Scoop on Dining: Ice Cream for Adults at Humphry Slocombe

For the last few months, I’ve been getting emails or tips from friends and readers asking: “Have you tried that new ice cream place in the Mission?” No, I haven’t, but yes, I’ve heard many times about the arrival of Humphry Slocombe.

This unique ice cream store opened in the dead of winter (in late December 2008), with hand-made ice cream created by owner Jake Godby, a former pastry chef at Coi. I was intrigued by the idea of another premium ice cream maker (I’m a big fan of Ici, also opened by a former pastry chef), but I’m a wimp when it comes to eating ice cream. I can only eat it on warm days, so the winter wasn’t necessarily my prime ice cream-tasting period.

So when the recent rains came to a stop and a sunny weekend was predicted, I made plans to finally check out Humphry Slocombe this past Saturday.

The store is on the outskirts of the Mission District off 24th Street. When I arrived in the afternoon, there were luckily no lines. Chef Godby has experimented with all sorts of interesting flavors and several of them are written on the chalkboard along the side wall. But on most days, the frozen counter only has room for maybe a dozen flavors.

I ordered the classic combination. (It says a lot that a store opened less than four months already has a reputation for a classic combo.) That combination is the Secret Breakfast and the Blue Bottle Vietnamese coffee. I paid $3.25 for my two scoops and sat in one of the retro red spinning stools along the counter.

The Vietnamese coffee was on top so I ate that first. First, the texture of Humphry Slocombe’s ice cream is amazingly thick and rich with very little air. This really made the ice cream taste more substantial than others. Its freshness is always appreciated because you know how I hate icy bits in my ice creams and frozen yogurts. The coffee flavor was subtle but distinctive, so I really enjoyed it.

Here’s a photo of my cup after I’ve eaten most of the coffee ice cream and started eating the Secret Breakfast. And let me say that when I hit my first bite, it was more like a Surprise Breakfast because every spoonful was so incredibly tasty and fun. See, the “secret” (probably one of the worst kept in town) is the bourbon that gives this flavor an adult slant and the bits of cereal that gives it a unique texture. I even bit into a big chunk of something that was almost like a piece of cookie or candy. I wasn’t sure what it was because I swallowed it too fast, but it was like finding a prize in your cereal box.

This experience has really tempted me to come back again and try some of the other unusual flavors like Valrhona fudgesicle or pistachio-bacon. It’s a bit out there for me to visit from Oakland (where I’m actually closer to Ici), but Humphry Slocombe is worth the travel. It’s a real ice cream eating adventure.

Humphry Slocombe, 2790 Harrison St., San Francisco. Opened Tuesday to Sunday, noon to 8 p.m. PH: 415.550.6971. www.humphryslocombe.com