Adam Richman takes on a monster sandwich in MvF's first season.

If you’ve ever happened upon the Travel Channel on a Wednesday night, you’ve doubtlessly seen several episodes of Man vs. Food. If you haven’t, in short, host Adam Richman visits a city/region and hits up its notable eateries. He rounds out each episode by taking on a  food challenge. I’ve seen him take down 72 oz. steaks, somehow eat wings made with the spiciest peppers on Earth and eat gigantic ice cream sundaes. I had always thought our beloved Jersey Shore and its greasy gastronomic offerings would be perfect fodder for an episode. So, one day last week, the @ManvFood Twitter account tweeted a list of upcoming locales. And, what do you know, the Jerz was on their to-do list!

I intended to write a post about how they were coming here and name some places Adam could try out, but they actually beat me to it. On Thursday, my brother called to say he thought he saw them taping at Hoffman’s Ice Cream in Point Pleasant Beach. Curiosity obviously got the better of me, so Cait and I hopped in the car and headed up there.

The cast and crew were indeed there and Adam was in the back learning how Hoffman’s makes their ice cream. A herd of giggling girls perched inside and people streamed in and out all day. (Yours truly may or may not have been filmed eating a cotton candy cone with rainbow sprinkles for the show’s b-roll.) However, we got to chatting with the crew’s intern and he said they’re visiting Maruca’s on the Seaside boardwalk (a place we at LFJS know a thing or two about) on Friday, June 4 and Chicken or the Egg in Beach Haven on Saturday, June 5.

But, if you had the chance to choose which of our fair coast’s fine food institutions to give America a true Jersey Shore dining experience?

A Seaside Tony at Steaks Unlimited? (Cheese steak with cheeseballs inside. If you had to ask, go get yourself one pronto -  preferably after a night out.)

Something from Surf Taco? (I vote for the Aloha Wrap – pineapples, grilled chicken, veggies, teriyaki sauce and goodness.)

A bomber sandwich at Bayside Cafe? (Pretty sure that one has your choice of breakfast meat, egg, cheese and hashbrowns on a roll. Wouldn’t know though, I usually go for raspberry and chocolate chip pancakes and think you should too.)

A sausage sandwich at Midway?

The possibilities are endless. I just hope he has some Tums.

Peanut Butter Overload on the left and a waffle cone with S'mores and Cookie Dough...courtesy of Miss Stephanie's Blackberry

From what I can remember, the building just south of Colonial Bakery on Route 35 North has always offered frozen creamy confections. It’s changed hands and monikers several times – from Mrs. Walker’s in the early 1990s (I have fond memories of digging into a cup of black raspberry ice cream while watching the launch of Nickelodeon’s SNICK during one of Mrs. W’s early summers) to a brief stint as Strawberries.

Now, Summer Sweets occupies the charming roadside bungalow-turned-scoop shop and has since 2006. On their site, the owner details her discovery of the building and admits that her dad advised knocking it down. We’re willing to forgive this statement (as well as the site’s casual use of grammar and the spelling of Lavallette) because Summer Sweets’ brightly painted walls, cartoonish ice cream cut-outs (as detailed by the authors of Ice Cream People) and cheery interior are just so doggone cute.

A recent week-night trip just before closing time left us quite satisfied with heaping cones. One of Summer Sweets’ signature flavors is Peanut Butter Overload, a delicious amalgamation of vanilla ice cream, peanut butter chips, chocolate chips and fudge. Speaking as a peanut butter afficionado, it’s just the right balance of peanut butter and chocolate (probably the holiest flavor combination the world has to offer). My brother deemed his cookie dough “delicious” and “amazing” (he’s a science major; his vocabulary’s not terribly extensive) and raved about the size of the dough chunks. His ladyfriend, our B.B. photog Steph, tried a non-fat, sugar-free concoction and said it was great. I’m still not buying it. I had my PBO (as the kids call it these days, I hear) in a fudge-dipped, sprinkle-coated sugar cone – something you don’t usually see, as the fudge/sprinkle hullabaloo is usually reserved for massive waffle cones. AJ (baby bro) had his ice cream in one such hulking cone and had to call for cup and spoon back up. He seemed to enjoy himself. Our three desserts set my generous brother back about $13. (I frequently buy him dinner, but now that his badge checking/substitute lifeguard paychecks are piling up he wanted to treat. Nice kid like that.)

