Dex2rose is the new gelaterie in the CBD, opened for 7 months now and these bad boys are using Nitrogen to make their ice creams and gelato. I was invited by Dex2rose for a tasting menu and all opinions expressed are my own.
Dex2rose is located in an alley way and there is a sign pointing to the location (LOVE SIGNAGES!).
Show Me The Way
Outdoor Area And Entrance
Let’s Make Some Chocolate….
Inside, you can feel the warmth and friendliness of the place. I met with Jesse (the owner/chef/gelato flavour inventor) where his background was in sales/marketing but decided he loved experimenting with flavours and food. He trained at Messina (Yep, Messina Gelato in Sydney) before opening his own place to experiment crazy gelato flavours. He is the most loveliest person and asked if we were hungry (I’m always hungry for FOOD) and so the tasting started. First up, the Nitro Cider where it was a non-alcoholic lemon alderflower (today’s flavour) where it was charged with Nitrogen and carbon dioxide out of a beer tap. It was super fizzy, fresh and so sweet (the way I like it). I was totally in love with it and refused to share with Mr D. We also got to try the Milk Stout flavoured Nitro Brew. This wasn’t as sweet and doesn’t contain a lot of caffeine and they use roasted beans. However, it wasn’t my cup of tea but Mr D thoroughly enjoyed it.
Nitro Cider & Nitro Brew
Now the goodies came out (hohoho). First gelato was the pumpkin spiced latte (what??!!) and I wasn’t sure if I would like this flavour. IT WAS AMAZEBALL! I couldn’t wrap my head around pumpkin in desserts but this was so good! It had gingernut biscuits at the bottom and it gives it a crunchiness texture surprise and that was the BEST PART! Even Mr D liked this and we rarely agree on desserts! Real pumpkin was used (hope none were harmed in the making) and my goooosh I LOVE EVERY BIT OF IT! GET ON IT GUYS!
Spiced Pumpkin Latte
Now, this is what you get if you want something more theatrical. The ‘mist in the woods’ hot chocolate set. It comes with home made marshmallows, salted caramel gelato, raspberry drupelets and lightly spiced hot chocolate. In the middle of the board is a shot of rose water which is where the nitrogen will bbe filled. The marshmallow was GREAT! The salted caramel gelato was a tad sweet but if you have it together with the raspberry drupelets everything just balanced out. The hot chocolate was a bit disappointing though but very cool nonetheless.
‘Mist In The Woods’ Hot Chocoate Set
Next was the Salty Camel Gelato. I found this to be super sweet since it had caramel sauce drizzled on top of the caramelized popcorn with a GINORMOUS sugar shard on the top and sugar shards mixed into salted caramel gelato. SWEETNESS EXPLOSION! This was way too sweet for me and I was glad we were next to the water station!
Salty Camel
By now, we were getting super full but the show must go on. Ms Maple’s Juicy Mangoes Sorbet which included maple syrup and chili flakes was next and I didn’t really enjoy this flavour. Yes, it was out there, it was daring but not my cup of tea. You could smell the mango-ness as soon as you get it and on top had chili flakes which gave it a weird saltiness after taste. It wasn’t as sweet as I thought it’ll be since it had maple syrup but it was very mango-y.
Ms Maple’s Juicy Mangoes Sorbet
Now, the signature flavour finally came out….Not your granny’s apple pie! This was soooo good! Apples are peeled daily and they make their own apple sauce. Vanilla ice-cream with apple chunks and cream, who wouldn’t love it? Be warned, this flavour comes in one size only and it includes a cone on top (WHO CAN EVEN FINISH THIS??). I was in dessert heaven right now. It was sweet, it was apple-ly, it was AH-MA-ZING!!! Imagine that long lost love you once had and could never be together, when you finally meet you get this fireworks feeling and can’t contain your love. I felt like that with this gelato!
Not Your Granny’s Apple Pie
Finally, to end the tasting we were presented with the Trippy Cookie Dookie which was a milk chocolate gelato with home-made triple chocolate chip cookie dough. This was VERY CHOCOLATELY so if you’re a chocolate lover, this is your go to flavour. Mr D ABSOLUTELY LOVED this one and it was his favourite. The extra cookie dough piece on top, way too sweet to eat on its own, that’s why there’s gelato there!
Trippy Cookie Dookie
If any flavour wasn’t sweet enough, feel free to grab some sugar syrup!
Making The Gelato
This is lovely hidden gem where all the staff are super friendly and prides themselves on providing great customer service. Their menu changes monthly so you’ll always have something new to try. Come in a say hey because everyone is welcome and stay for the AMAZEBALL gelato (drools). Will have to come back to check out the rest of the flavours!!
377-379 Little Bourke St, Melbourne CBD, VIC 3000
Tel: (03) 8899 6605
Website: www.dex2rose.com.au