Review: Dajen Eats Vanilla and Chocolate Ice Cream

In Florida it is never too cold for ice cream. (It’s not often cold, period.) On a recent Saturday afternoon, I swung by a favorite eatery for some cold creamy goodness.

Restaurant: Dajen Eats, Eatonville, Orlando, FL

Dish: Two of scoops vegan ice cream, one vanilla and one chocolate

Reading: Solitude: In Pursuit of a Singular Life in a Crowded World by Michael Harris

Dajen Eats rocks a vegan Jamaican menu. There are so many options I want to try, but my favorite thing on the menu so far is the ice cream.

Since going dairy-free due to milk sensitivity, the flavor I miss the most is vanilla. Vanilla cakes, vanilla cookies, blonde brownies, donuts. But especially vanilla ice cream.

For me, the best ice creams have a vanilla ice cream base with other flavors added. Like Baskin Robbins’ Gold Medal Ribbon – a combination of vanilla, chocolate, and caramel. Well Dajen Eats’ ice cream is a fantastic treat when craving vanilla. And their chocolate ice cream is even better than dairy versions.

The chocolate ice cream tastes almost like brownie batter or chocolate pudding. The refreshing crisp vanilla balances the chocolate so well. I no longer miss Baskin Robbins! On my latest visit, the server scooped it right, too, with the chocolate on top.

I found a nice little two top by the window, out of the way of the other diners and with a great view of the sunny Florida sky. As I sat and read and marveled over the sweetness and creaminess of my treat, I remembered the first time I ever saw the words “French Vanilla.”

My grandmother had taken me to Baskin Robbins after a trip to the mall. I normally ordered one scoop of vanilla on a sugar cone. Those pointed cones wrapped in paper seemed so exotic and I felt very grown up holding one with my seven year old hand. Either I’d recently learned to read or was finally tall enough to look into the ice cream case, but I saw the words French Vanilla and asked my grandmother what that meant. She told me it was creamier than the regular vanilla. And she was right. I felt special and fancy and ladylike.

It’s rare to find an ice cream that can hold a candle to that sweet and comforting memory. But this ice cream does.

The casual and funky, colorful atmosphere of Dajen Eats is great for the single serving diner as well as groups of any size. Also a comfy place for reading and writing or studying.

While I was there I noticed a young woman at a nearby table on her laptop. I could take time to savor the ice cream, a lazy afternoon, and a good book. Once when the Reggae music stopped, a server asked Alexa to play Michael Jackson, which she obligingly did.

Everything at Dajen Eats is vegan (I always ask just be certain). There are some chick’n and biscuits on the breakfast menu with my name on them. Can’t wait to try them. I can make biscuits with non-dairy milk, but I haven’t made any in a while.

While everything is plant-based, which is often also vegan, not everything is whole food plant based, since the ice cream has sugar in it and the biscuits will have refined white flour. However, there are a few menu items that are whole food plant based, which is even healthier.