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Food & Wine
Melbourne’s north
Kenny Lover
Melbourne’s west
Melbourne and Victoria’s best ice cream and gelato shops
Looking for the best ice cream and gelato on offer in Melbourne and Victoria? Here's the scoop on where to indulge your taste buds with the creamiest flavours.
The choice of best ice-creamery or gelateria in Melbourne and Victoria may be as hard as choosing a flavour – or electing a cup over a cone.
If you’re an ice-cream connoisseur, chances are you’ve already discovered Gelato Messina, Piccolina Gelateria, Augustus Gelatery and Pidapipo, so we’ve cast the net further afield round Melbourne and Victoria to highlight other places that will satisfy your craving for a premium product.
Melbourne’s best ice cream and gelato shops
Melbourne’s CBD
Le Petit Gateau
458 Little Collins St, Melbourne CBD
Don't wait for a hot day to try Le Petit Gateau's ice cream. Every flavour is bursting with the sweet sensations that make Le Petit Gateau's cakes so irresistible. If you're a devotee of the patisserie's Brownie Passionfruit Chocolate Gateau, for example, you'll love the ice cream version. If that's not available - flavours change every week - you'll find something equally unique and delectable.
Kōri
392 Bourke St, Melbourne CBD
Join the queue at Kōri and discover the coolest ice cream in town. Inspired by Japanese kawaii culture, pastry chefs Joane Yeoh and Bernard Chu are churning out delicious handcrafted ice cream, with matcha and strawberry shortcake the most popular choices among Kōri's 24 flavours. For a savoury scoop, try miso, black sesame or the plant-based tofu vanilla. This CBD store complements the original store in Hawthorn.
Melbourne’s north
Beku Gelato
150 Lygon St, Carlton
Now in a new location in Melbourne's Italian district in Carlton, Beku Gelato is just north of the city. Combining Asian flavours with Italian traditions, you’ll get a cup full of exotic flavours such as kefir lime leaves or coconut with jackfruit bits. The flavours change every month, so there’s always something new to try, or you can stick with pistachios and chocolate if you’re a traditionalist at heart.
Girls & Boys
382A Brunswick St, Fitzroy
“I can’t believe it’s vegan,” is a common refrain at Girls & Boys. Taste and texture are as important as food ethics for this sibling of top vegan restaurants, Transformer and the Vegie Bar. Coconut and soy milks are used to concoct their creamy confections. The cookie dough and honeycomb flavour screams decadence, while the watermelon and raspberry sorbet is a summer sensation.
Le Petit Gateau in Melbourne's CBD makes summer fun with ice cream flavours similiar to its cakes. Image: Supplied
Kenny Lover
796 High Street, Thornbury
With a store that’s painted bright orange and a menu of ice cream and hot chips, you can expect a unique experience here. Kenny Lover specialises in creamy, dreamy ice cream, rather than gelato. There are regular flavours, but we recommend trying a whacky one such as soy sauce, or kalamata olive and white chocolate. As for the hot chips, you dunk those in your ice cream. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.
Luther’s
528A Sydney Road, Brunswick
Inspired by Luther Burbank, the father of classical plant breeding, Luther’s uses lots of local produce, be it dairy products from Gippsland, berries from the Yarra Valley or citrus from Mildura. Summer flavours include apricot sour-cream, banoffee pie, and fig leaf and strawberry. Resistance is useless.
Cielo Gelateria
Westfield Plenty Valley, 415 McDonalds Road, Mill Park
The outer northern ’burbs are blessed with their own sweet destination. Cielo Gelateria makes its gelato in-house each day, and there are around 20 flavours, including diary and non-dairy sorbetti. Enjoy an energy boost before or after hiking around nearby Kinglake National Park. You’ll find Cielo Gelateria stores in North Melbourne, Coburg and Spotswood too.
Gelato, which is popular in Melbourne, is richer and denser than regular ice cream, and contains less cream and more milk. Image: Getty
Melbourne’s west
Happy Eats Gelato
189 Union Road, Ascot Vale
Smooth, velvety and not too rich, Happy Eats Gelato hits the spot with locals. Their snickers flavour is highly recommended. If food ethics is your bag, you can saviour an artisan gelato and know you’re helping the planet a smidge. Happy Eats uses great-tasting seasonal fruit that might otherwise go to waste because of its odd shape or colour.
