I have an addictive personality.

I should probably elaborate. Some people might construe that as me having a magnetic one that draws folks to me. No sir.

I get addicted to things pretty easily and I have many vices. Let’s go over some of the things I’ve been addicted to over the years:

– Big 2 (think of it as Chinese Poker).

– Energy drinks (record currently stands at seven cans a day and only one broken bone due to extreme activity conducted whilst under the influence).

– Ice cream

Everyone that follows me on Instagram knows that I still have a bit of a problem when it comes to ice cream. So you can imagine the chain of events that unfolded upon me learning of a new gelato place that was garnering a heap of praise.

I just had to get the inside scoop.

Let’s take a look at my experience at Anita Cafe (La Mama Del Gelato).

Located inside the still relatively new Central Park shopping centre, La Mamma Del Gelato (aka Anita Cafe) is staking its claim as one of Gelato Messina’s true rivals. Personally, I welcome our new gelato overlords and am willing to serve the victor in any way possible.

Anita Cafe offers a plethora of flavours and I have convinced myself that it requires multiple visits to get a proper gauge of how much I like the place. The staff is very friendly and they let you try as many different flavours as you want before you commit to the dollop of your choice. I know a  bunch of married guys that wish the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages had provided this as an option.

Here are the flavours I actually committed to (I told you I’d commit someday, Mom!)

Full disclosure: I demolished a bowl of ramen, a shrimp bun and a chocolate frappuccino prior to my arrival at Anita Cafe. I was so full that TAB was offering people very generous odds of me not being able to get back up if I tripped.

Watermelon and mint gelato had this incredible palette cleansing effect on me. It was incredibly fresh and the aftertaste was reminiscent of my mouth after brushing my teeth. The mint was the dominant flavour but it was clearly a symbiotic relationship as the watermelon’s aqua soothing effect was also active. I had absolutely no idea these two ingredients went so well together. They’d probably make a great cocktail; I don’t drink but still…

The pineapple gelato was the favourite of my dessert partner. She noted that the flavour of the gelato was really great but wasn’t a fan of the texture. Anita Cafe uses genuine ingredients to make their gelato and the pineapple fibres might not be to the liking of everyone.

My take on the pineapple variation was that it was incredibly sweet. It reminded me of the pineapple juice you get when you purchase canned pineapples. I enjoyed it and you have to keep in mind I only ever like pineapple on pizza.

Before my sister moved out of home, she would always buy really interesting groceries for herself and label them so that no one else would touch them. Due to the fact that I was a gangster in my younger years, I routinely ate/drank a lot of the stuff she bought and tried to cover up my tracks after the fact via refills or clever shifting of things within the packaging.

One time, she brought home a huge tub of cookies and cream ice cream that I really wanted to try. I intended to have a tiny scoop and then just shift the ice cream around to make it look like the way she had left it. My plan failed spectacularly due to the fact that I fell in love with the cookies in the ice cream and picked out every single piece of cookie.

Whoops.

Anywho, the point of that story is that I love cookies and ice cream. I really enjoyed the cookieman gelato and the flavours were very rich. My buddy remarked that the texture reminded her of icing sugar and that it was an acquired taste. I guess I just acquired it incredibly quickly.

Here’s the TL; DR for everyone who’s ever been offended by me asking if they were up for some BJs (Ben & Jerry’s of course)

– Go and sample every flavour before you lock in on the one scoop that makes you come back for more

– Let me know if you ever see a cocktail featuring watermelon and mint. The bar making it will owe me 10% of all revenue garnered from that drink.

– My mother’s favourite pizza is the Hawaiian pizza from Domino’s. Don’t be mean.

– Cookieman would make a great name for a superhero.

La Mamma Del Gelato (Anita Cafe)

28 RG15 ground floor, Chippendale

Opening Hours:

Sunday – Friday: 7:00am to 10:00pm (gelato for breakfast!)

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