Oddono's, Oxford St

As something of a food snob (I know it’s an unattractive quality but I really do love food and care about how it is produced. I hate elitism but I also hate Domino’s hot dog stuffed crust with a burning passion – I am torn! It is tricky. Oh, the many and wondrous contradictions of being human… ANYWAY) I am highly distrustful of shopping centre food courts. Of course, Selfridges is really your typical mall but I purchased their onsite ice cream with a certain amount of wariness. [Another slight diversion: for reference, I do not do my food shopping at Selfridges – that would obviously be crazy. I was on the hunt for Aussiemite for my beloved Madre. They used to stock the Marmite-esque yeast extract (yum) in Waitrose and she got herself addicted but they have since withdrawn it. I checked an uber Waitrose, the Whole Foods London flagship and Selfridges and then ran out of ideas. I believe they’re currently withdrawn from the UK at large but are planning a return. However, if you do see a spare jar please let me know. *End diversion*]

Oddono’s have a counter in the basement of Selfridges and while the aspect was not tempting, none of the sun streaked vias or piazzas that are the ideal setting for ice cream, I am an intrepid soul. Also, I was already aware of Oddono’s, who run a couple of more upmarket independent gelaterias around London. And, in spite of the surroundings, it was pretty good. Over-refrigeration struck again but the price was v reasonable. £2.30 for two scoops, if I remember correctly, which will seem like a bargain when I blog a recent La Grotta encounter. London does mess with your conception of legitimate pricing though. A friend recently called a £15 burger reasonable! Admittedly, the burger was from Hawskmoor – five kinds of pork! - and we called her out on it immediately but I can just about see where she was coming from…

Tbh wit ya, the Pistachio was a bit lacklustre. It didn’t have the smokiness or the depth of flavour that I prefer which is sacrilege and it was packed with gristly shards of nut that added no value and proceeded to get horribly stuck in my teeth. But, the Hazelnut was good. It was rich and creamy with a nice balance of sweetness. I enjoyed it. When combined with the Selfridges magazine shop (which is pretty epic and definitely the best place in the whole building) it made the horrendously overcrowded department store almost bearable. If you are on Oxford St and the brink of losing your fairly limited patience and punching a dawdling tourist in the stomach there are worse places you could go and have a little calm down. In fact, if you had Oddono’s for pudding after stuffing your face with the most delicious chicken wings and a burger you would have the makings of a very fine meal in a mostly unpleasant location.

Snowflake, Soho

I have a chosen London gelateria. Gelupo has won my affection over the years with its consistently excellent flavours, textures and charm. I am very rarely disappointed by Gelupo and I eat there often. However, in the name of science (and greed) I feel obliged to tread new ground, explore the ice creams uneaten and test new gelaterias. It was following this philanthropic impulse that I sampled Snowflake on Wardour St which came highly recommended by A Little Bird, a weekly newspaper of which I am fond and which, for the most part, I trust. Sure, it is high-Yuppie but there is a part of me that loves organic Swedish skin care and Farrow & Ball’s new line of children’s clothes and £70 floor cushions. It’s a beautiful dream. Plus, their event recommendations are reliably good – tried and tested. All of that is to say that I had high hopes for Snowflake and said hopes were brutally dashed.

I would have been willing to overlook the naff name and the plasticky iPod-style shop if the ice cream had been good but it wasn’t. I had Sea Salted Caramel and Hazelnut and both tasted like sugared margarine. They were much too sweet and they tasted and felt strangely hydrogenated – they slipped almost greasily down your throat before you could even decide to swallow them. Also, and this is a fairly common complaint, they were too cold. That might sound ridiculous but if an ice cream is too cold you can’t enjoy the flavour or the texture properly. I’m not sure why some ice creameries are over refrigerating the good (is it shelf life? If so, please just make smaller batches!) but I would like them to stop.

This probably sounds a bit harsh. Snowflake isn’t the worst ice cream I’ve ever had but lacklustre ice cream so disappoints me. Such wasted potential! Ice cream can be the most delicious thing in the world (fact) so why accept less than perfection? Plus, the price tag on central London ice cream demands consideration. If you are serious about eating ice cream in Soho, in London generally, you are wasting your time here.