7 Apples Gelato

Ok, if you’ve seen it, you know that the 7 Apples Gelato store in Emporium isn’t just cute, it’s the most freaking adorable icecreamery ever. A little icecream cart with a bicycle attached, this tiny stall sucked me in with free samples and sorbet options. Who could resist? Offering a limited range (around 8 flavours – their main store is in St Kilda) on their cute menu board, I opted for a single scoop of the mango sorbet ($5.50), which was served in a reasonably sized up and had a creamy, pale colour. The mango flavour was nice – authentic, but not as strong as other mango sorbets I’ve tried in Melbourne – and there was a good amount of sweetness to it. The texture was again around the mid-range of quality – not the creamiest I’ve ever tried, but not overly icy either, so definitely in the solidly ‘good’ category. I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to order this flavour again (nice was it was), given the range of flavours they offer, but I would recommend stopping by, if only to marvel at the set up, uniform and, of course, to enjoy the free samples!

7 Apples Gelato, Emporium Melbourne (Level 3), 287 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne VIC, http://www.7applesgelato.com/

Gelateria Primavera

It has been a while since I was last at Gelateria Primavera (seriously, where does the time go?) but on a recent visit to Melbourne, I made a point of stopping by to try some of their excellent flavours. I usually go for the more unusual options, and this time that meant trying the peach and basil sorbet. Peach and basil? I hear you ask. Yep – these are definitely two things I would not have considered throwing together, yet there they were, in a cup of sorbet. The first thing I love about Gelateria Primavera (apart from their extended opening hours) is the great texture of their gelato/sorbets. In the case of this sorbet, it was so lovely and creamy I wouldn’t have known it was dairy free if the sign hadn’t said so. Down to the flavour – I must admit, these guys know how to balance flavours. I was expecting a much sweeter taste with jarring notes of basil, but neither the peach nor the basil dominates, both blended into a harmonious whole. The peach is subtle and rich, while the basil adds an unusual spritz without stealing the show. Definitely unusual, definitely delicious.

Gelateria Primavera, 157 Spring Street, Melbourne VIC, http://www.springstreetgrocer.com.au/

Movenpick

Set up in Adelaide’s super trendy West End, Movenpick offers their top quality icecreams and sorbets as well as a range of other desserts. We decided to get the icecream tasting plate to share between 3, which comes with 6 scoops ($14.95). We picked: creme brulee, macadamia, rum & raisin, choc mint, strawberry and the lemon & lime sorbet. My pick of the bunch was the strawberry – it was like eating creamy, rich strawberry jam without being sickly. Give me a tub and leave me alone, I’ll be a happy woman. My next favourite was the lemon & lime sorbet – it was just so refreshing and the citrus flavour was perfection. Macadamia would probably come next, one of those great icecreams where the more you eat, the better it tastes, followed by the choc mint, which had awesome quality flakes of chocolate and was really quite minty. I’m not a huge rum & raisin fan, but the quality and richness of flavour was evident, even to me. We all felt the creme brulee seemed a bit bland, but only by comparison. Alone, it was subtle and rich. So basically there were no real duds – six for six Movenpick, well played.

Movenpick, 6 Leigh Street, Adelaide SA, http://www.moevenpick-icecream.com/au

Sublime Gelato

This will be the last #icecreamthurs post for 2015 – thanks for playing along and I look forward to sharing more icecream discoveries in 2016. Westside Acton is one of my favourite places to have lunch – I haven’t had a bad meal there, and now that the weather is warming up, it’s a great place to laze and enjoy the sunshine. I met up with a friend for lunch, and after eating we didn’t really want to leave, so we picked up gelato from Sublime, which has recently opened (yay!). The range of flavours is quite broad for such a small stall, and whilst the $5 per scoop isn’t quite a good value as say, Frugii ($5 for two scoops), the gelato here is good quality. After considering the rather tempting Belgian chocolate and the white chocolate and raspberry coulis flavours, I went for the dairy-free option and picked a single scoop of the strawberry sorbet. The cup was a standard scoop size, and we found seats out in the sunshine to enjoy our gelato. The strawberry flavour was very sweet was consistent throughout. Although a bit melty, I would happily order it again.

Sublime Gelato, Westside Acton, 3 Barrine Drive, Acton ACT

Frugii Dessert Laboratory

I loved the TV show Pokemon as a kid – the idea of ‘catch ’em all’ appealed to my inner collector – as does the ever changing flavour menu at Frugii. This visit was part of my #touristinmyowntown adventure, showing a friend from Adelaide the best of Canberra. Of course Frugii was on that list. We stopped in on a Thursday night and the two sorbets on offer were Grapefruit and Passionfruit. Mmm. I sampled the Grapefruit and fell completely in love – sorbets are naturally sweet, so paired with a sour fruit, there is a harmonious balance that ticks all the tastebud boxes. I got a scoop of the Passionfruit too (a small cup with two scoops is $5), after plenty of helpful advice from the friendly staff. Frugii’s sorbets aren’t trying to emulate the creaminess of icecream, because they’re spending plenty of time making sure the flavour is spot on. The passionfruit was really lush and had that fabulously tropical flavour – nothing synthetic here folks. Having added two new flavours to my collection, I wonder what the next one will be on my quest to catch ’em all?

Frugii Dessert Laboratory, 30 Lonsdale Street, Braddon ACT, http://www.frugii.com/

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