Lifeline

It is undeniable. The sun is shining, it is 21 degrees Celcius, birds are chirping and the flowers are blooming: it is summer! At least, when we did this review hehe. As temperatures are rising and summer is near, what else could we possibly review than I C E  C R E A M ? Luckily for us, ROOM has opened a new cafe with delicious ice cream flavours just outside of the city centre, next to the Noorderplantsoen. Therefore, Lifeline took the hard task upon them to test out ALL the fifteen flavours they had and rate them oh so honestly. 

ROOM has a unique way of ‘scooping’ ice cream, as they continuously stir it in their bowls. This ensures no ice crystals are formed and keeps the ice cream sooo smooth and fluffy and honestly, it’s the best.

This time, we invited a special guest to our review, as this person was the first to send in the Iduzzle answer for all the past three editions this academic year! To reward his effort and test if his ice-cream-eating-speed is as fast as his Iduzzle speed, our honorary Lifeline member Jurn joined us to rate different ice cream flavours on their tastiness, the texture, the uniqueness, and the repeatability of the ice cream.

First up, cheesecake. An okay start. For the Dutchies: this tasted like pure nostalgia, as it resembled a frozen Danoontje strawberry dessert. Lifeline agreed that it was more a sweeter, creamy strawberry ice cream than a true cheesecake, but not bad nonetheless. Overall, Lifeline liked this flavour and its texture, but would not likely get it again. As Marit put it nicely: ‘If I’m paying for two scoops, I’m not paying for this.’

Next, we let the marvellous vegan mango sorbet melt on our tongues. For some members, ahem Cecile ahem, this ice cream tasted so much like the tropical fruit, it was perceived as ‘too healthy’. As they say, there is no accounting for good taste. Still, most Lifeliners were enthusiastic about this taste, rating it an average of 8,8 for taste. 

How amazing would it be if you would get a morning coffee ice cream instead of a regular cup of filter coffee? Changes are that you can find some Lifeliners doing this, as this flavour was AMAZING. It is creamy, coffee-like, and not too bitter. Comparisons with the ‘cafe noir’ cookies and ‘hopjesvla’ were made, which are beautiful things to be compared to. With an overall average of 15,43 (due to some 100s being given for taste), this flavour ranked (spoiler!) second of all ice cream flavours tasted on this particular day. 

Our seccie and praesus drooled as this flavour stood at the table. It is no surprise that they each rated this ice cream a 100 for flavour. Fresh, cooling, and perfect on a warm day, the lemon sorbet ice cream is what you want. While there was a little variety in rating the taste (some people LOVED this, but others felt differently, and I quote Jurn: ‘It’s good for a lemon, but still lemon’), we recommend to try this flavour still, as it received an overall grade of 14,02.

We will stay in the vegan flavours because as life scientists we’d like to lower our carbon footprint sometimes (or at all times). This flavour blew our minds. We expected it to be boring and a bit standard, but it was sooooo good. After tasting, our praesus suspected there to be vodka in it, as it ‘tasted just like the one she made at home’. Jurn thought it was nice and a very straightforward flavour: ‘What you get is what you order’.

Next up, a rather unique flavour. Gwen Stefani would love this, as it contains B-A-N-A-N-A-S. And toffee. Which makes banoffee, for the perceptive reader. While this flavour scores very well at texture and uniqueness, the flavour is not the best. It’s very sweet - too sweet, some might say - and has a very artificial banana taste. If that’s what you’re going for, Lifeline won’t judge you (maybe a lil), but this was not the flavour for us. 

So, we figured that the banoffee was just not to our taste and the only way was up. Boi were wer wrong. Although the majority of the flavours we tested were AMAZING, and delicious, and take our money, this flavour was really disappointing. ‘Coconut and Pineapple’ sounds like a piña colada summer dream, but according to our praesus it’s more like a ‘body cream taste’. Not exactly what Lifeline is going for this summer, so we recommend you to try any of the other delicious flavours ROOM has to offer.

Our seccie was delighted when the next flavour was brought onto the table. Her undying love for Bastogne cookies was finally available in ice cream form. Therefore, she was very critical of this flavour, and really missed the cookie chunks in it. We tried to explain that the continuous stirring of the ice cream at ROOM did not allow for any chunks, as they would be stirred in anyways. Most of Lifeline felt the same: not a bad flavour and it has potential, but could have been better.

Next up is a personal fave: hazelnut. WOW. This flavour absolutely blew our minds. The nutty flavour was so strong and good and intense and nice. We loved it. This is also why hazelnut scored pretty high at uniqueness: the flavour itself is not very new, but the way it tasted was. A great flavour that you cannot go wrong with. Do order!!!

Okay, okay. We’ve seen chocolate. But how often have you tried a dark chocolate flavour? This flavour was rich and intense, but not too heavy on the stomach. Some Lifeliners thought it was too strong, but they have no taste (sorry not sorry). You could eat this on its own, but just try and think of the other flavour combinations you could pair it with! Almost anything works. The ‘dark’ part of the dark chocolate makes it not too sweet, which is something most of us really appreciated. We like!

Next up, yoghurt cherry. With this flavour, what you see is what you get: it has a rich yoghurt and a rich cherry taste. While some Lifeliners put this flavour in their top 3, it reminded others of their daily yoghurt breakfast. As a fellow reviewer noted wisely: ‘If I’m getting ice cream, I kinda want it to be special and not taste like my breakfast’. We could only agree. Still, the flavour is fresh and perfect for a summery day. 

Lastly, we had some flavours that were not the worst, but also certainly not the best. Therefore, we quickly go over them, so you still get an idea if you want to try it or not. Pistachio was nice and lovely, but after the amazing hazelnut, a tad bit disappointing. If you fancy nuts (hehe), we advise you to go for hazelnut, but pistachio is a good more subtle option. White chocolate, again, tasted exactly like they promised: like white chocolate. Too sweet for most of us though, but has potential in a nice flavour combination. The same holds true for dulce de leche: toooo sweet, but if that’s your thang, go for it. Finally, vanilla was a good vanilla (according to our vanilla expert), but it’s still vanilla.

Overall, we had so much fun reviewing all 15 flavours ROOM had to offer. Weird looks from people on the terrace, seeing 7 people eat 15 scoops of ice cream were more than worth it. We hope you have a good overview of what to order (and what not!) when you crave that creamy deliciousness. Lifeline out! (mic drop)