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Water Ice

mrbigjas

By mrbigjas
in Pennsylvania: Dining

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Carolyn Tillie

Carolyn Tillie

Posted
Posted
Okay, someone's got to 'splain to the Californian what a Water Ice is... I'm imagining something like a Sno-Cone, only more elegant?  And that they are actually found in stores vs. country fairs?

Water ice is kind of like a sorbet, but it doesn't hold its form as much. It's like a sno-cone, only it actually tastes and has the texture of something much much more than chopped ice and sugar water. They're generally found in streetside stands, which are generally only open in the summer, although there are a couple of chains which may stay open in the winter.

Fascinating.... thank you! My mom's from Pittsburgh - I'll have to ask about these (although I'm not sure they go back THAT far)!

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  • 1 year later...
mrbigjas

mrbigjas

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right here....usually lurking though

if you try it, let us know how it is :)

(the butter pecan ice cream is pretty yummy)

replying to a post over a year old because i'm keepin it on topic:

1. philly flavors makes delicious water ice. we've been there several times since last year, and will go again tomorrow after lunch. their lemon and mango are great.

2. i have a new love: peach water ice at italiano's, 11th & shunk. it's got little pieces of peach in it, and is freaking great.

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herbacidal

herbacidal

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Fascinating.... thank you! My mom's from Pittsburgh - I'll have to ask about these (although I'm not sure they go back THAT far)!

Do they have water ice in Pittsburgh? It is an Italian-American thing(ain't it?) so I can imagine it there, can anyone confirm?

Herb aka "herbacidal"

Tom is not my friend.

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mrbigjas

mrbigjas

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Fascinating.... thank you! My mom's from Pittsburgh - I'll have to ask about these (although I'm not sure they go back THAT far)!

Do they have water ice in Pittsburgh? It is an Italian-American thing(ain't it?) so I can imagine it there, can anyone confirm?

i was in pittsburgh maybe a month ago and didn't see any, but i wasn't really looking.

there are italians out there, though.

rita's was recently bought by a pittsburgh-based company.

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CoolPapaBell

CoolPapaBell

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Fascinating.... thank you! My mom's from Pittsburgh - I'll have to ask about these (although I'm not sure they go back THAT far)!

Do they have water ice in Pittsburgh? It is an Italian-American thing(ain't it?) so I can imagine it there, can anyone confirm?

i was in pittsburgh maybe a month ago and didn't see any, but i wasn't really looking.

there are italians out there, though.

rita's was recently bought by a pittsburgh-based company.

Scuze me for my south Jersey roots, but Diane's in Voorhees and Coneheads in Medford, both with homemade wudder ice have them lining out into the parking lot for a reason.

Edited by CoolPapaBell (log)

Nobody eats at that restaurant anymore. It's always too crowded.

---Yogi Berra

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herbacidal

herbacidal

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There's a lot of good places around. Cherry's on Haddonfield road in Cherry Hill, Primo's on Haddon Ave in Westmont, and Dati's at 24th and Passyunk in South Philly are all good.

Herb aka "herbacidal"

Tom is not my friend.

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mrbigjas

mrbigjas

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1. philly flavors makes delicious water ice.  we've been there several times since last year, and will go again tomorrow after lunch.  their lemon and mango are great.

went there today. the thing about philly flavors is that their water ice is real sweet. it doesn't follow the italiano's way of making it taste as much like the fruit as possible. philly flavors is more like frozen candy. still good though.

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  • 1 year later...
mrbigjas

mrbigjas

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i do know how to bump up old topics, oh yes i do.

last night i biked down to the baseball game for the first time ever. from my house it is indeed the fastest way of getting there -- only takes about 20 minutes. and biking provides the opportunity for my first water ice of the season: a pre-game mango at italiano's, 11th & shunk. also a pretzel. and a bottle of water for less than half the price you pay in the park. i also recommend the italian coffee gelati, with amaretto water ice and vanilla ice cream. or something like that. fantastic. it's that water ice time of year again!

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Tim Dolan

Tim Dolan

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There are two standout places in my neighborhood for water ice. Rose's on the corner of Pechin and Roxborough Ave, and Overbrook's on Main St. Actually, they used to be called Overbrook's but I believe they were bought out by Cafe Zesty which is across the street. I haven't had any of their stuff since the change over so I can't comment, but Overbrook's was damn good. Rose's also has a small fleet of refurbished mail cars with the steering wheel on the right side. They're painted yellow and roam the 'hood suring the summer months. Good stuff. There is also a few Rita's around but I think Rita's is crap.

Edited by Tim Dolan (log)

I would kill everyone in this room for a drop of sweet beer...

Homer Simpson

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Andrew Fenton

Andrew Fenton

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Hmm, I really ought to try Italiano's. If only I had a working bike; it's way out of walking range, and driving (or bussing) for water ice seems heretical.

