Urban Dessert Lab — Restaurant in New York

I heard so much about this place. I even passed it a few times and saw the incredibly long line outside. The other night after seeing a play I took a chance and stopped in around 9 pm and the line was short (no line out the door and only a few people inside waiting). I walked right inside and because there were just a few people ahead of me I had just enough time to scan the menu and decide what I wanted. You can choose from one of their hand-crafted creations or you can customize your own. Everything is also plant-based, including their toppings, sauces and cones. Their natural, artisan soft-serve begins with a premium oat milk base and is coated with carefully selected top shelf ingredients. You have to order at the kiosk and only cards are accepted (no cash). The staff is super friendly and works hard to move the line along.

I selected their strawberry shortcake handcrafted creation (signature sweet crème base coated with strawberry crumble and strawberry sauce). I opted for the waffle cone. The ice cream was light and super creamy, sort of like whipped cream but thicker. It's as delicious as it looks and presented beautifully. Eventhough it's oat milk ice cream it tastes just as creamy as regular ice cream. It wasn't too sweet and literally melts in your mouth. Although it is a bit on the pricey side (around $8) the quality and taste definitely make up for it. The shop is small inside with only a few seats. Fortunately I was able to grab a seat by the window and devour my absolutely amazing vegan ice cream.

I can't wait to come back to try...

The ice cream is good, the ordering process is not so good. Usually there's a long line from the outside. Entire groups of customers, who already have their ice cream, will just stand around in the shop, eating their ice cream, when the shop is already cramped up with customers ordering/waiting. We actually stood outside longer than we had to because we thought these customers were on line. Then we get to the kiosk to order. The kiosk is simple but could be simpler. I got through it quickly but others took a much longer time and couldn't find exactly what they wanted because some selections were on a different page. Then I wanted to pay in cash. They do not have a register to accept cash. Employee was nice enough to accept my cash(if it was exact change) and put it in a Ziploc for the backroom. This seems to have made the process more complicated. They messed up my order and my friend's order and fixed it. I will say the employees are hard working and were very nice. I just don't know if this kiosk is the most efficient system.

I do find it concerning that this place has a sign saying that they are always hiring. You are a small ice cream shop. If you're always hiring, are people always leaving/being let go?

Anyways, the ice cream is really good. Since it's made from oat milk it tastes better than ice cream that's typically made from soy or coconut milk. It's very soft serve, so it was melting by the time we walked 2...

It’s so exciting to find an all vegan ice cream place, and I think the actual ice cream presentation is unique! You can pre-select from their options of soft-serve, crumb coating and sauce combinations or create your own.

I got the chocolate peanut butter pretzel cone with sweet cream ice cream. One thing that’s cool is that before putting soft serve in the cone, they put some of the sauces and topping, so once you eat the top of the cone, you can still get all those flavors. Then once the soft serve is in the cone, it’s covered in the coating of your choice (pretzel for me), and the sauces were drizzled on top. The way sauces were done for this one was a bit messy to eat, but super delicious. I loved the texture the pretzel coating added!

The price was also reasonable in terms of what ice cream sundaes cost in NYC.

The shop itself is small, and there’s only 3 stools inside. Because my cone was messy, I don’t think I’d want to try and walk with it, so I was happy I came during a less busy time and was able to get a stool. Also, the only way to order is through a tablet, and while the employee working did communicate she was there to answer any questions about the menu, it was a slightly weird experience of having an employee be right there, but then typing in your order — but also maybe during busier times, the system is really...