus points for the ube on the menu, but sorry folks, they're closed now until February! read more
Cute spot! I did Choco mint & I salted caramel scoops on a waffle cone. Both were delicious. Waffle cone we're made in-house. Tasted like a light shortbread cookie. Staff were friendly and accommodating as we tried the different flavors of ice cream. read more
4 years ago
An easy recommend. It's obviously very popular with a line out the door but don't let that stop you. It's a hidden gem. The store has a nice look to it. The brick and mortar store has friendly staff doing their best to quickly serve the lengthy line of customers. The staff was very professional and friendly. The price is quite expensive at 9$ for two, single scoops in bowls but in my opinion it was worth it. I chose cookies and cream to get a feel for the quality and I was not mistaken. This was my favourite ice cream so far. Creamy and sweet without over doing it and not overly rich. Just enough to be refreshing and a good treat on a warm summer afternoon. I think the balance between rich creaminess and sweetness was perfect. I had to savour every bite because it was just that good. The only issue I had was the spoons for the bowl. The amount of ice cream you got from each scoop was perfect but it was a little unwieldy or inconvenient to use. It just felt a bit awkward to use the spoon so I would recommend getting a cone, however, that's my experience and might not be everyone's. A slightly longer handled spoon would have been better for me. Other than that I would rate it a solid 9.6/10. Easily one of the best ice cream places I've been to in a long while. If you want to try a unique flavour, I would enthusiastically recommend trying the ube. It's purple and not something I've seen before in Canada. Definitely worth trying though. You can also buy soft serve and pints here. Enjoy this great place if you get the chance. read more
9 years ago
So The Merry Dairy used to be an ice cream truck without a fixed store. They may still have a mobile truck, I'm not sure, but they now have a permanent location at Fairmont and Gladstone (where The Fairmont Confectionery and Sam's Café used to be). I went there with my husband recently and we both had their famous frozen custard. It was ok, but too sweet for my tastes. I got a small cup ($4) and my husband got a small regular cone ($4). You can upgrade to one of their waffle cones for an additional $1.50. The waffle cones had cool flavours like red velvet, and salted caramel. You can also add toppings for another $1.50 They also had ice cream sandwiches (I think they were around $4.50) and ice pops ($2 for the minis and $4 for the regulars). They have both soft serve and hard ice cream. The frozen custard was smooth and creamy, but a tad too rich and much too sweet for my liking. Perhaps I will return to try some of their other offerings. Service was friendly and efficient. The place is neat and clean. There is some seating inside (bar seating facing out the front window) and there are some picnic tables out front as well. read more
3 years ago
A long ride for a scoop ice cream? Yes! Was it worth it? Well...it's hard to say. I was expecting a wider variety of flavours for an ice cream shop with such high rating. The ice cream itself was amazing - very creamy, with fresh brownie and white chocolate. It is a real gem if you have a sweet tooth:) There are vegan options as well as regular dairy ones. If you live close to Little Italy or happen to be driving by then I recommend you to try their ice cream - it's worth your while (not if you live downtown like me cause the variety of flavours is underwhelming). I would totally return if it was closer to downtown tho. read more
There's good ice cream then there's AMAZING ice cream. The Merry Diary has to be one of my favourite Ice cream spots and it's really sad that it's in Ottawa ( please open a location in Toronto)!! It's also a super cute spot & they have some seating outside as well. Their ice cream is very very creamy but almost thick creamy, it has the consistency of custard and you can tell that they use high quality ingredients to make their ice cream. My favourite was the cookies & cream and the vanilla custard was pretty tasty! There was huge chunks of cookies and it wasn't soggy at all. The cone was crunchy and fresh! I would 100% come back here and a side note; the next day I came back and picked up 3 pints of ice cream to take home! Please please open a store in Toronto! Amazing quality & service! Keep Eating, Angela read more
Tried the frozen custard soft serve -- although it was realllyyyy good when you first start eating it I find It's hard to come back to the taste after consistently eating the same flavour. I'll have to stick with dual flavour treats. Vanilla frozen custard : very smooth and creamy I enjoyed it Much! Price: 4$ for a small -- serving is a little on the smaller portion I'll have to come back and try other things here though ! read more
7 years ago
Delicious and perfect on a warm spring evening! I finally came to the original location (not the food truck), after dinner. I got a normal waffle cone with one scoop of vanilla custard and one scoop of strawberry (which seemed really popular)! The vanilla custard was quite soft, but not too sweet, and really creamy...super satisfying! The strawberry tasted authentic and not fake, and was dense and creamy. They also have some seating inside and outside, and my friends and I sat outside and chatted with the others at our table; really relaxing experience, and will be back to try more flavours for sure! read more
Things to love about Ottawa? The little ice cream shops tucked around each corner! Merry Dairy used to based out of an ice cream truck, but the legend is that their service and reputation grew to the point where they have their own spot! It's tucked in and a great place to visit on a warm summer day. The staff at Merry Dairy promote the custard and it's easily the best thing there! The cookies and cream was decent but at one point tasted a little weirdly sour. The waffle cones were also just a bit on the stale side - I would do a regular cone next time or a cup! GET THE CUSTARD! read more
4 years ago
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9 years ago
I came back again yesterday. They had some new flavors and I must say it was delicious! Of course the line up is always there but honestly with the heat wave it's worth it to enjoy the ice-cream in the late evening! I got the triple chocolate and banana chip chunks since they ran out of the Midwestern custard but it gave me the chance to try something new and I enjoyed it! read more
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