I have yet to find a better Gelato place than this. This is my favourite one! I love this place.
I've been going here for at least a year, and a review about this place is long overdue.
The salted caramel is something you must try! It is essential that you devour this magnificent creation at least once in your life. It's that amazing. Unlike many gelato or dessert places, this taste like salted caramel. You will feel it, you will taste it when you try it. I have had many people doubt me on how amazing this place is, only to turn to me and say how delicious their gelato was. What separates this place from all the other places is that the texture of the gelato is incredible. It doesn't feel like ice-cream, it doesn't feel like custard, it feels like gelato. All the other flavours, while in my opinion don't excel like the salted caramel, I would strongly recommend that you try. The salted caramel is a 50/10, whereas most of the other flavours are like a 9-10/10. I do feel that, the portion sizes have gone down based on ONE experience (my most recent and unfortunately, my most negative which I will explain in further detail) and it may be specific to that instance and when I return the portions would return to the portions of old. **Despite the decrease in portion size from this particular unfriendly server on the particular night I had my salted caramel it was what I considered to be reasonable. However I believe I got less because from what I remember (and memory can be somewhat unreliable, and unfortunately I can only go to this place every now and then) because based on the photos taken from my previous visits, the portion I was given can best described as a bit of a scoop that is on top of a full cup as opposed to a full or close to full scoop on top of a full cup** CORRECTION. **I would like to emphasise that both of these portion sizes are what I consider to be reasonable for the price and the quality of gelato.**
I have had one negative experience, and it seems to be the common occurrence with this place based on some of the reviews I've been reading and that is with this place spotty service. Essentially I encountered a rather, what appeared to be, an unhappy girl that served my friends and I. I promise you I wasn't being vulgar, aggressive, or a jackass in anyway. I gave her the money in a reasonably sufficient time and I provided an amount that did not require a lot of change to be given. Also prior to payment, based on my assumption that this was a small, humble establishment and armed with the knowledge that businesses prefer cash payments, I thoughtfully paid with cash and I did not ask if they had American Express or if they had EFTPOS services. I smiled and maintained eye-contact, as well as remained behind the gelato/counter and thus respecting her personal space, and me nor my friends consumed alcoholic beverages prior or after the purchase, nor did we bring any drinks or outside food into the establishment. The tone of my voice was not raised at any point during my interaction, nor did it possess any sadness, anger, or condescension The party I was with also behaved in the same manner as me.
I can only theorise that I have wronged this person was due to a cultural misunderstanding (i.e too much eye-contact), and/or by her expectations we did not order quick enough. However I believe time wasn't the cause of this server's apparent resentment as only one person in my party took approximately a minute to order, which I believe is reasonable given that this particular person had never been here before, and we had no one lining up behind us either, or that she had a long day and had to withstand the unpleasantries that occur in the hospitality industry.
I would like to emphasise this is one negative experience that I had in many, many, many visits to this place. The other times, that I remember, were staff acting what I consider to be normal--in that they either smiled or were focused on their work, and in general did not look at me with disdain or contempt. But if you wish to mentally prepare yourself or avoid being served by this person and you do decide to come here, she was brunette and looked like Audrey Tautou from the French film Amelie. Naturally, I cannot predict if she has changed her hair in any way, and out of respect of the person I will not be updating this post to reflect any new hairstyles, makeup or any new distinguishing features unless she does something that I consider to be intentionally malevolent towards me, or if I see fit, another customer.
Other staff here appear to be fine based on past experience. I've been served by a male and what I believe to be blonde girls (potentially the same girl) and have had no problems with them.
This brunette did not leave a good impression on the service but my friends still enjoy the gelato very much so it goes to show how good this place is. Despite how much it makes me sad when I do remember the last time I had gelato because I surprisingly had a somewhat unpleasant experience, it's not enough to detract how amazing the gelato was.
UPDATE 27/1/16: I ended up contacting the manager of this place because I've been informed via Zomato comments that someone had a similar experience. The manager was very friendly and helpful and will discuss the behaviour with the employee. More details in the comments section.
UPDATE 19/2/16: Went there the other day, after debating with myself whether to have Green Tea softserve at Emporium or my favourite Salted Caramel Gelato, despite the longer trip I had to take I willed myself to come back here. I did have my doubts, would I be facing her again? If so what would I do? As I got off the tram, and walked in the showery mist to head to Gelato Primavera, I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw smiles and overall a positive atmosphere, and served by this cool bro and this young lady (but mainly the cool bro). Totally the opposite of my previous experience, they were actually nice, and I'm 90% sure that I got a relatively bigger serving from this dude than the girl with short brown hair. But to me the serving size, wasn't the best thing, it was the fact that I can come here without feeling bad.
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