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Bella Gelateria serves old-world, authentic Italian gelato using mostly fresh, local ingredients.
I've honestly never heard of this place until I was stuck on the corner of West Cordova and Burrard watching the Santa Clause Parade. Nice day but really cold so that calls for hot chocolate, pronto. This place was right on the corner and the atmosphere was open and inviting. Ice cream display on the left was a little strange, kind of looked like they were in soup pots but the interesting labels like "thai coconut" and "gewurztraminer" caught my interest even though it's not really walk-around-with-an-icecream weather these days. All of their hot chocolates are made with real high quality chocolates and milk. My boyfriend and I tried the hot chocolate (made with milk chocolate but you can have dark or white) and the hazelnut hot chocolate, and there is also the option to have your drink made with regular or Avalon chocolate milk (good stuff). While waiting for our drinks the owner (I know this because there are framed newspaper clip outs of his face on the wall) engaged in some conversation with us and offered us samples of the ice cream. I thought one sample was enough and whereas most places would be annoyed at people sampling he actually asked if we wanted to try some more flavours which was very nice. The beverages themselves were phenomenal, the hot chocolate was sooo delicious, just the right amount of sweetness, and the hazelnut drink had real hazelnuts and was super rich and creamy. The only bad thing is now I don't think I can have regular hot chocolate anymore, it's just going to make whatever I have next taste pathetic compared to this stuff!
My gf and I have been passing by this place a few times now and after reading the more than glowing review here we headed down during a midweek gratification.
I needn't say much about the space and the service. You get exactly what you expect (perhaps even a little more) for the area so even fussy patrons should rejoice.
You know when you had gelato or sorbet that was absolutely stunning? With rich texture and balanced flavour? This is better. Knowing we couldn't walk out with every flavour under the belt, we opted for a scoop of dulce de leche and a lemon basil sorbet. The caramel worked together with the remarkable smooth texture without the assaulting sweetness and you'd think basil and lemon would clash due to the basil's pungent aroma. It doesn't. The basil is a complimenting undertone which made the combination that much more refreshing. On texture alone each individual sorbet ice crystal melted on the tongue so seamlessly much like mist evaporating into the air. Selection is ample with other unique flavours like strawberry vinaigrette which are much more than second string toss-ins. Portions are fair and doesn't leave you feeling heavy so you could squeeze in multiple scoops if you please.
The best gelato and sorbet in the city. Highly recommend.
I think this is the first 5 star I've ever given. That's almost all I need to say.
The place is new, clean, a little small. But how long are you going to linger while eating gelato?
The guy is super passionate about gelato. Service is good, though, of course, when it gets busy, nothing to do but wait in line. Pay first and then get your goodies. Price-wise, well, it is similar to other ice-cream joints around town, which is to say, not cheap. For comparison, a 500mL order is $12.95. If I'm not mistaken, most supermarket brands (e.g. Haagen Daaz, Ben 'n Jerry, etc) are like half the price, if not less.
First thing to note, there are no eggs. We asked the dude, he said "No way! That's not gelato". That's the way it should be. Their web site notes eggs in some ingredients, so I suppose that is probably in a specific flavour. We tried it, and I would say this is true.
Why is it worth 5 stars? Because. It is. Because just the texture alone is so much better than any other thing we've tasted in town. The other ones are not gelato.
We had Tahitian Vanilla gelato, you can immediately taste the lack of fat compared to regular ice cream. Yet, the texture is so incredibly fine and smooth, it's almost like a soft-serve cone that has been frozen a bit more. Nice, clean tasting that doesn't leave your mouth sticky. We also tried a grape fruit sorbetto and wow. That was a real palate cleanser, exceedingly refreshing. Although no eggs or cream in it, it still had a fine, fine texture, almost the same as the gelato. Way better than Mario's. By far. It's hard to believe it is pretty much just frozen water. I've tasted fresh snow that was coarser than this.
At the same time, it sucks. Sucks because now I'm spoiled. I can't eat that other stuff. I've got a bucket of ice cream in the fridge and I can't bring myself to finish it. Damn you Bella! Is this what the Italians get to eat all the time?
Go try it. Highly recommended. What have you got to loose? The cheapest scoops is less than $5, easier than travelling to Italy...
My coworkers and I decided to be adventurous on a sunny afternoon. I had the bacon & dark chocolate ice cream, it was decadent, rich and smoky. The only issue is that it's pricey for the small amount of ice cream you get. It was great to try and there were a lot of unique ice cream flavours but defnitely would not be a regular habit.
I had heard so many amazing things about this place that I was dying to try it. Perhaps I'd heard too many amazing things. Maybe all the hype got my expectations out of whack.
The gelato here is good to very good. I do believe they use excellent ingredients and try to come up with gourmet flavours. I tried the 85% chocolate, the saffron rosewater, the chocolate brownie and the cherry. My friend had Thai coconut milk and hazelnut. The 85% chocolate scoop was by far the best of the bunch.
Like I said, the gelato is quality, but considering I got very basic service from the counter staff and the look of the shop is really nothing special, I was a tad disappointed. At $6.20 for two scoops I want to be blown away by the whole gelato experience. Maybe they could also include a trip to Italy for that price ;)
Well Ive spent a great deal of time living in Rome so I know whats good gelato and whats bad. This place is the closest you are going to get to real authentic Italian gelato anywhere in Vancouver. The smoothness and the creaminess is very good. Not too icy and not to powdery, just the right blend. Its hard to replicate authentic gelato from Italy but this place is almost there. The only thing I would like to see is a few more of the classic Italian flavors like Amaretto and Stracciatella. Other than that this place is worth the trip and worthy of a good review. Cheers.
This is by far the best sorbetto and gelato I've had.....EVER! My wife and I stumbled upon this place during our nightly walk and even though they were already closed, the owner opened up his doors and told us to "come on in". The service is outstanding!
Value is just like any of the other gelato places in town. Single scoop will cost you about $5. But what really makes it worthwhile is the flavours!
I'm lactose intolerant and love chocolate so gelato isn't something that I can indulge in often but they make an stunning chocolate sorbetto at Bella! You would never be able to tell the difference. They use fresh ingredients and often have new flavours everyday (I know because my wife and I have been there 6 times in the last 10 days). They usually only make about a gallon of one flavour at a time. That way it's almost always guaranteed fresh.
Recommended flavours to try: Lemon-basil sorbetto, Chocolate sorbetto, Caramel-Sea salt gelato (sounds weird but a definate must-try), and Pistachio gelato (my wife's pick)
| 1. | Hapa Izakaya (7 m) |  |
| 2. | Ze Bite (13 m) | |
| 3. | Tim Hortons (23 m) |  |
| 4. | Grandma Lee's (26 m) | |
| 5. | Sizzling Wok (26 m) | |
| 6. | Taco Time (26 m) | |
| 7. | Cafe Taza (48 m) |  |
| 8. | Imperial Chinese Seafood Restaurant (48 m) | |
| 9. | Elephant & Castle (62 m) | |
| 10. | Subway (64 m) |
