• Messina (Sydney vs Melbourne)

The Sydney/Melbourne rivalry is under constant banter: weather and beach vs culture and food, designer brands vs boutiques, fun vs sophisticated.  I love Melbourne.  I like Sydney too.  But on this one occasion, I had to be defeated.  The Messina gelato is better in Sydney.

In the sunny seaside city for a girlie weekend, we were taken to Messina at the casino to try the famous ice-cream.  With a focus on making everything from scratch, you can see it is the little things that make the big grander.  Of course I had to taste many flavours before deciding on which to reward with a place in my take-away cup.  The pannacotta with fig jam amaretti was amazing.  The apple pie was less rich.  In the end it was the special of peanut pretzel brownie and salted caramel with white chocolate that won.


This ice-cream was so incredibly creamy and indulgent that I blissfully lapped up whilst sitting on the lawn in the sun with a view of the harbour.  I love peanut butter and brownies.  It was novel to have shards of crispy, salted pretzels in the mix too.  The caramel was decadent.  As my friend, who had chosen the pannacotta with fig jam amaretti, pointed out: salted caramel is too rich to enjoy a full scoop.  I began to have food envy.


My envy was met when a few days ago, I finally tried the Melbourne equivalent.  We were relieved to see no queue, despite the warm day.  Only a fool would make the same mistake twice, so I ordered the pannacotta with fig jam amaretti and milk chocolate with peanut fudge.  The fudge was sweet and nutty.  The chocolate was not overly rich or overpowering.  The pannacotta was enjoyable with streams of the crunchy, toffee jam, but underwhelming compared to the last time I tried it.  It lacked the richness and decadence of the Sydney original.

Messina - Melbourne
237 Smith St
Fitzroy 3065
03 9017 5470
www.gelatomessina.com

Gelato Messina Fitzroy on Urbanspoon


Messina - Sydney
Shop 1/241 Victoria St
Darlinghurst 2010
02 8354 1223
www.gelatomessina.com

Gelato Messina Darlinghurst on Urbanspoon