Best ice cream in Barcelona: our top 3

At the same time the temperatures started rising higher and higher in Barcelona we decided to start our ice-cream shops pilgrimage. In addition this year we had the secret (and fun) resolution to share with all of you our 3 favorite places; I always love to have recommendations from insiders when visiting a city, or from my favorite bloggers with whom I tend to have a lot in common (yay again and again for this blogging world!), so we would try to do our bit.

We have to admit that we had the most fun excusing our too frequent visits to the ice-cream shops this last month pretending it was only for the blog and trying to involve our friends Anna and Albert (plus my mom on Sundays) as food critics. I smile at the thought of Dani grabbing the scooter and telling me: up for an ice-cream? Don’t worry we’ll burn the calories afterwards with a scooter race.

We should also start with a little disclaimer: this is our top 3 from the places we have visited. Sure there are plenty of awesome places we have yet to discover; is not that one of the fabulous things of living in a city with so many good food offer? Well, without further ado, here our favorite places!

Cremeria Toscana

Cremeria Toscana is a very italian ice cream parlour on the Esquerra de l’Eixample neighborhood. It must be the place we have visited more often for its super creamy texture in the ice creams and natural flavored slushies.

Here you will find traditional flavors such as the panna, chocolate, lemon or strawberry combined with seasonal specialities. The Amarena cherry (my favorite) from Cremeria Toscana made me reconsider my former believe that I would never find any amarena cherry ice cream close to the ones I had in Italy.

Cremeria Toscana has an upper floor with a very comfy area to enjoy your frozen treat.

We have often seen the italian owners/managers on the back room (I believe they call it the lab) and sometimes the fresh fruit arriving to their door. They also have larger cups of 1L, which would be great for a party with friends at home. I am thinking of an excuse so I could bring one home!

Vioko

An old friend from us, do you remember it from this last Monday’s post? I love Vioko but we don’t visit it as frequently because, although lately this has been the opposite, we don’t go as much to La Barceloneta. Vioko is a very stylish place that has more than 36 ice cream specialities and chocolate & pastisserie goodness.

Vioko offers gourmet options like violet & blueberry (my favorite from Vioko), grapefruit & jasmine, rose and raspberry (you can really taste the rose), pineapple & wild strawberry (this is my next target!) or banana split ice creams. So if you fancy a very tasty and special treat next to the beach don’t miss this place. They have a very cute nordic looking deer as a mascot, that will surely catch your eye if you are around.

DelaCrem

Last but not least our top 3 closes with the winner of the best 2013 ice cream award in Spain. DelaCrem is a tiny parlour in one of our favorite foodie streets, Enric Granados.

Delacrem produces their handmade ice creams in a daily basis which assures that the result is the freshest and creamiest as possible. They also have very good-looking pastries and pies (not tried yet!) and a satisfying horchata. The shop has a sign at the door that claims that the ice creams are low-fat and gluten-free, so extra bonus point for them!

Which shop grabs more your attention? Do you like to try new surprising combinations or prefer to stick to the always perfect traditional flavors? Do you think we have missed your favorite ice cream shop in Barcelona? Please tell us about, we will love to pay it a visit!