Nitrous Icecream (I screamingly good) (Review)

While trawling the internet earlier this year for interesting things to do in London on my vacation in August, I came across something called Nitrous Ice-cream, and I clicked further cause I was intrigued. As soon as I discovered this novelty, I put it down on my list of things that I have to see. 

Time out says "Now a fixture of Camden Market, the innovative Chin Chin Labs – where ice-cream is frozen to order amid billowing clouds of liquid nitrogen-generated steam – may not seem as wacky as it once did, but there are always new tourists to surprise, and plenty of regulars happy to queue for the fabulous ice-cream. The menu is commendably short: chocolate, vanilla and two specials – one ice-cream, one dairy-free sorbet.

The latter always astounds with its fat-free creaminess and cool flavours, such as griddled peach, watermelon and dill, or beetroot choc chip. Haute cuisine references are frequent in flavours such as coffee and tobacco, or Guinness caramel with smoked salt. Experimental, yes, but the results are reliably superb. Pimp your tub with a veritable chemistry set of sprinkles and sauces (we liked the white chocolate-coated potato chips with our summery strawberry and hay ice-cream) – you too can be a molecular gastronomist."

Interestingly, and this is a good thing, I was so busy I wasn't able to make it to Chin Chin labs until hours before I had to leave England, Friday @3:45 p.m., and my flight was 1:00 p.m. the next day. 

Now, this is a hard combination to top, but the dish I chose (together with my sister) who was along for the expedition, (and conveniently since she's a local she had a data plan on her phone, so she was the navigator) was a Brown-Wich on their menu, a thrilling combination of Grilled White Chocolate Chunks, Brownie cookies, their signature dark chocolate logo chip and Basil Mint Chocolate Chip. Yes, you read that right, Basil. 

The grilled white chocolate was heavenly, the brownie cookie divine and the ice-cream, well, the ice-cream smelled slightly strange (if you're not used to Basil), but the ice-cream tasted divine. 

It's a brilliant place for tourists to visit and the locals rather love it as well, since the ice-cream is always freshly frozen (with the nitrous), it always tastes that much better than regular bought ice-cream.

Couple things to Note - 
a) It's a cash only place (don't know if that'll change in the future). No cards accepted
b) Prepare yourself for a wait, because it always has a line and the seats (which are not many) are always full.

Important details from their website

Chin Chin Labs -Camden 
Open everyday 12-7pm -   
49-50 Camden Lock Place, 
NW1 8AF, London

As you can see from the map below, it's walking distance (less than ten minutes) from Camden Tube station. 

Dessert Bar - 
Open every Fri/Sat 5-11pm - 
Hawker House, Canada Street, 
SE16 2XU, London

Chin Chin Club Soho -  
Open everyday Mon- Thurs 1-9pm  - Fri/Sat 1-10pm & Sunday 1-8pm -
 54 Greek Street, W1D 3DS, London

This week’s flavours:
Classics:
Tonka Bean
Valrhona CHOCOLATE
Burnt Butter CARAMEL 
Brownie Cookie Sandwich 
Sticky Toffee Pudding Sundae Soho &  Hawker House

Specials:
Chai Latte- Vegan - Camden  
Banana Melt Sundae - Camden & Hawker House
Pumpkin 5-Spice- Soho & Camden
Tiramisu Sundae - Soho  
Avocado  - Soho
Vietnamese Coffee - Soho 
Coconut Sticky Rice - Soho
Blackberry & Coriander Seed -Vegan- Soho  
The Avo Taco - Soho 
The Choux Bun Sandwich - Soho 
Cinnamon S’mores Sandwich – Hawker House

With just under 50k loyal fans, this unusual phenomenon is here to stay as part of London's entertainment landscape. 
Their Facebook page has 13.4k likes, Instagram - 31.4k and Twitter 4.6k, the most going to Instagram, which shows how much of a visual treat this ice-cream is, as well. 
Each of their dishes, are instantly Instagram worthy, and as you can clearly see why from the photos below and their different social media.

Finally a five star review from Rachel Brown on their Facebook page (who has clearly experienced much more than my one time and all three locations as well)
A brilliant ice cream option in London - tasty ice cream and fun toppings. The gluten free and vegan options (grilled peach/ raspberry and lychee) are particularly good. Whichever branch you visit you will struggle to decide what to order - it all sounds so delicious! Each branch has a very different feel. Personally I like the Soho branch and regularly pop in for a cheeky ice cream sundae - it's a quirky space, staff are friendly and it has a relaxed atmosphere. The dessert bar at Hawker House is great for more substantial desserts (i.e. Pre chosen ice cream, cake and toppings combinations ) and a more lively/street food feel. The original at Camden is bare cool as well.