Gelato Messina

Gelato Mesina

Address: 237 Smith Street Fitzroy

Contact: 90175470

Hours: Everyday 12pm - 11pm

Price: $$

Website: http://www.gelatomessina.com/

Alas! Summer is FINALLY HERE!!!!!!!!!! We're three days in and I love the notion of leaving the house without wearing layers and layers. Summer is definitely my favourite time of the year - a time to tan on the beach, a time to spend with loved ones during the festive season, a time to party and a new & exciting year beckoning. 

Today the best friend and I paid Gelato Messina a visit! We were planning to go on the day of the Johnston Street Spanish Fiesta but the line was ridiculously long. Ain't nobody got time for that. 

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Gelato Messina actually originated from Sydney, where they have four stores. Messina finally graced Melbourne with their cakes and gelatos... something to definitely rave on and on about. It's situated on Smith Street meaning it's not hard to get to, and remember it's CASH ONLY! 

Feast your eyes on massive scoops of deliciousness! The texture was so smooth and the flavours were authentic and powerful because everything is made from scratch in their icecream labs. 

Can I have the whole bucket please? :P

Left: Messy Juliette - Strawberry gelato with whipped cream and Marsala soaked sponge

Right: Bounty

Juliette is actually one of their Strawberry sponge cakes (which they have creatively made into a gelato)! I was so close to ordering Pandan and Coconut but luckily the employee let me try the Messy Juliette because it was x10 better!!! The flavour combinations and chunky bits when you bite into it was divine. As soon as I took my first bite, I instantly knew why people would wait and line up outside the store. I would definitely go back and buy a tub of it for home. 

Adriano Zumbo Patisserie

Adriano Zumbo Patisserie

Address: 12-14 Claremont Street South Yarra 3141

Contact: -

Hours: Everyday 7am - sold out

Price: $$

Website: http://adrianozumbo.com/

Adriano Zumbo... as seen on Masterchef. Talented, unique... and probably a bit crazy. The image above is Zumbo himself with one of his more popular creations... the V8 vanilla cake (there are 8 different vanilla layers, hence the name). I have a lot of respect for Adriano Zumbo and how far he has gone, especially when dealing with a competitive food industry. Many people say that Zumbo and the "Zumbarons" are 'overrated' and a 'sell out', especially when he released DIY Zumbo packs to try and home. I think these individuals should stop being so cynical and embrace the household name :)

Zumbo Patisserie opened to the public on October the 9th and my good friend Jenny and I just HAD to be there to witness the magic in Melbourne!!! We got there around 2pm and everything was WIPED OUT except for the Zumbarons. We missed out on the cronuts or the assorted cakes which was a bit of a shame. Apparently people were lining up at 5am! Talk about keen...

The line......................... fortunately it didn't wrap around and end up outside of the actual store. It was about a 20-25 minute wait to be served. Felt so sorry for the employees! They would have been so stressed out on their first day. The customer service could be improved on, and the presentation of the macaron placement could be a bit better also. La Belle Miette have this down pat. Unfortunately there is no information / location details of the Melbourne store on the Adriano Zumbo Website (as of yet) which is a bit disappointing. This is the same as Zara!! We have so many Zara stores in Melbourne but we're not even listed on their website. Give Australia (or Melbourne) some credit!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Once Ladurée opens in Melbourne... our dessert destinations will be complete ♡

Zumbarons! The flavours are as follows:

Almond and Pear,
Passionfruit,
Salted Butter Caramel on Toast,
Pecan Danish,
Pistachio and sesame,
Blackcurrant,
Caramalised Banana and Balsamic Vinegar,
Lychee and Coconut,
Pineapple,
Sticky Date,
Salted Butter Popcorn and many other flavours I don't remember.

 Instagram: @badasiandriver

This one was disgusting... caramalised banana with balsamic vinegar.

The Little Royal

"A la Folie" means "I love you madly" in French 

- taken from their website

After having a bagelicious lunch at Jungle Juice Bar, a dear friend and I decided to indulge ourselves with some macarons (there is always room for dessert). Whilst walking to La Belle Miette, we walked through the Royal Arcade and stumbled across The Little Royal - a kiosk / permanent stall that sold macarons!!! We originally went to Lindt Cafe on Collins Street, but I'm not a huge fan of Lindt macarons, especially after they removed the apple cinnamon flavour from their range... They're not that great anyways. I hate crumbly macarons.

We bought four fantastic flavours: coconut, matcha with redcurrent filling (my personal favourite), vanilla with caramel filling and opera coffee chocolate. They were excellent but the opera coffee was a bit too rich for my liking.

I wanted to try the large macaron desserts ($8.50) but they don't look as good and as nicely crafted compared the huge macarons at Luxbite. I definitely would recommend this place for a quick fix of sugary goodness.

Very interesting flavours!!! Will have to try them all one day :)

The Little Royal / il Picollino Reale

The Royal Arcade

335 Bourke Street Mall

Melbourne 3000

LuxBite ♥

"Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first."

Ernestine Ulmer 

LuxBite. One word. A hundred thoughts and emotions of happiness and a helluva lotta drool. Located on Toorak Road, it is a small and quaint cafe that is recognised for their amazing macarons and cakes. Although the sweets are beyond amazing, I have tried the savoury food as well, it's different, I quite liked it. You get to choose your own menu, spinach/pumpkins/salmon ... everything you can think of! But stick to the desserts, they are much better. I know, I know, you probably think that macarons and whatnot are overrated but when something is so delectable, you really can't consider it in that aspect.

LuxBite have taken an amazing spin on macarons and created ones as big as NICKI MINAJ'S ASS. Just kidding. But no really, they are so amazing and the filling is the perfect amount of sweetness and there are fresh fruit to suit.

I love places that have a story behind it. People who have create something out of a mere dream. People who did something good with their lives. People who can take to their graves that they've done something for the better, or changed someones life. People who open sweet shops with the most AMAZING desserts... *standing ovation*

Don't order the iced chocolate because as you can see from the image below, it's a mug of milk with a blob of chocolate and it's so hard to mix, and therefore hard to drink. Just stick to water to clean out all the sugar from the sweets :-)

Hopetoun Tea Room

Stanley (from the office) couldn't have said it any better. If I don't have some cake soon, I might die. I obviously don't eat cake everyday (but if I could, I would). Blah blah health issues blah blah the fat goes straight to your thighs yadda yadda yadda.
No.
To me, it releases so many endorphins that make me so happy beyond belief. So when my amazin friend Vivi took me to Hopetoun Tea Rooms two Fridays ago, it was heaven on earth. It is a little quaint place located in the arcade off Collins Street..... this is the shop window:

We ordered a CHOCOLATE PECAN cake and a BERRY cheesecake which both tasted amazing and gave justice to the wonderful reviews that I had read about the tea room. It's probably a good idea to order  some tea with your cakes and scones because it helps to wash it down and cleanse your stomach. I ordered a chocolate milkshake and it was an overload of sugar (if there was such thing). High tea is such an amazing experience and a really creative way to eat - we didn't order sandwiches or macarons but fortunately we didn't because we were totes stuffed afterwards. Pretty much had to waddle out of the tea room and we came in with an empty stomach mind you!!!

I'm looking forward to exploring what Melbourne cafes have to offer. Starbucks, Gloria Jeans, San Churros etc are conventional and boring places to be. Instead of going to those typical places, you should definitely wander around and support small businesses!

And eat cake, no matter how many calories it has! Just work it off afterward. Duh.

P.S the two last photos were taken with instagram: badasiandriver ;)