Tropical Ice Cream Cafe

We were looking for a late night winter ice cream spot. Lo and behold Tropical Ice Cream café appeared on our google search. Woman at the counter was super sweet, let us try some of the tropical flavors we were unfamiliar with. Lychee, Guava, Ginger and Soursop were standout flavors – all of the ice cream is creamy, delicious, and have chunks of fruit inside. ~12 dollars for a total of 4 HUGE scoops, basically filled two pretty large cups. Ample parking outside. Serves milkshakes, sundaes and some Jamaican standard dishes during the day, also if you find a favorite flavor you can take a pint/​quart/​gallon home.

It’s open! It’s delicious! It’s a little expensive but totally worth it. Super creamy and clearly made with real fruit/​whatever the flavor is — yum! I had coconut ice cream that was clearly made with actual coconut, and my friend’s banana scoop also tasted like actual banana, not artificial banana flavor. I can’t believe I was driving by without noticing for so long… won’t be making that mistake again. There is pumpkin ice cream, which I can’t wait to eat! and mango. yum.

Apparently they plan to reopen. I seriously hope they do. This shop is a neighborhood institution that just happens to serve some of the best and most unique ice cream I’ve ever had.
The prices are pretty steep (~$ 4 for one scoop) but the scoops are generous. As I said, the main draw here is the flavors. True to the name, most of them are of the tropical persuasion but occasionally you get flavors like Spicy Chocolate — crazy spicy but also chocolatey! I think my favorite is the lychee flavor, but I haven’t had a chance to try them all. Fingers crossed that they come back!

A sign in their window says that they plan to reopen.
I hope that they do! Yummy, creamy tropical flavors.

Tropical Ice Cream Café is the United Nations of ice cream for it offers frozen treats that are skilfully made with the bold flavors of fruits from all regions of the world, from the Lychee of Far East Asia, to the Durian, Rambutan, and Soursop of Southeast Asia, to the Mamey Sapote, Passion Fruit, and Tamarind of Central America and the Caribbean, and to the Jackfruit of South America. In addition to the exotic flavors, I also enjoyed the standard fares with the nutty French Almond, Rum and Raisin, and Pistachio versions, amidst the low-​sugar or no-​diary offerings. The seasonal specials too were worth tasting, like the Rambutan and Harambe! This is indeed a most unique ice cream store that makes a gourmand’s eyes like mine light up and go into a frenzy with indecision. I’m sure after a few samplings you will be returning back to explore the other missed flavors.
To read rest of review and see photos of the food, please look for the link in my profile.

This ice cream shack is filled with tropical, exotic, and delicious ice cream and sorbet flavored. My favorite is coconut, and I always look forward to going.

Great ice cream. Lots of exotic flavors and creamy ice cream. Best ice cream in the area.

Yum yum yummy… I only get their grape nut home made ice cream in their home made cinnamon wafer cone.

Been here about 4 times. All the flavors are really good. Price is a bit high but then it seems like most ice cream places are these days. My only complaint is that you’re limited to 3 samples.
I wish it was closer in location to me so I could go more often. Parking is a pain here because the lot only fits like 10 cars or so. Location isn’t the best near that intersection and if you miss the turn it’s not easy to get back to it

Best ice cream in Maryland AND Washington DC! Not only do they have amazing exotic flavors, it is the creamiest I’ve had. I consider myself a connoisseur of ice cream and my waistline shows it. This beats all the fancy stuff in downtown DC. Chocolate bans is awesome. Mango, coconut, grape nuts. It’s all great. Get a Jamaican patty to wash it down. :)

At the Fillmore Unilocal event, I was blessed to taste a slither of mango flavored ice cream. HANDS DOWN, THE BEST CREAM ON THE PLANET. It wasn’t overly mango, or sweet, and you could taste the cream. I can’t wait for the other locations to open up because I will stalk this place all summer.

