Photo credit: Leani Al-Midani

Van Leeuwen’s Santa Monica location is decorated with their logo and bright pink walls. Van Leeuwen has few amazing flavors such as Chocolate Hazelnut, but many need work.

Montana Road, a busy street that stretches from Santa Monica to Brentwood, is lined with ice cream shops, restaurants and various services. Its newest addition, Van Leeuwen,  caught my attention.

When I walked down Montana for the first time, the vibrant pink shop in the corner of the road stuck out to me as something I wanted to try. As I walked in the door, a vanilla scent made me feel automatically excited to try their ice cream. With bright pink lining across the walls and fake rainbow sprinkle decorations all around the store, it was very clear why everyone is so tempted to try their ice cream. 

Van Leeuwen opened Oct. 28th, and is a 10-minute drive from Archer. Van Leeuwen only uses fresh ingredients found at street markets and has unique textures achieved by using two-times the amount of egg yolk used in French ice cream, which is known for having a smooth, soft and delicate consistency without being too sweet or too  heavy. This is why this popular method is often more expensive than usual. 

Van Leeuwen’s prices are super high, with one scoop being $7.45. Two scoops of ice cream are $8.95, and three are $10.45. The prices are not budget-friendly and should be reduced due to the amount of ice cream per serving.

There is a wide range of exciting and fun flavors to choose from, such as lemon poppy seed muffin, black cherry chip, marionberry cheesecake and peanut butter brownie. Van Leeuwen offers various toppings for every taste, such as classics, rainbow sprinkles, cookie crumbles and whipped cream to savory options such as honey almond slivers, caramel and chocolate gems. Van Leeuwen also incorporates ice cream into seasonal milkshakes, baked goods such as cookies and even dairy-free or vegan ice cream. 

The staff greeted me happily and gave me samples as I selected which flavors looked the best. I tried three flavors, hazelnut, mint and honeycomb, which is one of their bestsellers. The first one I tried was the hazelnut, which tasted like my favorite topping, Nutella. Next, I tried honeycomb, which was abnormally sweet and savory at the same time.

As I ate more and more, the ice cream started tasting like pure sugar, which is not appetizing. Finally, I tried the mint, which, unfortunately, tasted like toothpaste. After the first bite, I knew it wasn’t for me and that I would not repurchase this. Of the three flavors I tried, only the hazelnut satisfied my taste. 

With many other ice cream shops in Santa Monica such as Sweet Rose, I wouldn’t try Van Leeuwen again. It’s unreasonably priced, and most flavors are too artificial. The ambiance and service were amazing; however, the quality wasn’t for me.