Marvel is a local favorite for fantastic ice cream
Marvel Frozen Dairy
258 Lido Blvd
Lido Beach, NY 11561
(516) 889-4232
Overall Rating: 4.5 / 5 Plates of Bacon
I scream, you scream, we all scream for Marvel ice cream!
Ever since I was a little boy there was one dessert that made my face contort into an illustration of disgust and revulsion. Strawberry-flavored ice cream. This isn’t like my disdain for raw tomatoes. I absolutely love strawberries; they’re delicious.
I didn’t like anything that contained artificial strawberry flavoring. When Nestle Quik came out with strawberry-flavored milk, I stopped drinking Nestle Quik chocolate milk. Yoohoo never betrayed my trust.
Pink ice cream? Gross! Neapolitan ice cream containers were the bane of my childhood; especially when my dad ate all the vanilla and chocolate. You don’t know disappointment like an excited boy being rewarded with ice cream only to discover all that’s left in your freezer is the strawberry section of a Neapolitan container.
To this day, I still don’t like anything with artificial strawberry flavoring.
And then I came to Marvel. My first visit, I got my usual soft-ice cream order; vanilla/chocolate swirl. It was good but while I was waiting in line, something caught my attention. A smiling couple was walking back to their car holding cones the likes of which I have never seen. A swirl of colors draped in a flurry of sprinkles and chocolate crumbs.
“Excuse me,” I interrupted. “What did you order?”
“Strawberry/pistachio swirl with Marvel Mix,” the woman replied as I did my best to smile and stop my face from completing a reflexive action instilled since childhood. “Too bad,” I thought. “That actually looked good.”
My wife does not share my aversion to strawberry ice cream so I told her about what I just saw. My wife ordered it with rainbow sprinkles, instead of Marvel Mix. Marvel Mix is Marvel’s signature topping. It consists of chocolate cookie crunchies with chocolate and neon-colored sprinkles.
She offered me a taste of hers.
I loved it.
I loved it so much that I ordered it on our next visit after another beach day, this time, with Marvel Mix. A large waffle cone with strawberry/pistachio swirl and Marvel Mix has been my go-to order ever since.
The ice cream is terrific. The mouthfeel is silky and pleasurable. The combination of strawberry and pistachio works well both in presentation and flavor. The Marvel Mix adds a textural contrast beyond that of sprinkles, thanks to the cookie crunchies, but isn’t a pop in the mouth like crushed peanuts.
My only complaint is how fast the ice cream melts. My understanding of thermodynamics aside, I wish I was able to make it around the building to my car and able to get a better picture than the one below. You pretty much need to start eating the ice cream once their wonderful staff place the cone in your hand. When my wife took my cone from the smiling server, so I could snap the banner photo above, it was perky. When I walked to my car, it had already begun to adorn my thumb and forefinger with cold drops of melted deliciousness.
Don’t worry, I took care of the drips (as well as the cone from whence they came) the moment I put my camera away.
Marvel Ice Cream, as we locals refer to it, is conveniently located near some of the best beaches in New York. A quick drive from Jones Beach, where my family frequents, and a quicker drive from Lido Beach, Long Beach, and Point Lookout.
I highly recommend that you bring the family, your significant other, or just go yourself after you enjoy the local beaches. During the off-season, Marvel is still open. In fact, the staff told me they only close for two weeks out of the year, during the Winter.
So satisfy that craving for delicious soft-serve ice cream any time.
If you want to read about another local favorite, check out my review of The Gourmet Whaler in Cold Spring Harbor, NY here.