The taste of London is in ice cream
A collaboration between an artisan ice-cream maker, the Manze pie and mash dynasty, Tayyabs, the East End Indian restaurateur, Ghost Ship, the pale ale choice of the connoisseur, plus Gett, the taxi app that has a London black cab coming to you instead of the other way round, has resulted in free ice cream for everyone who gets to the right place at the right time, writes Michael Holland.
I made a trip over to Regents Park to see what was going on because anything with pie and mash in it is always worth travelling for, and that means ice cream too.
Yes, Gett wanted the taste of London to be put into ice cream, so that meant a proper curry from Whitechapel, a good ale that had the flavours of a beer garden and, of course, something that gave you pie and mash, the capital’s original fast food, in a delicious ice cream.
It goes without saying that Gett had to collaborate with the piemen and women from Manze for that part of their quest for a taste of London because their shop in Bermondsey is the oldest one in the world, and is also in SE1 where the very first pie and mash shop opened up in 1844. The Manze name alone drips in history and prestige, never mind its superior wares.
Anyway, between them all they concocted culinary treats that ticked every box. The only problem was deciding in what order to eat those chilled delights in.
Emma Harrington, the fourth generation of the Manze dynasty to run the business, made a secret visit to where the free tubs of proper London-Taste ice cream have been handed out since Wednesday, and came back with the verdict – a Perfect Ten.
I started with the East End curry, and it was a great starter. It had everything you wanted from an Indian dish, plus the tang of mango, the botanical bounce of the mint and the cool sweetness of the ice cream. Whoever thought ice cream curry was a good idea is a genius.
I washed that down with the Beer Garden Pint that came to life with the scampi fries crumble on the top, whose crunch made it reminiscent of a pub snack as well as a refreshing drink.
Now it was time for the pièce de résistance, the masterpiece, the jewel in the crown of the Queen of the Cuisine who created this Manze miracle.
First I took the lid off the ice cream and let the sous chef dribble some of the jellied eel caramel sauce over the top. I took a nibble hoping it was the eel that came through the most powerfully, but it was the caramel.
That, though, was better because that toffee thrill complemented the sweetness that magically came from the potato, parsley and pie crust bits that went into the ice cream. Who knew Heaven could be found in a fridge? And did I tell you Paradise can be had for nothing?
The Hell part of the deal is that there are any plans to make this a regular event. These three new ice creams are on for the weekend and that is it.
What does carry on is getting £10 off your next black cab trip when you get an ice cream and scan the QR code on the lid.
For your free ice cream, the orange Gett cab can be found around NW1 4LJ on 21st and 22nd June from 2pm, just across the road from Regents Park Station. The ice creams do not last long and when they are gone they are gone.
