gelato messina, darlinghurst

Gelato Messina definitely sets the benchmark for gelato in Australia with over 40 flavours to choose from. They use ingredients in their raw and natural form and make everything from scratch. They have a range of both classic and 'special' flavours to choose from so there's definitely something there that will suit each individual.

messina:

If you're not sure which flavour to choose, the staff are more than happy to help you out with a small sample of a few until you find one you like and make your decision!

specials board:

But seriously, who comes up with these flavours? They're so creative!

Recently there was a $3 for a two-scoop gelato cup or cone offer on Groupon which  I just had to get.

pistachio and apple pie ($6.00):

Apple Pie: This apple gelato is made with house-made baked apple pies, smashed up converted into ice cream form! How cool is that? You can taste that sugary cinnamon marinated apple flavour and the bits of that lovely apple pie pastry exterior in every bite. It's so smooth and the pastry crumb gives it extra texture.

Pistacho: The pistachio gelato is made with freshly ground roasted pistachios from Bronte in Italy. The pistachios are milled in house and turned into a paste. Although this flavour is pretty much available in most gelato stores, this version was actually really nutty and felt like the actual ground pistachios.

Now on to the 'special' flavours!

so wrong it's right and nicciolino ($6.00):

Nicciolino: A white chocolate and hazel gelato with frangelico soaked sponge and gianduia ganache. All those fancy words. Basically frandgelico is a hazelnut liqueur and gianduia is a sweet chocolate containing hazelnut. The chunks of hazelnutty sponge and chocolate flavours were really nice because it wasn't a sickly concentrated chocolate-y taste.  (This is coming from someone who isn't too fond of chocolate).

So wrong it's right: Cream cheese and caramel gelato smashed with white chocolate potato chips and smothered in caramel sauce. This was a combination that definitely sounded wrong. A cheesecake, duck fat caramel and potato chips? Surprisingly, it didn't taste very strange at all! It was like a light cheesecake with specks of sweetened potato chip crumbs.

salted caramel with white chocolate and pbh sandwich ($6.00):

PHB Sandwich: Peanut butter and honey gelato with vanilla soaked brioche and banana jam. This was another fascinating flavour. The gelato looked and felt super smooth but you could sort of the feel the crumby texture of the brioche. You can't go wrong with peanut butter, honey and banana and the thing that stood out for me was that you could pretty much taste all the components listed in the flavour description. It kind of reminded me of french toast served with peanut butter and bananas.

Salted Caramel with white chocolate: A salted caramel gelato with white chocolate chips. It's Messina's best seller and so we just had to get it. The gelato is silky smooth with shards of white chocolate here and there. It has really addictive salty kick but with the right amount of sweetness to balance things out.

There's nothing not to like about Gelato Messina. There are still probably 50 flavours I haven't tried and I still haven't tried their cakes yet so I can't wait to come back!

Gelato Messina
Shop 1/241 Victoria St
Darlinghurst NSW, 2010
f: https://www.facebook.com/gelatomessina
t: (02) 8354 1223
w: http://www.gelatomessina.com/