Melbourne’s east
Boca Gelato
183 Upper Heidelberg Rd, Ivanhoe
With a couple of top chefs behind the helm, this is a foodie haven. Boca Gelato sticks to classic Italian flavours but throws in the occasional surprise, such as the recent lavender and honeycomb, to tempt the intrepid gourmand. There are vegan options too. Check it out if you’re visiting nearby Heide Museum of Modern Art.
Mastika
Shop 3/ 170-172 Warrandyte Rd, Ringwood
Although the giants of gelato are primarily found in Melbourne’s inner city, this gem in Ringwood is worth pulling off Eastlink for a pick-me-up. The most popular flavours at Mastika include a rosewater-based gelato topped with rose petals and pistachios. This store opened during one of Melbourne’s COVID lockdowns, proving ice cream is a sought-after pleasure during tough times.
Melbourne's south
7 apples
75 Acland Street, St Kilda
7 apples founder Mark Mariotti learnt to make gelato in Tuscany and named his business after his favourite Italian nightclub. Since 2009, he’s been scooping awards for such flavours as banana dulce leche and salted caramel. You’ll find 7 Apples kiosks at QV Melbourne in the CBD and Chadstone Shopping Centre as well.
Davy Mac’s
602 Balcombe Road, Black Rock
Davey Mac’s makes its soft, creamy gelati and refreshing sorbetti in-house, and queues are guaranteed on warmer days. You’ll find perennials such as chocolate, pistachio, and lemon, but specials such as lychee will expand your horizons. Grab a cone and take a scenic walk to Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary, or towards Sandringham for a dramatic view of Red Bluff.
The Ormond Ice Creamery
742 North Road, Ormond
In an unassuming suburb in Melbourne's south east lies The Ormond Ice Creamery, an ice cream and gelato shop proving you don't need to travel all the way to the beach or city to get connoisseur tastes and flavours. Combined with friendly service, grab yourself a delectable flavour like cherry brownie, apple crumble or hokey pokey, or a 'K9' scoop for your favourite furry pal.
Gelato comes in a range of colours and flavours. Image: Getty
Regional Victoria's best ice cream and gelato
Yarra Valley Chocolaterie and Ice Creamery
35 Old Healesville Road, Yarra Glen
With operations on both the Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley, this family-run sweet spot has been a road trip pitstop for generations. Every summer, the Yarra Valley location holds its annual Ice Cream Festival, featuring tastings of hand-crafted artisan flavours, from the exotic to old fashioned classics. Bookings essential. It's a favourite destination for families staying at Healesville Country Club & Resort.
Gelatina
72a Main Street, Rutherglen
You don't need to wait for the Tastes of Rutherglen weekend in March to try the region's best ice cream. Since 2019, Gelatina has been serving buzzworthy gelato every season except winter. Go fruity with plum or nutty with pistachio. Get a chocolate fix with a homage to Australia's favourite biscuit, the Tim Tam. The family-run store is especially inventive when it comes to special occasions, with a hot cross bun flavour for Easter and a candy cane flavour for Christmas. If you're a real sweet tooth, Rutherglen is acclaimed for its fortified wines, too.
Mubble
69 Ocean Beach Road, Sorrento, and 2393 Point Nepean Rd, Rye
Blessed with so many beautiful beaches, a trip to the Mornington Peninsula wouldn’t be complete without a delectable ice cream. Mubble fills the bubble with a rotating range of smashing flavours, such as fairy floss and rocky road. For vegans there's pina colada or mud cake sorbet. With up to 50 flavours on display, it’s hard to choose but easy to enjoy.
Timboon Fine Ice Cream
1A Barrett St, Timboon
Offering unique flavours such as maple and cinnamon, and rhubarb and raspberry, Timboon Fine Ice Cream vans attract crowds at markets and festivals. But there’s nothing like going to the source to appreciate the connection between farm and cone. Timboon ice cream is made with milk from a nearby farm and the cream comes from Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory. This is a perfect weekend pitstop if you’re taking a road trip along the Great Ocean Road.
