The most delicious ice-creams – from a subjective point of view

Centrál kávéház - ice-cream by bloggers

As we have already told you about, Centrál kávéház had a few daring ideas for the latest season. The hand-made ice-creams are creations of well-known Hungarian gastro bloggers, including Mirelle, A két cica konyhája and Sajtkukac. The unusual tastes go very well with the classic selections, with chocolate and vanilla and they have some refreshing fruit sorbets as well. They are very proud of their ice-cream cups; there are fruity ones, coffee and liqueur flavoured versions as well.

1 scoop – 4 dkg – 150 forints

Gerbaud – classic selection in hand-made scones

A scoop of Gerbaud ice-cream is a real treat for the kids of Budapest. The historic confectionery decided to stick with the classic flavours this season and they went for the simple, traditional tastes. They do not use any kind of artificial additives or colouring when making the ice-creams; instead of these they use real fine-quality ingredients such as Valhrona cocoa powder, hazelnut pralines, real freshly brewed coffee, Ceylon cinnamon and Bourbon vanilla. The only rather unusual ice-cream is the orange- caramel flavoured one, which is the frozen version of the orange-caramel cake. The scones are made by hand in the confectionery from almond flour – these delicacies are somewhere in between divine and lewd.

1 scoop – 5 dkg – 300 forints

Gelarto Rosa – tasteful flowers

For a long time, locals thought that the small confectionery, Gelrato Rosa, close to Basilica is for tourists and foreigners only. It took years for Budapest citizens to actually discover the place. The rose-shaped creations of Niki Szökör are gorgeous, healthy and surprisingly delicious. Besides the Italian-styled rosy beauties, she offers hand-made ice-creams and macarons as well. She’s not using pre-prepared materials, she makes her own bases for the treats and she’s not using additives or artificial colourings either.  The sorbets are really fruity – they are more like a vitamin bomb than a simple ice-cream.

1 rose – 7,5 dkg – 2 flavours – 400 forint

Fragola – Tihany camembert flavoured Italian gelato

Fragola became one of my biggest favourites ever, both in Buda and in Pest. They say that their extreme flavours are very popular now; what’s more they believe they were the ones who managed to achieve this status first. The most popular flavours include fondant dark-chocolate followed by Tihany camembert and gorgonzola-flavoured gelatos. The award for the most creative taste goes to the lavender ice-cream. At Fragola they use two different types of bases for the ice-creams; there are sorbet-based and milk-based ice-creams. The finest quality Italian ingredients are added to these bases. The fruit content of the sorbet bases are around 60-70 percent. Fortunately they are not selfish when it comes to serving; the portions are bigger than elsewhere.

1 portion – 5d dkg – 250 forints

Artigiana Gelati – The first and the best for families

Artigiana was opened in 1990, when one scoop of ice-cream cost only 13 forints. They established the Hungarian ice-cream culture and they are still making serious efforts to keep it up. Thanks to the very kind and helpful staff members the confectionary is almost full, non-stop. They learn the names quickly; they know their customers who are lactose-intolerant and they recognise people with diabetes as soon as they enter the door. They work with three different ice-cream bases. They don’t believe in ice-cream cups so fortunately they don’t have any. On the other hand they believe in delicious home-made whipped crème and they are happy to surprise you with an extra dose of it. They don’t use an ice-cream spoon, they use a spatula so you can enjoy a bigger amount of the sweets. The majority of the clientele includes kids and pensioners; they can choose from the special offers – there is a so called ‘felező’ which means that there are two flabours in one portion for the same price. This is the most homelike confectionary of them all.

1 portion – 4dkg – 150 forints

Daubner – The best ice-cream in Buda

We don’t have to introduce Daubner because everyone knows this place and probably everyone is familiar with their poppy-seed and rice ice-cream and with their crispy brittle. You have to get in a massive queue even on a lousy Tuesday; you can imagine how long you’ll have to wait if you decide to drop in on a Sunday afternoon. They offer ice-creams in boxes of 450mls; you can buy these selections for 990 forints. Their latest inventions are the different toppings and icings. There are different dressings and syrups, including strawberry, chocolate, raspberry, caramel, amarena cherry and orange. As for the toppings we can order brittle, hazelnuts, almonds and pistachios. The service is always professional and slightly phlegmatic but that’s exactly the way we like it here.

1 scoop - 4 dkg - 200 forints

Sugar shop! – Ice-creams for cakes

In Sugar shop! the ice-creams are more like design sweets. They have seasonal collections of sweets and cakes and they match the flavours of the ice-creams to these collections. At the moment the New York collection is in season so there are ice-cream flavours like New Yorker cheesecake, gum and a flavour that’s imaginatively named ‘Elvis’ nuts’. These flavours will stay for the winter season as well, so you can enjoy the icy treats even when it’s freezing cold outside. The ice-creams that sometimes happen to have pop rocks and gums are not additive-free at all, but at least they look and taste very good.

1 scoop – 4 dkg – 220 forints

Vári Confectionary – A two-hour ride from the city centre for extreme flavours

The 11-year-old Vári confectionary in the 16th district has an ice-cream offer that goes way beyond our expectations. It takes about one, one and a half hours to get to this magical place, which is situated in the suburbs.

Vári is an award-winning confectionary, they were competing from 2003 and won many contests with their unique desserts ever since. Gelato creations are made from beetroot, goat cheese, buckthorn, rose, firewater, Tokaji Aszú, aloe vera and last but not least Indian yogurt. The ice-creams are usually made from organic and bio ingredients, bio milk, bio veggies and bio fruits. Each and every ice-cream has its very own hand-made base, just like in Rosa Gelarto. We tried all of the flavours and we can honestly say that it’s worth the travelling and it’s worth the efforts –Vári is still one of the very best confectionaries in Budapest.

1 scoop – 4dkg – 260 forints