The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Operating for just under a year, Bel Gelato has very quickly made itself a favourite in Heliopolis. The light-as-air Italian delicacy, offered in an abundance of flavours at Bel Gelato, has a light, fluffy consistency to differentiate it from conventional ice cream. Whereas ice cream tends to be more on the dense, creamy side, good quality gelato needs to retain an equally rich flavour within a wispier consistency.

Located just off of one of Heliopolis’ most distinctive main streets, Bel Gelato’s huge deep blue sign is hard to miss. The venue itself is not tremendously spacious, with a single table to boast, yet is brightly lit and immaculately polished.

Greeting us with a welcoming smile and a quick chat about the place, our server quickly explained the flavours available during the time of our visit. With both fruity and creamy flavours, Bel Gelato offers upwards of twenty different  options to choose from, that come in small (15LE), medium (25LE) and large (30LE) sizes, either in a cup or a cone.

Of the fruit flavours, we found the Tropical Cocktail, Passion Fruit Mango, Wild Strawberries and Cinnamon Green Apple to be the most intriguing, with some of the other peculiur flavours including, Oreo, Pistachio, Hazelnut, Coffee and Jelly Cola – true story.

One of the types that immediately caught our attention, however, was the Carpicof flavour; a blend of pistachio, coffee and caramel that we found a tad too strong in taste, with all the distinctive flavours clashing somewhat.

Finally deciding on a couple of flavours, we went for a small scoop of Tiramisu and another of Stracciatella. The former tasted like a frothier, more frozen version of the traditional Italian dessert, whereas the latter was a blend of cream with crunchy bits of Belgian chocolate. Both were equally as rich in flavour, with minimal sugar and quality ingredients.

Bel Gelato also offers more Italian delicacies than just plain gelato including Bombolone (10LE) – basically the Italian version of a sugar-dusted stuffed donut – as well as Panino Gelato (25LE) – gelato-topped brioche bread – and Italian pie, Crostata (15LE-35LE).

All in all, Bel Gelato was everything we hoped it would be, thanks to its use of quality ingredients, as well as its cheery staff who managed to both be casually friendly and professional at the same time. We’ll definitely be heading back over there to get over whatever is left of our late blooming winter blues.