Gelato Messina, Darlinghurst

After my last visit to Li’l Darlin, Yvn got extremely jealous of my experience and requested that I take her. To our surprise, their $4.50 opening special is still going on! But since I only reviewed Li’l Darlin not long ago, I decided not to do another post but instead the post-meal…dessert!

Right next door sits Messina, a dessert bar and claimed by my colleague Jenny (author of Minibites) as “the best ice cream ever”. A small yet cosy ice cream parlour with limited seating, they serve a large range of gelato/ice cream and it is extremely busy, even for a Wednesday night. The first thing we notice is the cake fridge how the gelato is presented, piled enormously high with a range of unknown flavours – let the drooling begin!

Along with Yvn and two of my colleagues we decide to have 6 scoops so that we can try more flavours.


3 Scoops of gelato – $6.90

Pandan & Coconut
As silly as it sounds, this flavour tastes exactly like Pandan Coconut! Light green in colour, it is smooth, sweet and well made. For those who aren’t familiar with what pandan is, it is an exotic plant whose sweet leaves are used for their fragrance in a lot of South East Asian cooking.

Apple Pie
Another beautiful gelato, this one is enveloped with soft bits of cooked apple to enhance the Apple Pie flavour. I personally prefer Apple Crumble so you get bits of cookie crunch as well, this flavour is slightly more average than the others.

Yom Tov
A chalkboard on the wall answers our question of this unknown flavour. Yom Tov is an Apple & Honey gelato. The group consensus was that it tasted just like honey, with no hints of apple at all and was a bit too sweet.

Gianduia Bianca (hazelnut white chocolate)
This flavour tasted exactly like a Ferrero Rocher, as does mostly anything with hazelnut. It contains chunks of chocolate mixed throughout.

Peanuthead
Supposedly a peanut flavoured ice cream, it tasted a lot just like chocolate with some random hints of peanut here and there. A bit disappointed.

Salted Caramel with White Choc Chip
Extremely reminiscent of the ice cream I previously had at The Dip (LINK), it tastes exactly like a Werthers Original lolly! Very sweet, it tastes best when taken in small amounts.

In addition to the above six flavours, I also sampled the Cucumber, Yoghurt Honey & Lavender and Dulche de Leche (Argentinian Caramel). I found the latter way too sweet and the Cucumber a bit strange, but the Yoghurt Honey & Lavender was delicious and something I intend to get next time!

Overall, a hit and miss with some flavours. Some tasted quite ordinary despite their extraordinary descriptions but regardless, somewhere I wish to return to try the rest of their unique flavours. I also heard they had a Peanut Butter & Jelly flavour but they ran out that night. I am too jelly.


Gelato Messina
241 Victoria Street
Darlinghurst NSW 2010
Ph: (02) 8354 1223
Sunday to Thursday: 12pm to 11pm, Friday and Saturday: 12pm to 11.30pm

Gelato Messina Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

5 Comments

  • irene says:

    the ice cream displays look awesome!!

  • minibites says:

    thanks for the plug and I’m glad you saved your stomach for gelato! mmmm the ice cream cakes are soooo good, esp. tiramisu (sad you don’t like coffee! lol)

  • Charis Lee says:

    love this joint I do think sometime their flavours are little too crazy or maybe just take getting used too the caramel cheesecake is delicious, dulche de leche is uber sweet but good in a small doses, I tried the special edt. peanut and beer flavoure was very peanutty with slight beer after taste, apple pie is good, berry yoghurt is also nice, blood orange is nice but very rich maybe not for everyone, coconut pandan is always a winner…standards like hazelnut & mango (not together) are always crowd pleasers, the also had a banoffee flavour last time caramel & banana with choc chips but limited ed.

    anyways there’s too many too name 🙂 but there’s always something new with their daily specials and I love how generous they are with samples!

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