Under the Radar: The Ice Cream House

As we know, Brooklyn has no shortage of inventive artisan ice cream shops. But on a recent run through Bed-Stuy, I discovered my favorite ice cream spot yet, and it’s as far from trendy and New Brooklyn-y as possible. Quite in contrast to bespoke spots like Ample Hills and Brooklyn Farmacy, The Ice Cream House is giant, tacky, and bubble-gum colored. It’s also pretty amazing.

Primarily serving the borough’s Hassidic Jewish community (there’s a sign on the door asking patrons to dress modestly) the Ice Cream House serves Klein’s Kosher Ice Cream. The self-proclaimed “first family of Kosher ice cream,” the Kleins’ ice cream empire began in the 1950s when recent Brooklyn immigrant Reb Ephraim Klein bought his first ice cream truck, and has since grown into a full-fledged company, plus three oversize shops—the original, in Borough Park, plus two more in Flatbush and Bed-Stuy.

A Yelp-er describes the Bed-Stuy shop as “a Baskin Robbins on Steroids,” and that is pretty much dead-on. Of course, they have a wide variety of Kosher ice creams…but they also have the city’s largest supply of ice creams for all kinds of diets: sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan–pretty much whatever diet you’re on, they’ve got an ice cream you can eat. There are several dozen varieties of both dairy and non-dairy  flavors, and best of all, the largest selection of ice cream cakes you have ever seen.

You won’t find any rosemary or olive oil accented ice cream here, but if you’re looking for something more along the lines of a bubble-gum flavored vegan ice cream cake, this is your spot.