Ice Cream? Gelato? Gelare!

the other day, we were already out at the curve, so after berbuka abah suggested we get ice-cream or gelato. his pick - ‘gelare’, said to be the ice-cream with ‘no artificial ingredients’. it’s ice-cream, but it’s heavier with less air, giving it a thicker texture than normal ice-cream. sounds like gelato!

you can find the 'gelare' branch at the curve right next to manhattan fish market.

‘gelare’ is an italian word that means ‘to freeze’ or ‘congeal’. from its official website, it describes its ice-cream as ‘heavy, dense ice-cream with no over-run (air content)’. this is based on the way the ice-cream is churned.

what’s the difference between ice-cream and gelato you might ask.

• gelato is ice-cream in italian
• gelato is a frozen dessert made from milk, while ice-cream is made from well, cream
• gelato is churned at a slower speed than ice cream, so the amount of air whipped into the dessert is lesser than in ice-cream, giving it a solid, richer texture
• gelato is not frozen as solidly as ice cream - so it is smoother and creamier
• for you weight-watchers, ice cream has a minimum of 10 percent fat, while gelato is made with a greater proportion of whole milk to cream, so it contains about 5-7 percent fat only
• ice-crystals can form with ice-cream but not gelato

with the major use of colors black and red, ‘gelare’ at the curve has a much bolder theme than the cute pink-blue baskin robbins, or the classic haagen dazs. it also has a huge colorful mural painting covering half the wall of the cafe.

cool hangout, this is!

while baskin robbins and haagen dazs offer only ice-cream base items on the menu, gelare has so much more – pancakes, waffles, and even sandwiches.

the menu is certainly more extensive than a typical ice-cream parlour. hmm, cool decor, more choices on menu - looks like a nice place to be!

...except for -

azi and syida tried ‘gelare’ once here at the curve, when it was newly open. they said the staff who attended to them at that time were courteous, friendly and gave suggestions on what’s good on the menu. the staff were so chatty, that azi and syida comfortably went into a conversation on the whens and whats of gelare.

however – when we went with abah at this same gelare outlet at the curve, weirdly enough, NONE of the friendly staff azi and syida met were there. instead, the staff who were attending to us looked bored. they don’t smile, they’re not pro-active (introduce new flavors, or suggest flavors) and worse – they stare!

fine, i understandlah, tengah takde customer, bosan. but is staring the customer in any way a remedy for their boredom? they’re making us really uncomfortable. but being the feisty me – i STARED BACK! but not directly at them lah – (see aku pun tau nak respek orang!), i pretended to look at the menu board behind them.

soon enough, i was making THEM feel uncomfortable because i stared, and stared while eating my gelato, and i didn’t stop staring until they moved away. yay! however, i felt like my gelare moment was wasted on trying to OUT-STARE the gelare staff!

gelare management people reading this – please TRAIN your staff especially the ones at the curve! poor customer service!

anyway, since khaleef was already super-excited to eat ice-cream, we went ahead with our orders. khaleef the strawberry-flavor-freak had just that – strawberry ice-cream. i picked pistachio. i think azi had caramel or something.

one scoop, and i decided i didn’t like this one.

sure, its texture is more dense, and padat than ice-cream but it didn’t make it better than any other ice-cream. if it’s supposed to be gelato-like – it’s not that good. it’s stringy, and like abah said, “eskrem liat” hihi.

if i could describe it in my own words, i would say that the gelato looked like it wasn’t churned well, or wasn’t churned enough. macam tak habis kacau.

also, my pistachio flavor was a quite a disappointment, it doesn’t have enough pistachio umph. biase-biase je. azi tried khaleef’s strawberry flavor, and said that it tasted like bubble gum. that’s probably a plus-point for khaleef. hihi.

verdict – i’d rather spend my ringgit at baskin robbins or haagen dasz anytime. or better yet – rm1 for a mcd sundae! and for my dirham, i'd definitely spend it at coldstone creamery - bole tengok orang baling-baling eskrem!

well, maybe i could try their many waffles and pancakes if ever decided to return. that is, if the staff at gelare the curve learn NOT TO STARE at customers, especially when they’re eating!

well regardless, i think a big thank you from cucu-cucu khaleef and kahfi is still a must for their atuk’s gelato treat. i’m sure they enjoyed it the best!