Restaurant Review Rome: Gelati & Mozzarella

I hadn’t had gelato in a while mostly because I’m too busy running around for work. I have had a sundae from McDonald but that certainly doesn’t count as gelato. And yes, I know, terrible. I’m in the land of gelato and really amazing food and I got a McDonald’s Sundae on my way home from work . My only excuse is that it was really late and I hadn’t had dinner yet. I needed something to get through the 20 minute walk home and nothing else cheap and easy was available. It was a fail but necessary. 

So the other day, while on a relaxing vacation walk, I finally had a chance to try the gelateria that my

housemate Adele has been raving about for months. I was a little dubious because it’s called Gelati & Mozzarella.  What does mozzarella have to do with ice cream? Nothing, right?

Well, I finally got there and I understand now.  There is a type of mozzarella in Italy (in the states too, but not as well known) called mozzarella di bufala and it’s made with the milk of the domestic water buffalo. It is traditional in the south of italy and is incredibly rich and creamy. It's considered one of, if not the best kind of mozzarella around.

 So this ice cream shop makes gelato using buffalo milk, hence the name.

They had a lot of incredible looking flavors, most of which were made with buffalo. I tried the stracciatella (cookies and cream) made with buffalo, cuore di cioccolato (heart of chocolate aka more dark chocolate than any normal person can handle) and the pera e cioccolato (pear and chocolate). Delicious, Delicious, Delicious!

The ice cream was incredibly creamy and rich, just how I like it. I got the €3 cup and it was just the right amount for me but if you can’t handle a lot of richness a €2 cup should be enough for you. The texture of the gelato was smooth and wonderful. 

I really enjoyed the cuore di cioccolato because it’s the darkest, deepest dark chocolate I think I’ve ever seen (they even have a regular dark chocolate flavor). It’s rich and smooth but for me, it wasn’t overwhelming. It was like hot fudge in ice cream form.  The stracciatella was also quite good.  I tried it to see about the bufala and it was great. It was just as creamy as I could have hoped.  But I have to say that my absolute favorite was the pera and cioccolato. It was light and creamy but not too sweet.  It was mostly pear flavored gelato with a hint of chocolate. It was divine and paired really well with the other flavors too.

There’s a small bar near the window to eat your ice cream or your pastries (they also do amazing pastries) but I chose to walk and eat since it was crowded when I was there. It really is adorable inside and their pastries and sweets look quite delicious. I really wanted to try a bit of everything, but I’ll have to save it for another time.