That sweet, sweet melted chocolate!

Were back! Family and work has been the downfall of our ice cream endeavors this summer but thankfully we have been able to squeeze in a quick visit to a little gem in the heart of London's West End.

Gelatorino is found just around the corner 
from Drury Lane Theatre / The Royal Opera House, right next to the tourist hot spot that is Covent Garden. As you would expect from the area the parlor is located, the shop itself is very well presented both inside  and out. The exterior is very simple but stylish, with the interior utilizing space very well with a small area for seating and displays around the walls. 

When you enter the parlor you are greeted by a very  beautiful 'pozzetti' display (Enclosed cases of Gelato rather than open display) and quite impressively, from both a aesthetic viewpoint and a geeky ice cream loving viewpoint, behind glass screens they also have 2 Gelato mixers blending away the next batch of ice cream ready to go on sale.

We chose two flavours of Gelato, Almond and Stracciatella, and had them with a hot, melted chocolate sauce. This was served in a slanted square plastic container and cost £6 in total, which considering the area and the size of portion, we did not feel that this was too bad. 

Now, we may not have done this for a while, but we still know a good (or bad!) ice cream and to say that these flavors were divine is a understatement of massive proportion. Creamy, soft, light and full of flavour, it ticked all the boxes. Also if you're reading this and you've never had melted (good quality) chocolate on ice cream before, stop whatever you're doing and go and do it. So good!

 5 Experience

 5 Ice Cream

Udderlicious!

Before I say anything else, one thing has to be said.....

WHAT A GREAT NAME FOR AN ICE CREAM PARLOUR!

We came across this one via Timeouts review of the best Ice cream in London (well worth a look). It has received very high praise via Tripadvisor and as we were set to visit the city for a matinee of 'Bend it Like Beckham' the Musical, a quick tube journey on the way back home was a no brainer.

The first thing we should point out is its location. It is situated on Upper Street (what is essentially the A1). It is a very busy road and at first signs seems a very odd location for a shop of this nature - but this is London and quiet is not something that is easily found.

The shop is wonderfully designed with quirky cartoons and a lovely way of displaying products. There is limited seating, but what was there is well placed and comfortable, leaving space for queuing at the counter.

The ice cream selection was good, with a good array of options (both sorbet and gelato). Some wonderful flavours were available, and we were particularly impressed by there way of showing intolerances on there ice cream board, which were clearly displayed in a very stylish manner in individual frames on the wall.

We were also impressed with the monthly competition they run to design a flavour of ice cream. Other parlours we have been to also do this, but Udderlicious' competition was very well thought out - done via there website you select your flavours and then enter the competition, and the winner is chosen at random and has their photo on the wall and their ice cream on sale for a month.

We chose to have a sundae with peanut butter chocolate and banana caramel with hot fudge sauce and hazlenuts and a milkshake with cookies and cream. This came to a total of £10.60, which for the amount we got and considering location we didn't think was too bad. The peanut butter chocolate flavour in particular was amazing, with chunks of chocolate and chunks of peanut and a really nice blend of creaminess and flavour in the ice cream itself. The banana caramel was also really good, and the hot fudge sauce was fantastic. You could even taste the cookies in the milkshake. 

The service was good, with two members of staff on duty and dealing with the customers. The ice cream is all made on site and they have a good selection of sorbets (Dark chocolate and sea salted caramel was one I was intrigued to try - maybe next time!) and a good awareness of various intolerances, making them the kind of place that's pretty accessible to everyone. 

Overall we would definitely go back again! 

Rating:

4 Experience

5 Ice Cream