Tropical Ice Cream Café has a lot going for them. A local ice cream shop that promotes itself as offering homemade, natural products. A fairly large variety of both traditional and unique flavors. Additionally, they also offer a few Caribbean favorites such as patties and jerk wings. The location, while a little out there, doesn’t have a lot of viable competition around.
After reading many great reviews, I decided to give it a go. I ordered some Rainbow Sherbet.
Gotta tell you, it was delicious. It’s funny, I think rainbow sherbet often gets messed up by places trying to be «too cute» with the flavors. It often results in unbalanced sherbet where it’s either too sour or too sweet. Not at this place. The sherbet was soft, creamy, smooth and fruity. The flavors were vast but they all came together in harmony.
Took me back to childhood when I’d steal money from my dad’s wallet to get some ice cream from the neighborhood shop. Don’t worry though, I blamed my little brother, so justice was served.
Why only three stars? The price. I’m not one to pay attention to prices all the time. I guess it depends on where I am and my mood but a lot of times, it’s not a big deal. As I’m standing at the register about to pay, I see a little sign that says «$ 8.00 minimum for credit card purchases». I think to myself, «hmmm, I think I’ve reached that amount». Boy, did I ever. One large cup of ice cream, one small cup of ice cream, one single scoop of ice cream on a cone and a Jamaican beef patty (which was spicy but probably not fresh) came to almost $ 20. I’m sorry? Yes, $ 20 dollars. Monopoly dollars? Nope, DC dollars, which seem to spend faster than regular American dollars… AKA inflation.
Additionally, the service wasn’t bad but it wasn’t the friendly and hospitable service I was expecting after reading other reviews. Maybe they were just having a bad day? Wait a second. Having a bad day at an ice cream shop? Insanity!
Irony? My little brother gives me a call as I’m leaving the store. I tell him about my sherbet adventure, especially about feeling like a victim of highway robbery. My brother pretends to be interested in my plight but then recalls doing time for a crime he didn’t commit… being framed by me. Now, I don’t exactly remember what his punishment was. I just remember sitting at the dinner table and noticing he wasn’t at his «assigned» seat. I vaguely recall my mom saying she didn’t like thieves so he was slapped into next week and would be back on Tuesday. I didn’t wanna blow my cover, plus we were having hot dogs so I just changed the subject. Besides, I had a football game the next day so I couldn’t afford to be gone till next week. I couldn’t let my teammates down, that’s selfish!
Fast forward back to the current situation. My brother said that if I overpaid for ice cream, I deserved it and therefore justice was served after all. Damn you, karma!
Despite all of that, I’d probably return here. The flavors and quality of Tropical Ice Cream Café are hard to beat. Just be mindful of the backwards reality– things that are supposed to be better for you are also more expensive.

This place is amazing. I can’t believe that I drove past this place almost every day and never bothered to come inside because I’m a snob, and let’s face it the outside looks ghetto as hell…
But be brave after all it’s silver spring, nothing is really all that ghetto. The ice cream was sooo good and the flavors were creative and above all delicious. I got the ginger ice cream and honey bee in an oversized vanilla waffle cone and immediately needed to go change my pants :/​
Also to my surprise this place also has a wide selection of savory Caribbean dishes such as meat pie and jerk chicken. I had the salmon mean pie and it immediately brought be back to my vacation in the bahamas sanz the cheap rum runners and bahama mama’s.
I will definitely be back!!!
P. S. the owner is a sweetheart

I walked over a mile from the Silver Spring Metro station just to get to this place so I was hoping it would be worth it. While it was good it wasn’t good enough to walk to again, next time I shall drive.
Place is just naturally dim, from the outside it appears they are closed but go ahead and enter because even with low lighting somebody is in there serving up scoops.
They have a variety of flavors, I’m unsure of which ones are homemade and which are bought and sold. It didn’t really matter to me as once I saw they had rainbow sherbet I knew what I wanted, it doesn’t matter how it was made if rainbow sherbet is available I’m getting it.
Staff was friendly, it appears to be family owned or at least a small business run by a tight group.
I could see myself returning and maybe next time I’ll be a little more adventurous and try one of their more unique flavors.

This place is in a tiny little strip mall right before you merge onto 16^th St… so it can be hard to find, and if you miss it, it can be a pain to make a U-​turn.
Anyway, it’s run by a nice lady and they have all kinds of African ice cream flavors in addition to the typical ones you find in Baskin Robbins. The ice cream is always fresh.
Keep in mind that they rotate flavors so if you got it one day it may not be there the next day.

