Las Vegas Rolled Ice Cream

Best Rolled Ice Cream in Las Vegas, Nevada

No one does dessert like the city that never sleeps. The alluring lights, cocktails and lounges of the Las Vegas Strip are known for their show-stopping sweet treats. But what happens when a simple scoop just doesn’t cut it anymore? An emerging trend that’s taking over dessert menus across the world is rolled ice cream, also called frozen foam or Kulfi ice cream. It’s a crazy process involving dry ice, liquid nitrogen and lots of patience. Fingers crossed you don’t crack any fingers in the process...

What Is Las Vegas Rolled Ice Cream?

For all intents and purposes, rolled ice cream is basically making an ice cream sundae right in front of you, but with a totally different technique. The ice cream base and toppings are all prepared beforehand in Las Vegas, but instead of being poured and scooped, they're poured onto a cold frozen metal plate, where they freeze and harden. Mirrors are often placed on the front wall of the store so patrons can watch the whole process from their seat. Once the ice cream is frozen in place, the person making your dessert will take a spatula and chop it up into the ice cream's signature "roll" shape. Once the chopped pieces of ice cream are fully frozen, they're placed into a large bowl. The bowl is then placed in a machine that looks like a kitchen blender. But instead of blending, it heats the ice cream to make it soft again. This process is called roll-in, and it helps the chopped pieces of ice cream stick together for a fully blended ice cream bowl.

Why is Las Vegas obsessed with rolled ice cream?

The obsession with rolled ice cream began in Southeast Asia, where they were traditionally made with a hand-cranked ice shaver. But now the trend has come to the U.S. with a new high-tech twist. While it’s been available in the U.S. since 2016, rolled ice cream didn’t gain mainstream momentum until 2018 — the same year that Las Vegas started to get a taste for it. The city’s residents and tourists are now hooked on the various ice cream flavors and toppings offered at these trendy shops. In fact, the demand for this dessert is so strong that the city has become a hotbed for rolled ice cream shops. There are now dozens of locations offering it, with a few shops even popping up in the suburbs. Rolled ice cream is a fun and interactive dessert that you can make to your taste. Some shops even offer a variety of mix-ins and toppings, giving you the chance to create your own crazy concoction. The fact that you make it right in front of you, hands-on, makes it even more fun. And it’s something you probably won’t see anywhere else. That’s what makes rolled ice cream such a great dessert for Las Vegas. It’s totally unique and totally Vegas.

The process of making rolled ice cream

The first step in making a rolled ice cream dessert is to freeze the metal plate — commonly made from stainless steel — to -20 degrees Celsius. The metal plate has to be completely frozen to create the proper texture for the ice cream. The metal plate is covered with a special coating that prevents it from sticking to the ice cream. Once the metal plate is frozen, the ice cream base is added to a large bowl. The bowl is connected to a large compressor that’s kept below the metal plate. The compressor turns on and generates high-pressure nitrogen that transfers through the bowl and out onto the metal plate. The cold nitrogen freezes the ice cream base and creates a creamy texture that’s soft enough to roll into a ball. The bowl of ice cream is scooped with a special ice cream scooper and placed onto the frozen metal plate. The ice cream base is slowly and carefully poured onto the metal plate, creating a thin layer and covering the entire plate evenly. The metal plate is covered with a thin cloth to prevent the ice cream from freezing the metal plate and sticking to the cloth. The metal plate is then put into a refrigerated room for a few hours to complete the freezing process. The metal plate is removed from the refrigerated room and the thin cloth is removed. The metal plate is put inside a special machine that chops the ice cream into cubes. The cubes are put onto a large bowl and melted using hot air. The melted ice cream is poured into a bowl, topped with desired toppings, and served.

Rolled Ice Cream Brands in Las Vegas

- Uncle Poi Rolled Ice Cream Uncle Poi is one of the best places to find rolled ice cream in Las Vegas. It’s open daily and has two popular locations: at the Miracle Mile Shops in the Planet Hollywood hotel, and in Chinatown at the SLS Las Vegas hotel. Uncle Poi’s rolled ice cream menu features five flavors: Mango, Red Bean, Avocado, Chocolate and Vanilla. Customers can choose to add mix-in toppings to their ice cream, like fresh fruit, condensed milk, Oreo cookies and more. You can also choose to make a sandwich out of your ice cream by adding a sweet doughnut bun on the side.

Uncle Poi also offers special, rotating ice cream flavors, like Cookies and Cream, Matcha Green Tea and more. - Rolled Ice Cream Las Vegas Locations - Big Blue Frozen Yogurt - Big Blue is a chain of frozen yogurt shops that also sells rolled ice cream, frozen yogurt, smoothies and more. This shop boasts more than 20 different flavors, including Cotton Candy, Cookies and Cream, and a special rotating flavor. Big Blue also offers a variety of mix-in toppings, from fresh fruits and candy to chocolate, nuts and more. - Blueberry Frozen Yogurt - The Blueberry Frozen Yogurt shop is located inside the Fashion Show Mall near the north end of the Las Vegas Strip. This location offers a menu of rolled ice cream flavors, frozen yogurt, smoothies and more. The Blueberry Frozen Yogurt menu features four flavors: Strawberry, Mango, Red Bean and Avocado. You can choose to add mix-in toppings like chocolate chips or fresh fruits. The shop also offers a special rotating flavor. - Blueberry Frozen Yogurt - The Blueberry Frozen Yogurt shop is located inside the Fashion Show Mall near the north end of the Las Vegas Strip. This location offers a menu of rolled ice cream flavors, frozen yogurt, smoothies and more.

The Blueberry Frozen Yogurt menu features four flavors: Strawberry, Mango, Red Bean and Avocado. You can choose to add mix-in toppings like chocolate chips or fresh fruits. The shop also offers a special rotating flavor. - Cloud 10 Creamery - Cloud 10 Creamery is a unique shop that combines traditional ice cream with modern technology. This shop offers more than 20 different flavors, including a special rotating flavor. Cloud 10 also offers more than 20 different toppings, including fresh fruits, chocolates and candies. - Cosma Thai Rolled Ice Cream - Cosma Thai is a Thai rolled ice cream shop located inside the Forum Shops at the SLS Las Vegas hotel. This shop offers a menu of five flavors: Mango, Red Bean, Avocado, Chocolate and a special rotating flavor. You can choose to add mix-in toppings like fresh fruits, condensed milk, Oreo cookies and more to your ice cream. This shop also offers a dessert soup option, where you can choose to put your ice cream in a bowl with a spicy Thai soup. - Da Spot Rolled Ice Cream - Da Spot is a shop that offers a menu of rolled ice cream flavors, iced coffee, smoothies and more. This shop’s menu features four flavors: Mango, Red Bean, Avocado, Strawberry. You can add mix-in toppings like chocolate chips, or fresh fruits like banana, kiwi and more. Da Spot also offers a special rotating flavor. - Delite Rolled Ice Cream - Delite is a shop that offers a menu of rolled ice cream flavors, iced coffee, smoothies and more. This shop’s menu features five flavors: Mango, Red Bean, Avocado, Strawberry, Vanilla. You can add mix-in toppings like chocolate chips, or fresh fruits like strawberries, kiwis, and more. Del