Mel's Restaurant Review

Sweet Tooth at Mel's
By Scott Bradley
Orlando CityBeat
Published July 9, 2006

Heading West on Colonial Drive, just before the West Oaks Mall, is Ocoee's Good Homes Plaza at Colonial and Good Homes Road. In this community plaza, along with Publix, are several local shops and a restaurant or two, one of which is Mel's Frozen Custard.

Location: As my guest and I arrived, I noticed that the store's location was perfect with Positano's Pizza on one side and Curves on the other. Now that's creative placement!

The treat-ment: Mel's, a family operation named for the owner's daughter, is a straight-forward frozen custard shop with a colorful sign over the door, some simple pictures mostly of custard in cups or cones, a few tables and chairs, and a friendly teenage waitress. "All the sprinkles are free" she said as she finished telling me about the three flavors available for the day.

Vanilla and chocolate are standards at Mel's and a daily 'special,' is listed on a calendar. Mel's tries to serve up a variety of custards over the course of the month and we were told that they often have two specials a day to improve the variety. No luck for me, just one the day we visited.

Sugar High:

Butterfingers was the frozen custard special when we visited, but Strawberry Banana was coming up soon, and their calendar gives you plenty to look forward to. What I discovered right away was that ice cream and frozen custard isn't the same thing, not even close, and it isn't soft-serve ice milk either. It's a rich, creamy-smooth custard with a full-bodied flavor that slams on the breaks and makes you stop and pay attention. On a scale of one to 10, Mel's custards were tens, and the Butterfingers blend really complemented its signature candy bar.

Here's what we ordered:

Large Butterfinger and chocolate custard cup ($2.99)
Large cup of vanilla with black-cherry topping ($2.99)
Large chocolate shake with chocolate sprinkles and whipped cream ($3.25)
Sugar cookies from the counter tray ($1)
And a coffee and float to round it off ($2.25 and $3.25)

The creamy texture of the frozen custard was silky and inspired, nothing flat about it. The different flavors were all good, the cherry topping on the vanilla however made it the hands down winner in the taste competition, but with new specials every day who knows what will be best when you visit. When compared to the custard, the shakes and floats were not strong contenders, basically because they lacked the delicate texture of the frozen custard, but the flavor was just as strong and if you like floats and shakes, they were worth the effort. Strawberry shortcake, brownie sundaes, and banana splits were also available.The sugar cookie added to the kid-like fun of using it as your spoon.

Conclusion:

Though lacking in variety, Mel's offers a really good frozen custard. So if you're out near the West Oaks Mall, it's worth the stop. There's a lot to be said for surprises, like Mel's daily specials, but if you want to know what Mel's keeping cold, call ahead.