Yogen Fruz

You might have noticed that a Yogen Fruz store has opened on Albert Street in the city. As you can probably guess from the name, Yogen Fruz sells frozen yoghurt. It kicked off in Canada, and stores have since spread all over the world. Anyway the good news is that the city store will be giving away free smoothies between 8am and 9am on Wednesdays for the rest of February. So you've got two chances left to see what all the fuss is about, for free. I'll definitely be giving it a try, unless my plans get thwarted by the rail strike next week.

Yogen Fruz
225 Albert Street
Brisbane 4000
W - http://www.yogenfruz.com.au/home

Maggie Beer Ice Cream

I bought a tub of Maggie Beer ice cream as the dessert (along with fresh berries) to round off our traditional Christmas eve dinner. After enjoying a bottle of 1996 Tarlant champagne, and plenty of other goodies, I wasn't exactly hungry by the time dessert swung around.

That was until the first spoonful of ice cream hit my mouth. I chose the vanilla bean and elderflower flavour, and it was absolutely fantastic. I would have to say that it was the best ice cream I've ever bought in a take away tub before. It really was that good. The flavours worked so well together - the richness of the vanilla beans was perfectly complemented by the subtle zing of the elderflower. As you can imagine, the tub didn't last long.

Before you rush out to stock up your freezer, it costs about $10 for a 500ml tub, so it's not exactly cheap. But if you've had a bad day, or just feel like splurging on some amazing ice cream, this is the stuff for you. It comes in a few other flavours, including passionfruit; burnt fig jam honeycomb & caramel; and quince & bitter almond.

I picked up my tub from the Zone Fresh on Newmarket road, but there is full list of Queensland stockists here. Now is the perfect time of year to gobble you way through the whole range!

Gelateria Cremona

I've been to Gelateria Cremona a few more times over the last couple of months. Their gelati is so good that I now make excuses for detours to Rosalie at any time of the day. Over the last few months I've been lucky enough to try:

• pomegranate (tart & tangy with an amazing colour)
• earl grey tea (subtle, but a good match with pomegranate)
• coconut (delicious, even though I'm not the biggest fan of coconut usually)
• feijoa (a really weird, slightly gritty texture, but good flavour)
• lemon, lime & bitters (fantastically refreshing - you could walk out with a tub on a hot day)
• persimmon (lovely smooth texture, with a subtle flavour)
• Christmas spiced chocolate (perfect for chocolate lovers in the festive season)
• macadamia nut (smooth & rich - I'm a big fan of any macadamia ice cream)

When I was in there the other night they also had a Christmas pudding flavour, which tasted delicious. By that stage of the night, 3 scoops of gelati was going to be a struggle, so sadly I had to give it a pass.

It's great to see new flavours popping up at Gelateria Cremona all the time. That's what keeps us all coming back for their amazingly good gelati.

Gelateria Cremona
Shop 5, 151 Baroona Road
Rosalie Village, Paddington 4064
P - 07 3367 0212
E - gelateriacremona@yahoo.com.au

Gelateria Cremona

I have heard many good things about Gelateria Cremona at Rosalie, so just had to pay it a visit.

Gelateria Cremona is on Baroona Road, in a strip containing restaurants, bars and the Blue Room Cinema. The gelato here is made from scratch, based on fresh ingredients, which you can really taste as soon as the first spoonful hits your mouth.

After scouring the selection of about 20 available gelato, I went for a scoop of the plum and a scoop of orange. While the orange was good, the plum flavour was amazingly delicious. So good, it basically tasted like you were eating a plum - the ice cream contained tiny bits of plum flesh, which gave it a beautiful texture. It was the most delicious tasting gelati flavour I've had for ages.

We also tried the lychee flavour on an earlier trip, which was also fantastic. There are of course flavours other than fruit, covering liquorice, caramel, zuppa inglese and the intriguing chocolate and roses. We'd also seen the honeyed fig and ricotta flavour on an earlier trip, which again sounded amazing, but there are only so many scoops you can fit into your cup.

If its great gelato you're after, you have to visit Gelateria Cremona. There are plenty of restaurants nearby, so make a night of it, capped off with some beautifully made gelato. I will certainly be going back soon.

Gelateria Cremona
Shop 5/151 Baroona Road
Rosalie Village
Paddington 4064
P - 07 3367 0212
E - gelateriacremona@yahoo.com.au

ShliX

ShilX gelato is currently my favourite place for dessert in the Valley.

ShilX is perfectly placed on Brunswick Street, across the road from the Sunbar and the Press Club, and just up from New York Slice. That also explains why ShliX is open until 3am on Saturdays and 5am on Sundays - sometimes you just need a good gelato instead of another drink.

The gelato is made freshly on the premises, and covers the usual range of fruity flavours (like blood orange, mango and passionfruit), creamy/chocolately ones (like white chocolate, tiramisu and mars) and also the "drink of the week" flavour (pina colada anyone?).

Serves start at $3 for one flavour and go up in price depending on just how much drink of the week you need that night.

ShliX also serves coffee (by Coffex) and shakes. But you're really here for the great gelati.

Best of all, ShliX is a local, family run operation . So next time you're wandering around the Valley after a great dinner or a few drinks, head into ShliX for a gelati or two. And if you find yourself liking it, make sure you pick up a VIP card, to reward you for your dedicated gelati scoffing.

ShliX Gelato
364 Brunswick Street
Fortitude Valley 4006
P - 07 3252 2229
W - http://www.shlix.com.au/