Dom’s Coffee Bar

One of my friends has broken her foot, and after failing to get a park at Floriade that she could walk from, we went for a short stroll along the lakefront near the National Library instead. No outing is complete for me without food of some kind, so we stopped in at Dom’s Coffee Bar for gelato. There isn’t a huge flavour selection, but that’s to be expected for a small kiosk. I was excited to see that they had several dairy free options and I went for the Lemon Lime flavour, while my friend chose the Passionfruit ($4.50 for one scoop in a cup). We walked/hobbled over to the wooden seats to soak up the sun, and I was very excited to discover that my gelato did in fact taste a lot like a Lemon Lime Splice! Whilst lacking the creaminess of a Splice, the gelato retained the strong citrus flavour that I find so refreshing. The texture was slightly melty, so definitely softer than I would have liked, but that didn’t detract from the flavour. I also tried the Passionfruit – the flavour was really crisp and the texture was better. I’d go back again for sure.

Dom’s Coffee Bar, Parkes Place, Parkes ACT, no website

Gelato Messina

A perfect spring day really does call for icecream, so we stopped in at Gelato Messina in Surry Hills. I love the vibrant colours and huge spheres of icecream in the display cabinet at Messina stores, and this one was no exception. The sorbets at the entrance caught my eye and I ordered a cup of the raspberry and mandarin sorbets ($6.80 for two scoops). The bottom scoop of mandarin was a bit bigger than the top scoop of raspberry, but the whole serving together was massive and I took my time enjoying it at the park across the road. I won’t talk too much about texture, because by the time I crossed the road the sun had started melting the edges and it went downhill from there (as to be expected), but the flavours were fantastic. The raspberry had a particularly intense flavour that is probably the most concentrated pure raspberry flavoured sorbet I’ve tried. The balance betwen tartness and sweetness was just right. The mandarin flavour was equally lovely – it was really juicy and whilst not as intense, it was beautifully refreshing and had real clarity of flavour. Ah Messina, you never fail to impress.

Gelato Messina, 389 Crown Street, Surry Hills, NSW http://www.gelatomessina.com/au/

N2 Extreme Gelato

I’m generally not someone who leads others astray… unless it comes to food. On the way back to my aunt’s house, I convinced all my cousins to stop in at N2 in Chinatown (not that it took much persuasion, you guys are awesome). There were heaps of flavours to choose from – having tried the Brokeback Moment earlier this year, I went for the dark chocolate and raspberry sorbet. The servings here are great value – $7 for a giant tub! They joke on the menu that it’s $7 for one scoop and the price for 2 scoops is “you don’t need it”. They’re right. We watched as the staff in lab coats created our icecreams and swapped tastes. The dark chocolate and raspberry was really luscious and definitely something I would order again. There was just enough tartness from the raspberry and plenty of not-too-bitter dark chocolate luxury to almost make me doubt the lack of dairy (it tasted so creamy!). One of my cousins got the Ribena and Longan sorbet, which was a vibrant purple colour and very refreshing – definitely a winning combination. Smiles all around, even (or perhaps especially?) from the youngest who managed to get it all over his clothes – definitely a sign of appreciation.

N2 Extreme Gelato, 43/1 Dixon Street, Sydney NSW http://n2extremegelato.com.au

Mr Shabu Shabu

My love of shabu shabu is no secret, but on this particular visit, a friend and I indulged in dessert there after our reliably delicious beef shabu shabu. There are three icecream flavours on the dessert menu – green tea, black sesame and red bean – all traditional Japanese dessert flavours. I picked the black sesame and my friend tried the red bean flavour. The scoops were $3.80 each and came out in a side dish-sized bowl, with one reasonably sized scoop inside. The black sesame scoop was a not-completely-appealing grey colour, but had a really fascinating savoury taste. The icecream was very creamy and at first that hid the sesame flavour, which made an appearance on the back palate at the end of the mouthful. The more I ate, the clearer the flavour became, and whilst it wasn’t as sweet as I expected, my friend preferred that to the sweeter red bean flavour. I tried a bite of the red bean, and actually thought it worked better, the sweet flavour pairing well with the creaminess. The verdict? Japanese icecream flavours are an adventure, definitely worth a try with varying sweet-savoury options!

