This story first appeared on former NRMA travel site Live4 on October 28, 2014.
Nothing says summer more than ice cream and milkshakes, and lucky for us Sydney has an abundance of gelato shops and milk bars serving up some seriously tasty varieties of both.
340 Stanmore Road, Petersham
Milk bars don’t get sweeter or cuter than Daisy’s. Decorated in candy shades of blue, yellow and pink with big comfy booths and a cordial station, this retro-inspired delight in the Inner West serves up delicious brekky, lunch, coffee and plenty of sweet treats like homemade cakes, slices and mixed lolly bags with classics like Redskins and Milo. But it’s their big old-style milkshakes and sundaes that stole our hearts. (They even do a banana split complete with a glazed cherry on top).
181 Enmore Road, Enmore
This family-owned-and-run gelato shop and dessert bar in Enmore has never been short on locals who love it, but its popularity has soared to dizzying heights since it took out the title of world’s best gelato in September for its almond affogato flavour. Be warned: their award-winning ice cream comes with a long queue, though most will tell you it’s well worth the wait.
243 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst
It’s almost a given that Gelato Messina would feature on this list. If you’re yet to try what many would claim is Sydney’s best gelato, they’re now in Bondi, Parramatta, Pyrmont, Surry Hills and even Fitzroy, Melbourne. The original Darlinghurst outlet remains, but it’s the new addition next door at shop 243 that’ll get you truly excited: the Messina Dessert Bar. They describe it as a ‘Choose your own adventure sundae’ and it is. It’s Messina ice cream taken to a whole new level with the addition of ingredients like butter popcorn, fairy floss, smoked chocolate fudge, raspberry meringues and crepes. Get in my belly!
620 Crown Street, Surry Hills
A new face on Crown Street in Surry Hills is Stix Desserts. Putting a modern twist on gelato and sorbet by putting it on a stick, here you choose a base flavour – and there are plenty of them including cookies and cream, chilli chocolate and Pandan coconut – and dip, dunk and drizzle your toppings of choice over it. Again, there’s no shortage of choice, including dark, milk or white chocolate, salted pretzels, Oreo, honeycomb crumble, Milo, coconut and more. Yum.
Lisa Cugnetto 