You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream! Well I do anyway, especially when it is made with liquid nitrogen!
This weekend I made my first visit to Camden, this is despite having worked in London for the best part of two years. It was a multicultural experience like no other I have experienced in the capital. The journey was eventful enough, as my friend and I cycled by Boris bike from Kings Cross to Camden, and due to my ignorance of the road layout of Camden, I swerved in front of a car and crashed right into them. Luckily I was mostly uninjured but to say the woman in the car was not best pleased would be an understatement.
Camden was absolutely TEEMING with locals and tourists alike, and for good reason. Lovers of street food would be right in their element as the north side of the canal is surrounded by a panoply of street food vendors. Too much choice in fact as the quality of some stalls looked quite questionable. However I finally gave my custom to a Pakistani wrap, by Food in the Middle, a small but perfectly formed serving of chicken tikka wrapped in a paratha. This was a good choice!
However the highlight of my visit to Camden was Chin Chin Laboratorists, Europe’s first liquid nitrogen ice cream parlour. And what a theatrical performance they put on in the pursuit of luscious, smooth ice cream.
Founder Ahrash Akbari-Kalhur was friendly and explained the ice cream making process despite a sizeable queue, but this just made the experience even more memorable and personal. The choices are limited but I went for Cinnamon French Toast flavour. Ahrash explained that the flavour is created by actually making the Cinnamon French Toast and then infusing it in the milk that eventually goes into the ice cream. The theatre and the flavour of the resulting ice cream was definitely worth £3.95, the smoothest ice cream I have ever sampled.
After, we kept exploring the market and the nearby Stables Market. If you go, make sure you check out Cyberdog, a surreal emporium of fluorescent clothing and weird and wonderful costumes and accessories.
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