Rick and I just spent a great weekend mixing out and out gluttony with fresh air and exercise. This saw us take in numerous fabulous restaurants, including upscale BBQ joint Wexlers, and the old faithful, Luna Park (tip, follow them on Twitter for exclusive discount codes), as well as new brunch fave, Out The Door (soy sauce on fried eggs? Oh the deliciousness! And the beignets and iced coffee??). However, we also managed a fairly punishing 5 miler around Angel Island and Sunday saw us take miles in our stride in our pursuit of iced, creamy perfection. We were on the hunt for the best ice-cream that San Francisco had to offer…

While having dinner at Wexlers on Saturday night, Rick chose the root beer float, with root beer ice cream provided by that quirky SF gem, Humphry Slocombe. HS is a great, independent ice cream store in the heart of the Mission, and we’ve both been longing to go for months. The name? If you’re British, you might recognize it as a mas-up of two beloved characters from 80s kitsch comedy “Are You Being Served?” It’s a memory i’ve long blanked out of my mind ;)

So, this was our challenge. Did Humphry Slocombe have the best ice-cream in the city? Or did that honor fall to the other Mission classic, Birite Creamery? And yes, before you say it, i know that it’s kinda lame to only visit two ice cream stores. In our defense, it was hot, we walked miles between each one, and we wanted to end the weekend not weighing the equivalent of a baby elephant!

Both stores absolutely nailed the concept: individual tastes, artisanal flavors, local ingredients and quirky, fun takes on classic ice-cream flavors. All served up with a healthy dose of San Francisco hipster. Natch.

At Birite, fave raves were the Meyer Lemon, Roasted Banana, and Salted Caramel. Clean, bright flavors, really suckering you with their key ingredient. I could have happily eaten my entire pot of roasted banana, but it was time to hit the road and walk it off, en route to the next.

Over at Humphry Slocombe, things took a decidedly left turn. Rick sampled the Boccalone Prosciutto (yes, really) and settled on the Secret Breakfast (Bourbon and cornflakes, obviously), while i tried the Blue Bottle coffee and Balsamic Caramel. All a lot more left-field, and while most of the flavors did really work, it was a little harder to eat a lot of them. I think these are meant for sampling and tasting, not downing by the pint. Of course, i would never down ice-cream by the pint…

My winner? Birite Creamery. I love unusual flavors, but i also really like to enjoy ice-cream that tastes like really great ice-cream, and not like some very clever person has put together some unusual tastes on my tongue. Rick is more of an adventurist (watch him go crazy over foams!), but for me, the roasted banana and salted caramel at Birite were just out of this world. A little slice of heaven on a sunny Sunday morning. Perfect.