This place is amazing! They offer 7-10 different home made ice cream and sorbet flavors which change on a daily basis, some of which are organic. They have great coffee and they even have home made cupcakes!    [06 Sep 2004 16:17:33]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: Melon Sorbet, Vanilla Ice Cream

     ­Lady-Champagne   

Real Gelato for those with good taste
The Bent Spoon is one of the finest representatives of Italian gelato/artisan "ice cream" that you will find here in the US. (Others are Capogiro in Philly and Il Laboratorio del Gelato in NYC).
For the uninitiated, gelato is lighter than ice cream, when properly served, it is softer and thus more flavorful.
The Bent Spoon makes their 12 flavors fresh several times a day, as needed (sometimes you will be there when they bring out a fresh batch directly from the mixer). No package mixes or stabilizers used here -- just lots of organic eggs, fresh milk, sugar, and high quality flavorings.
All nuts are whole roasted in house, which makes them crunchier, more flavorful, and less likely to become soggy.
Although their repertoire runs to well over 70 flavors, in order to control quality they only serve a dozen at a time, utilizing what is seasonally fresh and at the peak of perfection. Patrons are occasionally disappointed that "the great flavor they had recently" is not available on a subsequent visit. But there are always many other enticing choices and difficult decisions.
Happily, the staff will gladly provide you with a taste of ANY (and ALL) flavors to help you make up your mind. Most of the time, this is a friendly offer, but those patrons behind a large, indecisive group who can't make up their individual or colletive minds can sometimes grow impatient -- and restless. But the staff does a great job of triage, making eye contact and asking, "Can I help the next group??" (Otherwise, I'd call their Service (below) Incredible, but they are too busy serving those dunderheads who are keeping ME from my turn)
Also, for the price of $2.50 (small) you can choose two flavors; medium is $3.50 (or three flavors).
They also have wonderful shakes, floats, pastries, and occasionally something called a Banana Freeze, which is your plain banana, then run through a special machine which renders it not unlike ice cream, now amazingly rich and creamy and tasty.
They usually offer four or five Sorbets, which are generally fruit based and made without any dairy product, so they are lower in calories and butter fat, and can be consumed with no guilt and lots of glee.
Portions may seem small at first, but the taste is so intense that I almost always opt for a small, and can't imagine consuming a large. That would border on gluttony or sensory overload. Of course I have on occasion been back twice in the same day, on once in a while, twice in the same visit. But by ordering a small, I'm capable of coming back for more, more, more.

   [06 Sep 2004 22:31:44]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: The Vanilla may be the Best in the World, which is hard to believe. Their chocolate based flavors are all made with an important Italian dark chocolate-- sometimes combined with various things like orange or lemon oil, or my favorite--roasted hazelnut). They almost always have a mango sorbet, but my personal favorites here run to the cantalope or blueberry sorbets (I'm less enthused about the blueberry ice cream, however). Pineapple mint can be very refreshing, if they offer it when you are there. Likewise, Blood Orange sorbet makes my list. Pistachio can't be beat.

     ­Buontalenti   

This is the best gelato I've ever had!
The mango is my favorite but all 12 you must try! They taste so delicious that I come from NYC to have some. The gelatos are so freshly made and made with such flavor that it is like a fine wine -- you must sit down and relax and enjoy it. Not only do they have gelatos, they also have banana freeze (yum, yum), cupcakes, cookies, milkshakes, apple cider, hot chocalate -- the list can go on! You have to try it for yourself, no matter how far you live from Princeton!    [28 Jan 2005 13:46:59]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: Truthfully everything, but get a gelato and bring the cookies and cupcakes home so you have no regrets!

     ­Michele Bhagat   

YUM YUM YUM
I just visited there today after a day of shopping. My my is this small tucked away bakery/coffee/gelato shop a delight! The friendly staff offered us a sample of all the available sorbets and gelatos and even gave me a sample of the vanilla and chocolate cupcake frostings!! Everything was truly delicious. The pistachio was amazing! The cupcakes are fantastic!

I only wish I lived in Princeton so I could get fat and love every minute of it!    [18 Mar 2005 21:54:55]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: Pistachio Gelato

     ­Anonymous   

Best Cupcakes
WE LOVE! the cupcakes in Bent Spoon. The best icing and best chocolate cake in Princeton! My son loves them and can't get enough of it. Nothing compared to the cupcakes you buy in grocery stores. The vanilla bean ice cream is "old school": rich and you can't get enough of it.    [08 Jun 2005 21:33:56]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: Cupcakes, vanilla bean ice cream, lemon cookies

     ­Anonymous   

Amazment
Everything there is absolutely incredible tasting, the staff friendly and enthusiastic. Regardless of what state you're in when you walk through the door, you'll find the Bent Spoon is completely uplifting!    [09 Jul 2005 02:27:13]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: The White Chocolate lavender gelato is delicate and incredible!!

     ­Anonymous   

Overrated
Anyone who has ever tasted real artisan ice cream would instantly see how the bent spoon falls tragically short of expectations for the real thing. Furthermore, the clientele is wholly -- that's the only word to describe the "people" there. That being said, they make pretty good cupcakes which I used to eat all the time until they started sucking. They never have any of the good flavors left (one might think they might take the time to figure out the most popular flavors and make more of those, but that would be too conventional). Regardless, I once happened upon one of my favorite combinations but was refused it by the cashier because it was already in a box of mixed cupcakes. I mean, I know it's really really crazy to just give a customer the cupcake she wants and then put another (albeit different) cupcake into the box to replace it, but such is the nature of the Bent Spoon. A total disappointment. I know there are a lot of depraved people out there ready to defend the bent spoon, so please feel free to contact me.

Almost forgot, the Bent Spoon is the reason Princeton is overrun with people from development houses in Lawrenceville and West Windsor every night.    [10 Jul 2006 21:49:58]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 

     ­aishlinn, Princeton   aishlinn at gmail dot com