John's has consistently disappointed me. I know lots of people like it, but I've always found it either underflavored and icy or super-artificial flavored.

I'm a fan of Rita's, at least their lemon and mango (which is all I get there). It doesn't hurt that there's one near my house, either.

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lancastermike

lancastermike

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I'm a fan of Rita's, at least their lemon and mango (which is all I get there). It doesn't hurt that there's one near my house, either.

The lemon at Rita's was always my favorite. Stopped the other week and asked for lemon and got lemonade ice. Much sweeter than the real tart ice I was looking for. Not what I wanted. I hope the real lemon ice is still there as I thought it was the best they had. The sign said something about "Alex's Lemonade" and if my purchase helped that noble cause I am fine with it. But I want the real lemon ice.

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mrbigjas

mrbigjas

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well, rita's is now owned by a pittsburgh company, so...

yeah, well, anyway. i'm always disappointed by john's too, and yet i still get one every time i walk by. what is wrong with me?

the worst water ice flavor, at any establishment: blueberry. if only someone would make some at the height of blueberry season it might be ok. it usually tastes like blueberry seeds though. bleah.

p.s. i lied about last night being my first of the season. i forgot that i got a mango from dude sitting outside with a cooler at 15th & south last week. but that was just philadelphia water ice co. product. it did the trick, but wasn't italiano's.

btw, the mango seemed a lot sweeter this year than i remember it from years past. not as mango-ey. i'll have to reinvestigate.

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Andrew Fenton

Andrew Fenton

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the worst water ice flavor, at any establishment: blueberry.  if only someone would make some at the height of blueberry season it might be ok.  it usually tastes like blueberry seeds though.  bleah.

At least that suggests that maybe an actual blueberry was involved in the manufacture of the ice... My vote for worst water ice flavor is cherry, which always tastes like something that came out of a chemical vat.

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DCP

DCP

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While wandering around West Philly on foot yesterday, we saw several folks carrying an orange sorbet-looking concoction. It being somewhat warm outside, we asked where they got it - "48th and Spruce."

After walking several blocks over, there were lots of shops around, but then we spied the advertised Water Ice on the outside of Accu Pizza at 4802 Spruce. The water ice is in the back, and they carried about 10 flavors. Two mediums (about a 3.5" cup) plus a bottled water was $3 even - that's $1 each for the water ice, if you're counting, and it was generously piled another couple inches past the top of the cup.

We tasted the watermelon and thought it too sweet, so we bought a lemon (refreshingly tart, not too sweet) and a mango (deliciously sweet) - both smooth, and best combined with each other.

It's been enough months since I had Rita's as to find a comparison difficult, but I'd certainly go back without hesitation - price notwithstanding.

David aka "DCP"

Amateur protein denaturer, Maillard reaction experimenter, & gourmand-at-large

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Andrew Fenton

Andrew Fenton

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Philly Flavors now has a branch at 13th and Spruce. Having read about their strawberry ice in one of the weekly papers, I tried that. Folks, I'm here to tell you that that's a terrific water ice; real, fruity flavor, not too sweet. Good stuff. I tried the lemon, too, which was okay, but I'll go so far as to say that that strawberry is the best water ice I've had in Philly.

Oh, and the price is right, too: the small is a big cup, and is only $1.80. Such a deal!

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lfabio2007

lfabio2007

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Just a quick reply here, because I noticed a few things that I'd like to reply to.

This is called 'granita' in Italy and it's not an american-italian thing at all. It's very popular in most of the south, in particular in Sicily.

Some of the most famous - and appreciated - flavours include coffee, bitter almond and orzata (known here AFAIK as horchata for obvious reasons), so yes, it can be 'water ice' without being fruit flavoured. And it can be very good, unfortunately it's very hard to have a decent one north of Rome.

I was honestly unaware that 'water ice' here was the same thing, but it sounds like it. I'll conduct further research. 13th and spruce, you said, Fenton?

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Andrew Fenton

Andrew Fenton

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13th and Spruce, indeed.

And yeah, water ice is the direct descendant of granita, which is no doubt why it's often called "Italian ice". (What Americans call "granita", on the other hand, is descended from the Slurpee.)

I've had very good non-fruit granita: almond, in particular, is often very good, and the granita di caffe at Tazza d'Oro in Rome is one of my favorite snacks in the world. But that's not something that, in my experience, has translated to the American version. I'll maintain that non-fruit water ice isn't really worth getting.

(Also agreed that it's axiomatic that the best granita comes from Sicily: the best I've had was the almond granita at Bar Santoro in Syracuse. Second best was lemon, from a truck at Agrigento, and the third was the peach, from a bar in Messina whose name escapes me. Though there's a Sicilian-style gelateria in Bologna that has pretty darn good granita...)

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