Oddono’s Gelati

The day started perfectly with a picnic from Whole Foods in Kensington Palace Gardens with my friends Kate and KK. The temperature was rising so Kate suggested we go in search of an ice cream parlour she had read about. I was pretty full from lunch but said I would go with them anyway. We walked to Oddono’s, located a few streets from South Kensington Tube. With the likes of Ben’s Cookies, Paul, Gail’s Bakery and Hummingbird Bakery situated nearby, South Kensington is one of my favourite places to go in search of food.

Tucked away down a side street, you would never have known Oddono’s existed. The parlour looks nothing special from the outside and I decided I was too full for gelato. Then I spotted the queue, always a good sign, and then the spatulas. When traveling around Italy last year, I learned is that if gelato is served using a scoop as opposed to a spatula, then it’s not real gelato. Everyone knows how I can never say no to good gelato so I quickly joined the queue and made one of the hardest decisions of my life. I decided on Chocolate Hazelnut and Nutella Pandoro.The Chocolate Hazelnut flavour consisted of creamy chocolate gelato. This flavour wasn’t as rich as regular chocolate gelato, and so it tasted of milk chocolate as opposed to dark, which in my opinion, would have overpowered the hazelnut. I found huge dollops of smooth Nutella throughout which gave it a distinctive nutty taste. The gelato was scattered with tons of hazelnut pieces which gave it a real crunch. The smooth texture of the Nutella and the crunch of the hazelnuts complimented the gelato well, making this popular flavour into a real indulgent dessert.

Surprisingly, the chocolate hazelnut flavour tasted completely different to Nutella Pandoro, even though they both contained similar flavours. Unlike the rich swirls of real Nutella in the chocolate hazelnut flavour, the Nutella taste in this one was subtlety hidden in the light chocolate gelato which was creamy enough to be described as a light Nutella cream. To my delight, huge pieces of soft pandoro (a sweet Italian Brioche) sat amongst the gelato. I’ve never seen such big pieces of cake, let alone sweet bread, in gelato before so was something truly special. The bread was surprisingly fresh and wasn’t soggy like you would imagine being situated in ice cream. I was amazed!

This is by far the best Gelato I’ve found in London (so far!). If you know of a possible contender, please let me know so I can put it to the test. As well as the one in South Kensington, Oddono’s have parlours in Battersea, Whitely Shopping Centre and Selfridges. They also deliver through Basilico and Firezza, – perfect if you fancy a late night indulgence or are just too darn lazy to get off the sofa. I’m going to end with Oddono’s ever so truthful tagline

Living life, loving cake,

H x