Mora Iced Creamery a clean, fresh delight in Orem
A scoop of chocolate ice cream at Mora Iced Creamery in Orem.
A scoop of pistachio ice cream in a waffle bowl at Mora Iced Creamery.
A scoop of cheesecake brownie ice cream at Mora Iced Creamery.
A french vanilla milkshake at Mora Iced Creamery.
The menu at Mora Iced Creamery in Orem.
It is too dang hot.
The premise of reviewing any sort of eatery that served anything that was cooked, steamed or in any way hotter than 100 degrees was exhausting just to think about.
After spending a day jumping from one air-conditioned place to another with my wife and family from out of town, a nice frozen dessert sounded fantastic to keep our cool.
Fortunately for us, Mora had recently opened at University Place in Orem and it was a perfect treat to end our day on.
Mora can easily be mistaken for one of the dozens of creameries, snow cone shacks and other dessert offerings that dot Utah Valley. I certainly thought so before our trip. But, Mora is unique in its quality of ingredients that doesn’t quite reflect on the still fair prices.
Mora got its start in western Washington and the Orem location is the first locale outside of the Evergreen State. It’s based out of Poulsbo, Washington, just north of Bainbridge Island, though the founders are originally from Argentina.
Mora’s flavors are made using the freshest ingredients possible; I’m talking real lavender for the lavender ice cream, ripe watermelon for the watermelon sorbet and perfect blackberries for the Mora ice cream, Spanish for, you guessed it, blackberry. Its website lauds the time-honored methods of ice cream creation, including fresh milk, farm butter and real fruit.
Nothing tasted artificial — no food coloring, no imitation flavorings, just real, genuine flavors served in scoops, shakes, splits, sundaes and more. It’s difficult to really explain until you experience your first bite of coconut or mint ice cream.
This claim was first made evident when I had the pistachio ice cream. I’ve always loved pistachio flavors in gelato and the density and creamy texture of Mora’s ice cream resembles gelato, though Mora never claims to serve gelato — just ice cream.
My scoop of pistachio ice cream had large chunks of real pistachio with the sweet nutty taste consistent throughout the ice cream.
My wife and father both got a single scoop of the cheesecake brownie. The cheesecake flavor was very cakey, not like cheesecake-flavored ice cream I’d had before. But it was a pleasant twist to the beloved flavor, especially with the large chunks of dense brownie.
My little sister decided on a french vanilla shake. To me, it sounded basic, but the smooth, real vanilla flavor was beyond what one would expect for a vanilla shake. This wasn’t a McDonald’s milkshake here. The shake texture was inconsistent; runny in parts and thick in others. I thought this would be a concern, but it was the opposite. It reminded me of homemade milkshakes my mom would blend herself on hot July days. It was nostalgic and delicious all at once.
My niece ordered a scoop of chocolate. Again, a classic choice with a distinguishable, unique and fresh taste.
The only real miss of the many scoops and servings of ice cream was my mother’s order: a dark mint chocolate sundae. Each sundae at Mora comes standard with hot fudge, whipped cream, walnuts and your choice of ice cream.
The issue was the hot fudge was too hot in the sundae and melted the whipped cream, making the whole sundae a bit soupy. Regardless, the dark chocolate still packed a sweet yet bitter taste that, had the whole serving not been easier to just drink, would have stood on its own fairly well.
One thing to keep in mind when dining at Mora is the limited seating. It’s in a fairly small location, adjacent to Midici at University Place, which makes accommodating large groups a bit of a challenge. But if you’re bringing a date or a few friends, you shouldn’t have to push too hard for your seating.
Mora keeps its customers coming back with seasonal flavors, like summer lavender, eggnog for the holidays and rose petal for Valentine’s Day.
Mora is an excellent new shop for any sweet tooth craving cleaner eating with affordable pricing. It’s hard to compare, which is exactly what you want in quality ice cream.
MORA ICED CREAMERY
Where: 541 E. University Parkway, Orem
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, closed Sundays
Prices: $3.95 to $8.50
Info: moraicecream.com
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