Miinot Gelato, Pascoe Vale South by Bilby Blue

In the middle of a small group of run-down shops on Melville Road is a slice of gelato heaven – Miinot Gelato. Benny was indulging in a nostalgia trip – he was originally a West Coburg boy – and what a good opportunity to check if Miinot Gelato lived up to the enthusiastic reports found in the media.


Amaretto and raspberry gelato

The tiny all-white shop is a stylish mix of ultra-modern and vintage. A magnificent old cash register graces the counter, behind which a huge antique-framed mirror reflects a neon “Mmmmmm” sign on the opposite wall. But our focus was on the contents of the counter cabinet.


All the gelato is made on-site out of natural ingredients. Miinot Gelato offers just twelve flavours at any time – chocolate, vanilla and lemon are always on the menu, but the others constantly change. The flavours include both dairy and non-dairy (vegan) options. According to our friendly server, there are hundreds of flavours, and from what we saw, many have quirky names.

Tastings were offered, to help us with our choices. Honey fans would love bee mine – honeycomb and honey mixed through the standard chocolate. Old salty was a creamy salted caramel, although Benny thought it needed a bit more bite from the salt. There was a bitter dark chocolate studded with hazelnuts – strictly for those who love their 70% dark chocolate (yes, that’s us). Blondie was a sweet pannacotta, and the lemon was nice, but we prefer a bit more tang.

You can have cups or cones, or tubs (0.5 litre, 1 litre or 1.5 litres) to take away, however as usual we each selected two flavours in a waffle cone.

My choices were amaretto and raspberry (see first pic). The amaretto had a very strong almond flavour, with almond pieces studded through the creamy texture – I loved it. The raspberry was one of the non-dairy options, with an intense fruity flavour, tasting just like the fresh berry. Plus I scored one of the plump raspberries that were scattered over the top of the tub for decoration. It was an excellent pairing.


After his tastings (the standard chocolate was especially tempting) Benny picked damn fine tea (iced tea with orange, lemon and vanilla – one of the non-dairy flavours) and marrakech (pistachio, rose water and nougat). He declared damn fine tea as the highlight of the day – excellent citrus flavours, mellowed just a tad by the vanilla, with a creaminess that made it hard to believe that it was dairy free. The rosewater and nougat in the marrakech gave an exotic twist to the normal pistachio gelato flavour, and it worked very well.

Note: if you happen to be travelling westwards, Miinot Gelato has a sister shop, Poco Gelato, in Port Fairy.

Verdict

We loved it.

Overall

Excellent gelato, with a constantly changing mix of traditional and imaginative flavours. Why would you bother to travel to Melbourne’s gelato hot-spots if this was your local?

Find it at

Miinot Gelato
71 Melville Road
Pascoe Vale South Vic 3044
Telephone: (03) 9383 4258