Living in Etobicoke is a pain. Traffic is a nightmare, especially around rush hour. The recent (HA!) construction on the Gardiner making things worse.
But we do live in the same area as Toms Dairy Freeze.
I moved into the area in 2012 when I got married, and ever since I first tried them, I count down the days between November and March (their off season).
While Toms does serve burgers, fries, and other diner stuff, along with hard ice cream, the main draw for me, is their soft serve.
Kem Coba may have the market cornered (for me, anyway) when it comes to exotic flavoured soft serve, when it comes to your typical Vanilla and Chocolate, Toms is the place to beat anywhere I go. The use of cream rather than milk creates a product that, cooled enough, can retain its shape for a very long period of time, sometimes even rivaling its hard ice cream counterparts. I’m also guessing that there is less air mixed in to “fluff up” the ice cream as well.
The flavouring I find, again, is very consistent and doesn’t taste like they’re diluting the mix. This could be a result of the use of cream rather than milk.
I’ve found places that do either the flavouring right, or the density right, but Toms is consistently good in both areas, and this is over a good 4 year period now.
I think it’s safe to say that if you like soft serve and you’re in Etobicoke, this is THE place to be.