Mr Shabu Shabu, 6/35 Childers St, Canberra ACT, no website

Ben & Jerry’s

I recently tried Ben & Jerry’s tub-sized icecream and loved it, so was really excited to stop by their Woden ‘Scoop Shop’ to test out some of their other flavours. The store is part of the Hoyts cinema, and has quite a wide range of flavours, including sorbets! I ordered a single scoop in a cup ($5.50), but was allowed to go half-half with flavours. I picked the Berry Berry Extraordinary sorbet (raspberry and blueberry) and a decadent chocolate flavour called Phish Food, which said it had marshmellow and chocolate fish inside. Curious. The sorbet flavour really reminded me of a Boost Juice berry crush, just with a more solid texture. It was really refreshing, but a bit icy and not quite as smooth as I would have expected. The Phish Food flavour was to die for. The chocolate was so lush and creamy, and whilst I couldn’t pick the marshmellow, the bits of chocolate shaped as fish were good quality and tasty. I ended up blending the two flavours (highly recommended) to get a yummy berry-chocolate mix. Great portion size for the price too. Definitely a new favourite.

Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop, Hoyts Westfield Woden, Bradley Street, Phillip ACT  http://www.benandjerry.com.au/scoop-shops

48 Flavours

I recently spent a long weekend in Adelaide and was amazed to see how many new places have opened on Gouger Street since my last visit. 48 Flavours is one of those. The franchise has grown from Mildura and the Adelaide store is the second outlet. As the name explains, the store offers 48 flavours of icecream/sorbet, including fun flavours like blood orange, black sesame, and limoncello. Whilst not all of the sorbet flavours were on offer when I visited (I would have loved to try the pomegranate or peach flavour), they did have a good selection, including lychee, green apple, mango, lemon, Red Bull and pineapple. I ordered a double scoop in a cup ($5.50) with lychee and my staple favourite, raspberry. The serving size was very generous and there was an even amount of both flavours. The lychee was really refreshing and the more genuine of the two flavours – yes, it was sweet, but the flavour was somehow juicy like a lychee, which I enjoyed. The raspberry flavour was a bit more synthetic – it reminded me more of a Redskin lolly than of fresh raspberry – but was still lovely. Both sorbets had a grainy texture, but I’d go back to try more of their impressive flavour range.

48 Flavours, 78 Gouger Street, Adelaide SA                     http://www.48flavours.com.au/

Andersen’s Ice Cream

A friend recently reminded me of a great episode of the West Wing, where one of the characters explains how she likes to fight cold (weather) with more cold (icecream). That’s exactly what I decided to do when stopping in at Glenelg on my way to the airport. Having been to Royal Copenhagen most recently, I stopped in at their competitor across the street – Andersen’s. The Jetty Road icecream outlets are certainly quieter in winter, but the offerings remain excellent. I went straight to the sorbets, and was very excited to see that they offer blood orange. A regular cup was $5.50 and it took me quite a while to get through the portion. First up, the sorbet was a tad melty, which was surprising in winter, and which meant that I didn’t enjoy the texture as much. On the other hand, full marks for flavour – the blood orange was really intense, but balanced nicely by the natural sweetness of the sorbet. The flavour experience was very much like drinking a San Pellegrino blood orange sparkling drink (yum!). As with all good sorbets, the intensity of the flavour didn’t fade the more you ate, so I’d recommend stopping by and giving Andersen’s a try – definitely delicious for fighting cold with cold!

Andersen’s Ice Cream, 46 Jetty Road, Glenelg SA                           http://andersensicecream.com/Andersens_of_Denmark_Ice_Cream/Home.html