In addition to the classics, Summer Sweets offers off-beat ice cream flavors like Oatmeal Cookie, Chocolate Thunder (chocolate ice cream with fudge and chocolate pieces), Cotton Candy, Shannon’s Special (chocolate ice cream, marshmallow, caramel and chocolate chips) and the custom, locally-inspired Ocean Beach (orange, pineapple and coconut ice cream with maraschino cherries).

But, don’t get bogged down in the ice cream. Truly living up to its name, Summer Sweets packs a case full of various confections – pies, cookies, brownies, cannoli, fudges of varying flavors (Butterfinger, M&M, turtle, et al) and candied apples covered in chocolate, caramel and the regular red sugar shellac.

You won’t find ice cream for breakfast here (or even lunch) but Summer Sweets stays open pretty late. Hours: Monday-Thursday: 3-10:30 p.m.; Friday-Saturday: 3 p.m. to 12 a.m.; Sunday: 3-11 p.m.

Summer Sweets is located at 3071 Route 35 North, just north of Ocean Beach Unit I. For more information, call (732) 830-3444 or visit www.summersweetsnj.com.

Normandy Beach's Kaboodles Ice Cream Parlor serves up scoops, sprinkles and silly names to boot.

The concept of going out for ice cream is absolutely married to summers at the Shore. Sure, there’s FrozFruit bars, Screwballs and novelty character-shaped frozen dessert novelties to be had on the beach during the day, but when the sun goes down, you hanker for a cone. Before any of us could drive, my friends and I found our main source of entertainment in walking up and down Route 35 North in search of ice cream. There was Mrs. Walker’s (now Summer Sweets), Milky Way (now a real estate office) and Salty’s (still the same!) if we felt like trekking. Today the options are just as plentiful, if not more so.

Obviously, this is going to become a series. And it will likely get personal. Ice cream parlors – like pizza – can inspire fierce loyalty. And, like pizza, no ice cream is really ever bad. Even when it’s pretty bad, it’s still pretty good.

Kaboodles in Normandy Beach fed the ice-cream-frenzied masses for years at the corner of 6th Ave. and 35 North for years. A quick survey of flavor titles during a recent trip revealed that Kaboodles carries quite the eclectic collection of flavors: Tastykake Kandy Kake (you know – the cake/peanut butter/chocolate explosion of deliciousness from your youthbut in ice cream form), Deathby Chocolate, Cake Batter with sprinkles throughout, and sugar-free low-fat Moosetracks for those whose willpower doesn’t allow for ice cream to be subtracted from their diet.

I had been jonseing for weeks for strawberry with rainbow sprinkles in a sugar cone. It definitely didn’t disappoint but also didn’t blow your mind. I should probably have tried the Kandy Kake ice cream but the stomach wants what it wants.

Strawberry with rainbow sprinkles and Cookies & Cream. We trust you can tell the difference.

The menu also includes frozen yogurt and several featured sundaes and treats like the Berry White Shake and the Patriots sundae, a combination of strawberries, blueberries and vanilla ice cream.

A small, two-scoop cone will set you back $2.85. In all, our order of three cones – one with sprinkles (not jimmies)- totaled $8.80. Kaboodles stays open later than many ice cream joints, 11:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. There’s outside seating in what can be considered downtown Normandy Beach.

Kaboodles Ice Cream Parlor is located at  560 State Highway 35 No, at the corner of Route 35 North and Sixth Avenue just over the border into the Brick Township part of Normandy Beach. For information, call (732) 830-0222.