Summer might be almost over but still there’s some sunny days to come. Also, doesn’t an ice cream taste good no matter the weather? We found five places serving a cold treat that will put you right into ice cream heaven!
1. Moo Shu Ice Cream
In case you want to try something more exciting than strawberry and vanilla ice cream, Moo Shu is the place to eat! Moo Shu’s recipe for success: Local dairy, premium dark chocolate and creative flavours. Be prepared to try delicious flavours such as Mango Lassi, Matcha Green Tea or Vegan Piña Colada. Our favourite? Black Sesame. Yum!
2. Mantovani 1946
Mantovani 1946, the “Italian artisan gelato, café, pastry & franchising”, is placed right in the ByWard Market. It serves delicious gelato flavours and tempting Italian desserts. Most people’s favourite flavor is the “chocolate hazelnut” – since it tastes like cold Nutella. The owner of Mantovani, Oreste Mantovani, even won an award at the 2015 Gelato Festival in Italy. That’s promising, isn’t it?
3. Stella Luna Gelato Café
Stella Luna is probably the best known place for good gelato in Ottawa. Most people in Ottawa would recommend to go there and they are right! The Café has a lot more to offer than just their popular, handcrafted, artisan ice cream, which got awarded the 4th best gelato in North America. Listed as one of “Canada’s Best 100 Places to Eat”, they are also serving gourmet panini, hearty soups, buttermilk waffles, decadent desserts and specialty coffees. Both ambience and food in this family owned restaurant are great and we could spend hours and hours at Stella Luna enjoying these two things.
4. Pure Gelato
Open until late on Elgin Street (12 am on the weekend), Pure Gelato is the perfect spot for your late night ice cream cravings after having some drinks in the pubs nearby. Offering so many flavours to choose from, Pure Gelato is making it a hard decision for ice cream fans on what to pick. Most peoples favourite flavour is Rocher. Other popular flavours: Pistachio, Skor and Lemon Sorbet. We say: whatever flavour you pick, you won’t be disappointed! For those who crave something even sweeter they also serve crepes.
5. Les Chocolat Favoris
Hazelnut Praline, Maple Vanilla, Salted Caramel, Crunchy Hazelnut, Creamy Coffee, Orange Burst, and Cookies & Cream, that’s the names of some of the real chocolate coatings you can choose from at Les Chocolat Favoris. To create your very own chocolate dipped ice cream cone, you choose a soft serve flavour first, then choose a coating and to make it look even nicer. You can also get it sprinkled with colourful sprinkles. Since ice cream and chocolate is probably the best combination ever, there isn’t really a bad choice to make at Les Chocolat Favoris!
Other popular ice cream places we can recommend:
Oat & Mill: They might not have an ice cream store but they did create something totally new (at least to us): aat cream! It’s ice cream made out of whole grain oat in many delicious flavours. Definitely worth a try! You can order it online or try it at the farmers market.
The same applies to Pascale’s All Natural Ice Cream. There are delicious, creative flavours such as avocado honey lime, vegan toasted coconut, goat cheese or strawberry lemon but there’s no ice cream shop. You can get the yummy treat at the Ottawa Farmers’ Market and at other local shops around the city, though.
Sweet Jesus just opened its first store in Ottawa in August and causes the same long line ups as it does in Toronto. It does taste good but we think the slogan “bless your mouth” could be changed to “bless your Instagram” since no one ever leaves the place without taking a picture of the tasty-looking creations.
Dairy Queen is old but gold. It might have a fast-food-touch but we still find it d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s. Ice cream with lots and lots of chocolate, cookies and other toppings in it? Can’t go wrong with that! Just reading the names “Royal New York Cheesecake”, “Royal Rocky Road Brownie”, “Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Smash” or “Salted Caramel Truffle” make our mouths water.
In case you like your ice cream more liquid than solid, Holland’s Cake and Shake might be your place to be. Still cooling you down on a hot day and just as much to die for as the other ice cream places.
