The soft serve days of Seattle summer

Seattle has plenty of artisanal ice cream makers to offer cool relief from the heat.

But for fans of classic soft serve, what options are available? We recruited two young reviewers to check out some local spots.

Before we start, a little bit about our reviewers: Walter Hecht and Ash Arrogante. They're both 9 years old.

Our first stop is King’s Deli on Cherry Street in Seattle’s Madrona neighborhood.

Owner Bruk Joseph says fried chicken and soft serve are his top sellers among high school students. "Especially around (school) time around here, Garfield and Nova, very busy," he said.

We take the cones outside. After the first few bites, Walter proclaims the cone "smooth and creamy."

"The texture on my tongue," he said, "your tongue is like frozen.”

Ash liked the cone. "You know how most ice cream cones are waffle cone and drips out? This one holds it in.”

For our next test, we headed to Chinatown-International District. At GoPoke, Hawaiian poke is the main attraction.

Employee Jeffrey Nguyen says they also offer frozen treats that are distinctly Hawaiian.

"We have our Dole Whip, which is pineapple soft serve, usually served in Disney World,” said Nguyen.

Who knew you could get this classic in Seattle?

For a real Hawaiian twist on the dessert, he offered a side of li hing mui powder. The red powder is made from salted dried plums and provides a layer of salty, sour, sweet taste.

Nguyen makes a swirl cup and tops it with a gummy bear. Our reviewers couldn't wait to dig in.

“It actually tastes like real pineapple,” Ash said.

Walter agreed.

“I like it with the sweet and salty powder.”

Even the adults couldn't stop eating their soft serve. "It's a mommy tax," said KUOW editor Liz Jones, Walter's mom.

After polishing off our pineapple soft serve, we made our way to Homer on Beacon Hill. Homer is a full service restaurant, but there’s also walk-up window.

This week's flavors are posted on the sandwich board: sweet corn and roasted peach, which is vegan.

Ash's brows furrowed. "Why isn't there chocolate?" she asked.

The restaurant offers their soft serve as a sundae, too, or if you want the adult version, with a shot of booze.

Our reviewers chose the swirl, straight up.

"Tastes like sweet buttered corn," said Walter.

Ash wavered.

“I like the corn a little better… the peach is like... I like both actually.”

Now the hard part—of the three places we visited, which soft serve did they like best?

"Oof, oof, I cannot decide between the pineapple or the peach,” said Walter.

Ash had a hard time narrowing down her choices, too.

“I can’t choose between the pineapple, peach or corn.”

I guess they’re all winners.