The Plush Horse Ice Cream Parlour: Old Fashioned Ice Cream (Chicago-Area Ice Cream Parlor Review 1)

For a change, we decided to have just ice cream for dinner, and went to The Plush Horse Ice Cream Parlour (actually spelled that way) in Palos Park. It really does have a giant (about six foot tall) stuffed white horse in the center of the seating area. The ice cream is homemade and the scoops are generous. We each ordered a banana split. Banana splits come with three scoops of ice cream and three toppings.

Steve got cookies and cream, vanilla malt, and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream (he originally wanted banana as a flavor, but they were out), with cherry, caramel, and butterscotch syrup. Putting aside Steve's fatal miscalculation in mixing cherry with butterscotch and caramel (the cherry overpowered the other two), the ice cream was very buttery and creamy and extremely filling. It really tastes like old fashioned ice cream.

Lisa ordered mint chocolate chip, chocolate chip cookie dough, and almond amaretto ice cream, all with chocolate sauce. She liked the almond amaretto best. It really tasted like almonds and amaretto. She would have liked more chocolate sauce, but she has that issue at every ice cream parlor she's tried. The ice cream was very rich, though the cookie dough was a little too sweet for her.

It was a bit chilly outside, so we decided to eat inside, which turned out to be even colder, as the air conditioning was on though it was in the fifties. The place itself is in a very pleasant, tree-filled area, and would be particularly nice for walking around or sitting outside and eating ice cream on a warm summer day.

This is the first time Steve rated a bathroom higher than Lisa did. The second she opened the Women's Room door, the reek of urine accosted her, and she did her best to hold her breath and not touch anything more than she had to. Adding to the ambiance, the paper towels overflowed the waste can, leaving none in the towel dispenser. Apparently, the men and/or boys of the southwest Chicago suburbs are neater, because the Men's bathroom was okay for a heavily trafficked ice cream parlor, and had an automatic hand dryer.

It was $15 total for two banana splits (no drinks). Given the size of the scoops, everything here is a bargain.

Our rating for The Plush Horse Ice Cream Parlour, 12301 S. 86th Ave., Palos Park, Illinois:

7.5 of 10 Ice Cream Scoops (Steak Knives not applicable) and 1 (to be charitable) of 3 Bathroom Brushes.

Note: The ice cream rating doesn't seem that high, but this is one of the better ice cream parlors we've tried. We've yet to find a truly great ice cream place, even though (or because) we love ice cream.