La Casa Gelato was recommended to me by a friend and I love gelato so I decided to give it a whirl. The claim to fame for this place is that they have over 200 flavors (currently they have 218) of gelato all of the time. My review of the gelato is that it is so-so. Not really worth the effort for my taste.
I am staying in a hotel in the convention center area of Vancouver and to get to La Casa Gelato was a $12 taxi ride each way. I don't mind the ride nor the cost but it has to be worth the trip. Upon arriving at L.C.G. I saw that it was certainly off the beaten path and there was a steady stream of customers going in and out. When you enter you are greeted by some wonderfully gaudy murals on all of the walls of cities like Sydney, New York, Rome etc. There is also some very loud chez Italian music. I loved all of that. The gelato freezers take up 3 of the 4 walls around the perimeter, with the register taking the 4th. There is no table seating (something we would have liked to know before we let our taxi go...) and you just go up and pay for whatever size you want and they give you a poker chip in the color that corresponds with your scoop selection. You then give the chip to a server behind the gelato freezers when you make your decisions. That process was smooth and I have no complaints about it.
We spent at least 10 or 15 minutes walking around the cases looking at all the flavors. It is customary at most Gelatarias that I am aware of to provide samples so people can get a better idea of the flavors. There are signs all over L.C.G. basically telling you not to ask for samples that they are too busy. That kind of bugged me-they have built a reputation on having so many flavors many of which are very out of the ordinary so not allowing us to try them is counter-productive. People were asking for samples and receiving them but it was like you felt bad asking...Anyways, onto the flavors:
They have all of the basics-pistachio, coconut (3 different varieties), chocolate, hazelnut, vanilla etc. Then they have the slightly unusual flavors like spicy mango (my friend said it was very spicy) or spumoni all of which look great. Then you get into the flavors that to me seem like an acquired taste-like pear-blue cheese-Gorgonzola, or durian. So you have a big decision to make especially if you are just getting one scoop....When it comes to gelato I am a sucker for coconut with a hint of chocolate and knew that when the time came to make a choice I would likely go that route. The coconut with mini chips had a good coconut flavor but the mini chips didn't really feel like a part of the gelato, they didn't melt into it. The coconut cream pie had flecks of graham cracker crust and a nice flavor to it. The chocolate coconut (which I ultimately went with) was a chocolate base with coconut mixed in.
All of the flavors I tried tasted fine, but they didn't have that rich intense gelato flavor that I am used to. They tasted more like regular ice cream. I was a little disappointed, especially after having an amazing cantaloupe gelato from little ol' Troy, NY on Saturday...That one tasted like the absolute essence of melon. Exactly what good gelato should taste like.
So, I guess I would say maybe if La Casa Gelato made fewer flavors they could spend more time perfecting the taste of them and make a more supple premium product. However, if you are more of a Andrew Zimmern Bizzare Foods kind of eater then La Casa Gelato might be perfect for you and your wild fennel and sage gelato.
If you do visit Vancouver there are gelataria's all over the place and you will have many choices. Overall thought I don't think I will recommend La Casa Gelato for a special trip.
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