More Than Just Ice Cream at Cool Hand Luc

Cool Hand Luc (Twitter: @CoolHandLucTO, Facebook: Cool Hand Luc) located on 545 King St. W. is a cute and colourful ice cream shop that opened back in June of last year. While many ice cream shops in Toronto cut down hours or shut down completely during the winter, Cool Hand Luc steered away from the norm and launched a "Winter Menu" that  offers fresh soups and custom grilled cheese (with weekly features and specials). I was invited by Cool Hand Luc to try out their Winter Menu last week.


Before I go on, I need to point out Cool Hand Luc's back-wall! For those of you that have been there you will know exactly what I'm talking about. This mural... I just can't get enough of it! I literally stood in front of it for five minutes just admiring it...it's so adorable! I especially love the blob of purple ice cream vomiting Mike and Ikes. And the face on that peanut butter cup? Hilarious! =D

Currently, all of Cool Hand Luc's ice cream are sourced from Bobcaygeon-based Kawartha Dairy and their vegan friendly,100% natural, fat-free fruit sorbets come from Solo Fruit in Montreal. However, this will all change this summer as owner Luc Essiambre hopes to produce at least 50% of their ice cream, and by 2013, Cool Hand Luc will be serving exclusively their own homemade ice cream.

Ah this is what I'm here for, Cool Hand Luc's soups and grilled cheese~

Luc works along side executive chef Catherine Hall in creating their vegan soup menu; it is produced off site to maintain 100% vegan / vegetarian consistency. Luc hand makes all the purees and meat-based soups / chili on a weekly basis. 

Here is Luc making our grilled cheese~ My friend Julia and I told Luc that he can decide the grilled cheese toppings for us :)

My Combo: Small Soup, Deluxe Grilled Cheese (Basic Grilled Cheese + 2 Toppings), Pop / Water ($9.50)

I opted for the chili because I love having it when it is cold outside. I really liked this chili because it was thick with a lot of ground beef, not too "tomato-y" and had a little bit of kick to it as well. It was really hearty and substantial, a great choice if you like chili or a thick soup.

My deluxe grilled cheese was made with cheddar, tomato and bacon with white bread. I enjoyed it as it was light, easy to eat and not greasy at all. The bacon was done just right - cut to small pieces and not too salty - and with the tomato and cheese, the whole sandwich tasted really good. 

Julia went with the same deluxe combo but she chose the chicken noodle soup. She said her soup had a good amount of chicken, noodles and veggies.

Her deluxe grilled cheese was made with cheddar, tomato and avocado with white bread (she didn't want any meat in her grilled cheese).

Cheese, tomato and avocado may seem like an odd combo but it works! Julia really enjoyed it. I took a bite as well and I gotta admit, it was pretty darn good. I think I like it even more than my bacon grilled cheese. I think it's something to do with the texture of the avocado with the melted cheese that made really tasty.

After the satisfying chili and grilled cheese, I was pleasantly full. However, there was absolutely no way I was going to leave Cool Hand Luc without eating ice cream! I went for the "Bear Claw" since I was craving chocolate. I highly recommend this flavour if you are a chocolate fan.

With so many grilled cheese places popping up in Toronto offering super fancy grilled cheese at ridiculous prices, I'm happy I can resort to Cool Hand Luc for a good quality, classic grilled cheese at $3.50 (and if you want something more, get the deluxe grilled cheese at $5 for two more toppings...nothing crazy). The best value, in my opinion, are the combos. I mean I'm no "grilled cheese connoisseur" but all I know is that I was very happy and satisfied with my deluxe grilled cheese, chili, and drink, all for under $10 =D

*This meal was complimentary. The opinions and views expressed on this post are my own*

Winter Hours: Monday - Friday: 11AM - 7PM, Saturday: 12PM - 4PM, closed Sundays.

Summer Hours: 11AM - late night, 7 days a week.