International Delight Cafe

Seeing as I was out on Long Island again on Thursday, I used my visit as an opportunity to go to one of my favorite restaurants in the area; International Delight Cafe.  I went there all the time growing up, and it was always my go to place for birthday lunches/dinners.  They have a very extensive menu, like you would expect at a diner/cafe, that has a wide range of breakfast items, salads, sandwiches, burgers, pasta, hot dishes, quesadillas and much more.

When you walk in, you are immediately greeted with a huge clear display case filled with over 30 flavors of their homemade ice cream and sorbet.  The decor is very simple no frills, but you don't go there for the ambiance.  In the past I have tried the salads and pasta dishes, but my go-to dish that I pretty much get every time is the Grilled Chicken on a bun with lettuce and tomato, and it comes with their thick-cut fries.  I also get honey mustard on the side to put on my sandwich and to dip my fries in. While that may sound kind of weird, you should just try it and you will understand. I don't know what they put in their honey mustard, but it is so much better than any other honey mustard I have had.   My sister always gets the grilled shrimp on a bun, and gets it with sweet potato fries.  I know that you are probably wondering what could be so great about such simple sandwiches, but it just tastes better than other grilled chicken sandwiches.  It comes with 3 huge pieces of chicken on the sandwich, so I always take the other two pieces to go.

While they may not have the highest quality food per se, it is just one of those classic neighborhood places that you have many childhood memories at. The service is also super quick, as we were in and out in probably under a half hour!  

The true star of coming here, however, is the desserts.  As I mentioned earlier, they have over 30 flavors of homemade ice cream, and it is so hard to choose because each flavor looks more delicious than the next!  When I was younger, I would always get the bubble gum flavor, which was pink ice cream with actual pieces of chicklets in the gum.  My ritual would then be to pick out all of the gum and save it until I was done with the Ice Cream.  But, seeing as I am a chocolate lover, I shifted my tastes and now my go to flavor is the chocolate chocolate chip.

The ice cream is so rich and creamy, and there are huge chocolate chunks generously spread throughout it (they are more like thick cubes!).  It comes in a cute little glass bowl with a chocolate stick cookie on the side, and you get a very generous scoop.  They have the classic flavors that would expect and the more unique ones like sunset, chocolate marshmallow chunk, mudd and confetti.  If I have had a really good day sometimes I will even get a waffle with a scoop of Ice Cream which I HIGHLY recommend.  I love waffles and ice cream, but it is one of those things that I don't really allow myself to order a lot. 

 Even though I do love the food here, the true reason I come here is for the ice cream.  It is my all time favorite, and it makes the perfect treat!  So, even if you are skeptical about the food here and choose to go to one of the nicer restaurant establishments in Rockville Centre, make sure to come here for dessert.  There is a movie theatre near by and tons of restaurants, so there have been many occasions where I came here with friends late at night to sit down, unwind, and have some dessert!