I always bike past this part of the city to and from Ares' place. It used to be a dull little spot that I never paid attention to but recently I noticed this adorable storefront emerge! The neon sign caught my eyes the first time I biked past it and I immediately texted my friend that we HAD to come here.
I think it must be destiny for me to be in this store. Originally, I planned to wear a vibrant yellow or pink to go with the neon sign at the door. Somehow, I ended up dressing head to toe in my favorite color–cornflower blue. Unbeknownst to me, I matched the interior of the store perfectly! I was practically camouflaged on the couch.
I initially thought this was a standard ice cream shop but learned that they serve authentic Italian gelato. There is a whole billboard on the wall detailing the story of the Italian chef they learned the secret recipe from. They also claim that they use fresh ingredients. But I don't know who Serafino Panicucci is... So I let my tongue be the judge.
There were 16 flavors to choose from when we went. Like any other ice cream shop, I logically assume that they do not serve the same flavors every day. I did later on discover their website where you can purchase cups of ice cream with 40 flavors to choose from. I linked it down below in the store info section.
The price is NTD$110 for 1 scoop and NTD$200 for 2 scoops, you can choose to have it served in a chilled glass bowl or cone. If you are buying it for take-out, then it's a paper cup or a cone. The cone is free and they would still give you a chilled glass bowl to stick the cone in to prevent a melty mess. It's not exactly cheap but I found it to be worth the price on the occasional cheat day and meeting friends for a chat. They also have other drinks, food, and dessert on their menu, including souflé pancakes with boba. I saw someone order boba milk tea, too. But I came for the gelato so I didn't pay much attention to the other stuff.
Lemon Gelato
I LOVE lemons. There is permanently a Sicilian lemon-shaped hole in my soul that is waiting to be filled, so this was my first pick. It looks similar to sorbet but is in fact much denser, however, it is less creamy than other flavors. I had lemon gelato every day when I went to Italy and this tasted very close to what I remember. It's sweet but light. You can taste and smell the sourness and fragrance of the lemons.
Sea Salt Peanut Gelato
This was my absolute favorite out of all four flavors. It was a close call but this one is the undeniable winner. Unless you have a peanut allergy, order this. It almost tastes like peanut chocolate candy in ice cream form, without chocolate of course. I find most ice cream exhaustingly sweet and I usually get tired of them after a few bites. But not this.
Gelato is known to have less sugar in the first place. This flavor is further complemented by the sea salt which you can clearly taste and the peanuts lingering on your palate. Aside from the candied peanuts sprinkled on top, there was no distinct chunks of peanuts. The whole scoop was a creamy blessing on my tongue. I wanted seconds.
By the way, I later discovered on their website that there's another flavor called Italian Arachide (or Italian Sea Salt Peanuts). Arachide is just peanuts in Italian. I was curious so I DMed them on Instagram to ask what's the difference. I was told that Sea Salt Peanut is richer with Taiwanese candied peanuts sprinkled on top, while Italian Arachide is not as rich, with imported Italian crushed peanuts sprinkled on top. I would really like to try the other one next time.
Yogurt Gelato
As an avid fro-yo lover I had to try this. This was my friend's favorite flavor out of the four. It's hard to describe. I had to have several spoons before I could turn it into words. Regular frozen yogurt is more liquid, kind of like a watered down soft serve. But this yogurt gelato was rich and creamy with a strong milky flavor and just the right amount of sour. We served this in the same cone as the chocolate ice cream, yogurt carried the show.
Dark Chocolate Tangerine Gelato
This was my friend’s first and only pick but I have to say, this one was nothing special. We both agree that it's just... chocolate. I like that it was a bit bitter from the dark chocolate but that's about it. I couldn't really taste the tangerine.
I'm not sure if it's because it was overpowered by the other flavors. I remember the Italians telling me that I should always order 2 scoops of gelato, one light and fluffy, the other strong and rich. Perhaps there was one too many rich flavors in our choices.
Personally, I think if you want dark chocolate ice cream, just get a Belgium Chocolate Häagen-Dazs. There are much better and much more unique choices you can have here. I'm really looking forward to trying pistachio gelato next time. It's another one of my favorites during my trip to Italy.
Maccanti Gelato Store Info
Store name: Maccanti Taipei ZhongXiao Store Address: 1F, No. 102, ZhongXiao East Rd. Sec. 4, Da’an Dist., Taipei City Phone: 02-8773-3778 Opening hours: 13:00–21:00 Transportation: Take the MRT to ZhongXiao FuShing (or ZhongXiao DunHua, ZhongXiao Fushing is slightly closer) station, then take East Metro Mall Exit 13. It will be right behind you. Online store: https://italy1984.maccanti.com/
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