Marble Slab Creamery : South Surrey location

Whaaaat unlimited mix ins at Marble Slab? For one price? After grabbing lunch at Five Guys, we headed a few doors down for some ice cream. Walking in, there was no one in site which I did not mind since I took the opportunity to snap some photos without any weird stares.

Marble Slab is a chain restaurant that serves ice cream, ice cream cakes, milkshakes, malts, smoothies, ice cream soda and floats. Furthermore, there is a variety of mix ins to be added to any ice cream. 

SMALL $4.99, MEDIUM $5.99, LARGE $6.49, HALF LITRE ($7.49).

When I asked to sample the green tea flavour, the cashier impatiently handed the spoon towards me and the whole ice cream got over my hand. Furthermore, while watching me struggle with my hands full and wondering why there were no napkins in the dispenser, she ignored me until I asked "are there any napkins?". Fortunately, she turned the dispenser around before walking way. Okay then… I probably should not have asked for any samples. I mean, in general I always feel shy when asking but thought it would be okay, considering the ice cream shop was empty and at most places, they encourage you!

On our visit, the available flavours were chocolate hazelnut, apple n' spice, chocolate birthday cake, strawberry, chocolate peanut butter, peanut butter, cotton candy, sweet cream, butter pecan, vanilla, bubblegum, cool mint, cheesecake, birthday cake, chocolate swiss, white chocolate, green tea, amaretto, double dark chocolate and coffee. In addition, Marble Slab offers frozen yogurt such as mixed berry and vanilla. After selecting a size (small, medium, large) and flavour(s) along with toppings, customers can watch the staff create their creation.

When it was time to choose our mix ins, the both of us wanted something simple and to go with nuts or fruit, but oddly this location had neither. Perhaps if I ordered off the menu and went for a "favourite combination" of white chocolate raspberry swirl, there would have been some raspberries at the back. Marble Slab offers plenty of candy toppings such as sprinkles, marshmallows, gummy bears, smarties, m&ms, bubble gum and nerds, along with chocolate such as Nestle crunch, Skor and Butterfinger.

[LEFT] CHEESECAKE WITH COOKIE DOUGH AND CHOCOLATE SWIRL WITH BROWNIE, MEDIUM ($5.99).

The cheesecake has a light cheesecake flavour and two small pieces of cookie dough which taste very sweet. Also, the texture of the cookie dough is very dense when mixed into the ice cream. As for the chocolate swirl, the flavour tastes like a chocolate milkshake. Furthermore, the one small piece of brownie tastes very hard. The highlight is probably the cookie dough because it actually tastes like what it is. As for the texture of the ice cream, they are quite creamy.

[LEFT] WHITE CHOCOLATE WITH OREO COOKIE, SKOR BAR AS WELL AS BUTTER FINGER, AND PECAN BUTTER WITH GRAHAM, MEDIUM ($5.99).

Starting with the white chocolate, the flavour is not too sweet and actually tastes like white chocolate. As for my choice of mix ins (Oreo, Skor and Butterfinger), they provide some sweetness and tiny crunches. To compare with other Marble Slab locations, the one in South Surrey serves tiny crumbs of chocolate bars compared to actual chunks (which are then later crushed into the ice cream), and that makes a big difference. Perhaps because there is a promotion going on? Next up, the butter pecan has a sweet maple flavour and is not bad. In addition, the graham cracker did not taste stale and was in a whole piece which was crushed up into the ice cream, unlike the previous toppings.

TOTAL: $12.60 + TIP $ 2.40 = $15.00.

I have a habit of throwing change in if there is a jar, but wish I did not in this case.

I am not sure if the South Surrey location always serves crumbs (regarding the chocolate bars) or, crushes up chunks into the ice cream like other locations. Either way, the "unlimited" mix ins were pretty much useless because the only texture throughout the ice cream asides from the creaminess were the crumbs! 

As for the service, what is wrong with this location? The ice cream shop was dead when we walked in and the cashier acted so miserable. In addition as we were paying, a group of six people walked in and someone from the back came out to help the cashier. The odd thing is when everyone left, both of the cashiers went back to the back room. Personally, we did not mind because the both of us sat at a table and had our ice cream in peace. But business wise, who does that? It makes any business look bad, especially for a chain restaurant.

POSITIVES

- Creamy ice cream

- Only ice cream shop in the area

- Promotion for unlimited mix ins

- Stamp card system (which I ironically felt uncomfortable asking for because the cashier was just plain unfriendly)

NEGATIVES

- Not very welcoming people

- Pricey in our case (although other toppings may be better)

- Worst selection of mix ins compared to other locations

Food: 2.5/5 (compared to other Marble Slab's 2/5)

Service: 1.5/5