I had read good reviews about Tropical Ice Cream, and we were in Silver Spring on the way home from traffic court, so decided to stop by. At first, we thought maybe the shop was closed since it was pretty dark looking for the outside, but upon closer inspection we saw people inside, and it was indeed open.
My Nana got a child-​sized peach cone, my sister got a small-​sized passionfruit sorbet in a cup, and I ordered a small-​sized Grapenut ice cream. The total for all three came up to a few cents under $ 12, which is the only reason I’m removing one star — $ 12 is a little pricey for three small orders, but I do get that it’s homemade, and the product is definitely quality!
Reviews: I *LOVED* my Grapenut ice cream — it was thick, creamy, and smooth, much more like a gelato or a custard than a typical ice cream. WIN. My sister raved over her passionfruit sorbet, and my Nana (always a complainer) actually liked her peach ice cream. I also sampled the honeybee and Guinness flavors. The honeybee was alright, but I wasn’t overwhelmed. The Guinness, on the other hand, was fantastic — like all the other flavors sampled, it tasted like the REAL THING.
Verdict: Pretty expensive, but will definitely be back!

I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed Tropical Ice Cream Café. I love them because their ice cream is rich and creamy, and they offer fun flavors (soursop, lychee, etc.). I always seem to be here during peach season, so I’ve had the peach quite a few times. I’ve also had mango. Both fruit flavors taste like the real thing, which is great. However, my favorite is the Honey Bee flavor. I’m addicted to honey (I used to eat honeycomb out of the jar) and ever since Baskin-​Robbins discontinued Bumble Buzz, I’ve been sad. But the Honey Bee ice cream is so delicious.
The same woman is always working, and she is quite friendly. And while I wouldn’t mind trying the Jamaican food, I can’t pass up the ice cream.

The Guinness really did taste like beer…
Espresso chip was phenomenal…
Butter pecan was pretty ok too!
Spicy beef patty was hittin hard!!!
Chicken patty was off da rocker!!!
But even with all that, I still can’t justify 5 stars… But I would stop by again when in the area.

When I pulled up into the parking lot, I was totally suspect of Tropical Ice Cream Café. After all it is in a strip mall.
Loved the unusual flavors that they had to offer here. I ended up trying the Rum Raisin and Soursop. Both were tasty, but I ended up leaving with a quart of the Rum Raisin (yes, it was that good… don’t judge!) and Strawberry. The actual Rum Raisin ice cream had subtle hints of rum, but when you got a raisin… boom! who got a huge burst of rum in your mouth. Definitely delicious. The Strawberry was delicious as well. It had nice chunks of strawberry it in, which I enjoyed. I need to go back to try the Guinness and Lychee soon… the ice cream here is that good! I also wouldn’t mind trying those Jamaican patties I saw and smelt.
Service was okay. The lady behind the counter was friendly, however she seemed to have no system for taking customers. She was a little frazzled with the four different sets of customers that were in there, not knowing who to serve first. So, she just randomly gave samples and scooped out ice cream for whoever shouted out an order to her.
The parking lot is a little tight and could get crazy, but have some patience. The ice cream here is definitely worth it!

All it took was one visit/​one scoop to say that Tropical Ice Cream is my new favorite go-​to spot for frozen dairy treats.
The moment we stepped in, this delicious aroma overwhelmed the senses — like fresh waffles or cake baking in the oven.
I tend to go for fruity flavors when I eat frozen dairy so this was a perfect match for me. I ended up with a small cake cone filled with mangoberry ice cream. They have a lot of flavors and one (harambe) that one fellow Unilocaler described as tasting like suntan lotion (but in a good way!).
The mangoberry was delightful. It was cold, creamy and filled with dark red berries. The flavors were just perfect.
Very pleasant employee manning the counter — she was very helpful with the sampling of the flavors so we could nail down our decisions.
The parking in this little plaza leaves something to be desired but it’s a small price to pay when you’re about to have the best ice cream in Silver Spring.