From paneer to pad thai to hummus to tapas to cannoli to burgers  to burritos to sushi  to pizza to goujons to hot dogs to steak frites, to apple pie… If streets had BMIs, Wardour St would be severely in the red zone, but in a good way.  What more could possibly be thrown into Wardour Street’s near boiling-over pot of restaurants?  Something to cool it down, as it happens:  and that is Snowflake Gelato, the ice cream boutique at number 102.

I had cast an admiring glance over the chic, clean-lined interior of Snowflake last Saturday night.  I’m not one to follow the crowd mindlessly, but a queue was pouring out of the shop despite the fact that it was freezing outside, and I etched it on to my never-ending mental list of places to try.  So when Asad, the owner of Snowflake, kindly invited me to sample the extensive selection (52 flavours) of gelati that he, and his Neapolitan chef, had dreamt up, I leapt at the chance.

Obviously,  deploying the ‘moderation in moderation’ mantra, the sampling turned into a full-on degustation.  My favourite restaurant in Italy makes its own delicious gelato daily using only local ingredients, so when it comes to ice cream, standards have been set.  Luckily, Snowflake did not disappoint.

With its Italian chef, waiters , and ingredients, it has succeeded in importing some of the essential aspects of Italy to Wardour Street, apart from the sun.

Of the many flavours that I sampled, the raspberry sorbet,  the coconut ice cream, the honeycomb ice cream, and the hazelnut were the stand outs – all so smooth that I plan to camp out there in a couple of weeks post- wisdom tooth removal…

 

Food: 9/10

Price: ££££

Ambience: 8/10

Service: 10/10

Loos: N/A

Suitable for: casual dates, friends, night out, late night dining