The Brits do have one culinary feat I appreciate, and that’s how regular it is to serve fresh waffles with their ice creams and gelatos. Not waffle cones, though they have those as well, but real fluffy waffles. I will update this page with in-depth reviews but right now am just testing my ability to embed images! Notice: I interchangeably use the terms ice cream and gelato in this post, italians do not come for me.
Amorino is a common, in fact the most common, chain of gelato shops in London (and the U.K.). I really appreciated that a waffle/gelato dish as good as this one could be found at such a common shop! The waffle is incredible texture, fluffy inside and crisp outside, and seemingly made fresh upon ordering! A super solid option, and I appreciate that many Amorinos are open till 11:00pm or later – so I can get them after I see a 7:30 show! Amorino’s gelato isn’t especially standout however, as much as I like their waffle. Also, for this portion, I think it’s definately too expensive. I don’t exactly remember the price, but I want to say around 10 pounds? Which is too much.
Now this was incredible. Probably the best on this list. I found this little place called “Jeffersons” and it turns out they make Ice Cream (like, to be sold at stores) and have two locations in London! They are sadly pretty far away from where we are staying :(. I discovered this shop after I went social dancing, and had to have it takeaway and reassembled at home, hence the lack of ice cream in this photo (It was in a little dish I put on top after). Absolutely amazing waffle/gelato combination. The waffle had a fantastic taste itself, and the oreo and chocolate sauces really complimented the whole dish instead of dominating. The crispness of the waffle outside and the cookie pieces added a really great texture to the soft ice cream, softer waffle interior, and softest whipped cream. The Ice Cream was fantastic tasting, very creamy, and paired really well. An incredible offering. Premium prices, but not much more than Amorino and a much larger portion and higher quality meal. The gold standard.
This was my first introduction to the U.K.’s waffle/gelato offerings, which I thought were novel to this restaurant but started noticing everywhere once I was looking. It was a nice introduction! The gelato was fine quality, and so was the waffle. It was good enough to order again, but maybe not before trying something else. It was offered with a half or whole waffle. The way it came for takeaway was a little frustrating – Why is it split into waffle quarters? It made it impossible to just transfer the gelato to on top of the waffle, which is the preferred way of eating. I had to cut a bit of waffle with a fork, but everything was so flimsy, so I eventually just would take a bite of ice cream and then of waffle and so on. I didn’t love the sprinkles, but that’s because I much prefer the soft hot-dog shaped sprinkle type to the tiny hard spheres type. I love the waffle cone disk! Many places offer these in their ice cream cones, and I love it. You get to have the first few bites of ice cream WITH a fun texture instead of having to wait to start eating the cone itself!
Just seeing this again makes me want to throw up. Abysmal showing. The place I went is also a chain, and this shop seemed pretty run down. It was dead empty at 10:30 on Saturday night, but open till midnight! This place didn’t have chocolate ice cream, which should have been my tick off that it would be bad. They had flavors with chocolate, like the brownie batter ice cream I got, but no classic chocolate and nothing else! Absurd. The waffle was worse than a hotel waffle. Ice cream had a horrible texture, almost slimy, and putting it on top of the waffle made this unappetizing sludge you see before you. I couldn’t finish this dish, which is almost unheard of when it comes to ice cream dishes. This was the second time in three years I haven’t finished an ice cream, and that is counting when I crashed my bicycle while holding a massive ice cream cone. I picked off the grass and still ate all of that I could. This? Barely ate half.