We've got out of Kent and have gone to the Borough Market :-)

As part of our 2 week holiday we took a trip into London to visit family and go book bench hunting! (Great thing to do with little ones so go visit the website :-)

So off we went, the two of us, the boys and our Sister inlaw (different one to last time!). On the way round London's streets we found numerous benches (my favorite was this one - Big Terry Pratchett fan! although our oldest son really liked the Julia Donaldson bench) - a better review of this can be found here.

Conveniently (its almost like we planned it!) the Discworld bench is situated near the wonderful Borough Market. There are two ice cream establishments we want to visit at the Borough (the other wasn't open the day we went so will have to wait for another trip).


Galeteria 3Bis ice cream is an Italian company with a London branch. They have instilled a wonderful ice cream ideology to their store, using only the best content for their gelato, making smaller quantities of it on a more regular basis throughout the day to ensure the best quality and taste.

The store was relatively busy when we arrived with 4 members of staff waiting to serve. It is a relatively small shop with only a handful of tables and chairs, but this was not a issue as we were heading off straight away. We have to admit we found the service technique a tad....unique - you chose and paid for the item and then worked your way down the counter to collect. This system is flawed for people such as ourselves who have never visited and are unsure as to what flavours are available. We also found it difficult to see the flavours which were advertised on the back wall on pieces of paper in glass kilner jars - from the cash register we just didn't notice them. Also the ice cream was covered away in round metal containers. One of my personal highlights when visiting ice cream establishments is being able to see it, so this detracted from the experience a little.

The staff member who served us was very patient and offered us recommendations on a good mix of flavors - you could see a great deal of pride as he knew the best combinations. We chose 3 scoops, Milk chocolate, cookies and Pistachio. This came in under £5 which for London prices was not bad with the portions being just about the right size for three of us to share.

The chocolate was wonderful - great taste, texture and smell (not overpoweringly chocolaty - just about right). The Pistachio was a personal favorite, as the gentle flavour and crunchy texture really enhanced the ice cream base, and the Cookies was a great addition to the other two.

The highlight for us was the chocolate tap (you can just about see it on the counter in this picture) - how i would love for one of these in our kitchen at home! A liquid shot of melted chocolate placed at the base of the tub really did add to the whole experience.

So to the scores - the ice cream thoroughly deserves a 4 out out of 5. It was a wonderful trio of ice creams but was still missing that extra gravitas that might have pushed it to be better than Morellis.

The experience was good. Wonderful staff, but slightly odd queuing system and small store (not enough room when very busy) and odd presentation gives this experience a 3 out of 5.


Note for visitors - before visiting, check www.groupon.co.uk, as they often run special offers and discounts!