We cannot go all the way to Italy without having gelato! To maximise the number of flavours tried, we split each and every cup we ordered. The place we frequented the most was Il Gelato di San Crispino, purveyors of artisanal gelato made with top quality seasonal ingredients; their gelato is considered some of the best in Rome. Of course, the best comes at a price with what I consider a “regular” sized cup of gelato coming in at about €3.50-4.00. They don’t offer cones.

We ran into one branch by the Pantheon and this became our go-to place in the area. Our first cup was of two flavours of sorbet: pomegranate and bergamot. Wow. It sounds cliched but the pomegranate really was full of the flavour of the fruit while the bergamot was so highly scented, almost like perfume. Very fruity and not too sweet.

Our First Cup

As soon as we finished that cup, we turned around immediately and headed back in. This time, hazelnut gelato and gelato di San Crispino (a honey cream). These were much richer and creamier, as expected. Their eponymous gelato was like dunking my tongue into a pot of honey while the hazelnut was exactly that – nutty.

Our Second Cup

On another visit, we split three flavours in a larger cup: pistachio, lemon and pear. The pistachio was a little weaker than I expected – I’ve been spoiled by the delicious gelato at Oddono’s in London. Lemon was wonderfully citrusy while pear was my favourite of the lot – you could almost detect that slight graininess of the fruit.

Three Flavours

This really was some of the best gelato we had in Rome. OK, a massive craving for gelato has now set in…

Il Gelato di San Crispino
Piazza della Maddalena, 3
00186 Rome, Italy

This is the branch near the Pantheon that we frequented but there are a few other branches in Rome; all are listed on their website. Too bad we didn’t fly out of Terminal A at the airport – there’s one there!

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