GELATOTECA SUSO

We checked out the best ice cream shops in Venice and here's our ranking.

🥇Gelateria Il Pinguino, between Arsenale and Giardini. The place, run by Aiko Barbazzo, doesn't look like much... and yet! The owner combines the rigorous Japanese precision of her maternal heritage with the ice cream mastery of her paternal lineage to deliver an unstoppable modern and sophisticated proposition juggling with premium ingredients with no compromises. Special mention for the melting chocolate - crazy good - the pistachio, the hazelnut and the little indulgence "Slurp" (a decadent blend of the three previous ones!)

🥈Here, opinions are divided so we're going for a tie between Gelatoteca Suso and Gelato Gallonetto. Both located near the Rialto. Suso is less bold in the punch of its flavors but offers more choice and is overall always pleasant. A delightful Manet (pistachio cream and gianduja), a really successful pistachio "with actual pistachio pieces in it"... Gallonetto is maybe more sophisticated but also more uneven... we were blown away by the coffee but let down by the hazelnut, a bit cloying...

🥉Third place goes to Nico, at Zattere. Let's be clear, it's very good and we'd be thrilled to find it on our street corner... but it falls short of the other three. So the ice cream is very good but doesn't quite move us... Plus, the place is overrun by hordes of tourists not always known for their good manners.