Davey Mac's in BlackRock

We met friends at the bay yesterday... Davey Mac's is situated in Balcombe Road, BlackRock.  We found a free 4 hour park in the parking lot behind the shops.

The store is clean and modern.  There are a couple of low seats, but really no where to sit with a big group.  It would be lovely to have a few chairs and tables outside under an umbrella... Although the shop is near the crossing, so there may not be space or the council may not allow it.  It is a thriving cafe area... there are many cafes facing the bay with tables outside and people enjoying meals in the fine weather.  Davey Mac's looks to have a room upstairs... maybe that is where they make the ice cream.

Jemima tried the strawberry ice cream in a kids cone.

James had cherry yoghurt and fererro, but was underwhelmed (I think the key is that we had sweet before savoury... ice cream is better after lunch).

 

I had mint choc chip and it was fantastic - smooth and delicious.  I can eat ice cream at almost any time of day.

Other flavours tried by our friends included cookies and cream, coffee and salted caramel.

Pidapippo in Carlton

They only open at 12 noon, so we had to wait.  We took Jemima for a play on the slide in Princes Park.  The walk along College Crescent was hot, but it was fun reminiscing about uni days.

Good decorations, airy, spacious... plenty of space to queue...

Colourful tins, reminiscent of Italy... King & Godfrey may be gone, but the style is here...

Outdoor chairs and tables... groovy... imagine taking a uni date here? Beats Brunetti in my book!

I chose pistachio and Nutella.  The Nutella was exquisite (chocolate like hardened flakes throughout creamy vanilla).

The pistachio didn't stand a chance under the Nutella sauce...

James had a disappointing flavour (macadamia and wattle).  It was just like honey and macadamia made it rich... I should have ordered him a sorbet... The hazelnut didn't impress, but Jemima helped him eat it.

 

Mango Fifty by Kohu Road

The Mango Fifty is a masterpiece... Smooth just doesn't capture it... It is a wonderful way to cool down on a hot summer day.

It knocks out the competition... Here we tried it with a very good chocolate and blood orange gelato, as well as Macha Green tea white chocolate waffle cone crunch ice-cream from Connoisseur.

Ice cream carts and soft serve

We visited the new Chadstone today and saw a couple of new ice cream outlets.  I love the traditional ice cream cart, but am intrigued by the fruit yoghurt soft serve.

I will definitely return on a warmer day... 

Sticking to making chicken and artichoke pizza...

...then roast chicken and mushroom risotto tonight... it's icy out there...

Piccolino, Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn

After a couple of gloomy autumn days, the sun came out on Sunday and we went for a long walk to Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn.  The destination was Piccolino, a gelato shop with a reputation for excellent pistachio ice cream.  It lived up to expectation.  The ice cream was amazing.

I had the pistachio (sweet, nutty, chunky) and hazelnut (salty, nutty) in a waffle cone:

The celebrity had mango (fruity) and cherry ripe (coconut, cherry, chocolate perfection):

Jemima had a taste of all the flavours and really cheered up after being a little snoozy in the mid afternoon sun.

Rhubarb, strawberry and rosewater ice cream

I stewed the rhubarb first and added cream, natural yoghurt, milk, caster sugar, chopped strawberries and a dash of rosewater.  It worked a treat!

Jock's gets approval from Jemima

We had ice cream at Jock's in Albert Park on Friday night and Jemima had a taste.  She enjoyed it very much.

I had a scoop of gingerbread and a scoop of fig (why have one scoop for $4.50, when you can have two for $5.50?):

James tried the summer pudding:

Lucy had something with chocolate...

Jemima did have a sugar high and would not go to sleep until 10:30pm, but she really loved the cold sweetness on her teeth (she has 5 teeth at 9 months of age):