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

Remember when ice cream was served in a waffle cone, or as a sundae in cup with some chocolate sauce on top? Yes, it’s sad how the classic form ice cream has been forgotten and been replaced with more elaborate forms – think liquid nitrogen ice cream and ice cream rolls. It’s a trend that is taking over Cairo, but there are shops that still offer the classics and one of them is Gelato Mio.

Having won a Cairo 360 Editors’ Choice Award in the Ice-Cream & Dairy category, we paid a revisit to the unassuming little store on Brazil Street in Zamalek.

For those that haven’t visited Gelato Mio, it’s a very small shop with simple white decoration, including white brick touches, which gives all the attention to the gelato display freezer.

We opted for a Small Cone (13LE) with a scoop of Watermelon Gelato and another of Banana & Guava Gelato.  We also ordered a Small Cup (13LE) a scoop of Caramel and a scoop of Lindt Chocolate.

Sitting on a fresh and crispy waffle cone, the watermelon gelato was super light and refreshing, but we had hoped for a bolder watermelon flavour. As for the banana & guava, the exotic flavour of the guava with the creamy and sweet bananas –which basically could work as a gelato base on its own- created our favourite fruit couple. Sorry strawberry, the guava stole your banana.

The Lindt chocolate gelato was just as good; the bitterness of the dark chocolate might not be the best choice for milk chocolate fans, but it worked really well with the caramel gelato, which tasted exactly like a crème caramel and added the sweetness you might be crave with the Lindt gelato.

Overall, the gelatos that we tried had perfect, dense textures with intense flavours – as gelato should be – which sums up Gelato Mio’s strengths: maintain quality. It’s been almost three years since its opened and it continues to prove that its one of the best despite keeping things simple and sticking to the classics.