Friday, February 16, 2007

Cremeria Milano (Closed)

Well, it's February, and we all know what that means: Time to cool off with a rich, satisfying cone of gelato. After sweating through a long Prague winter, you don't want just any gelato -- you want the best.

Yeah, OK, just about nobody cares about gelato at this time of year. I didn't think I did, either. But then...

I was wandering alone through Old Town Square on Valentine's Day and headed down fashionable Pařížská street. I walked past some of Prague's fanciest shops, like Louis Vuitton. Then, I saw Cremeria Milano. I'd been there the summer before. The sense memory hit me hard. I walked in to the mostly deserted dessert shop.

A young man and woman, looking somewhat bored, dressed in period creamery garb, stood behind the counter.

Cremeria Milano has a good many flavors -- Hazelnut (nocciola), coconut, creme caramel, strawberry -- plus all the big favorites. But I had just one thing on my mind. Chocolate.

"One small chocolate cone, please."

The flavor is just phenomenal -- a deeply intense chocolate, rich and creamy -- something like a frozen version of the warm liquid center of a good chocolate fondant/moelleux cake. I'm a major chocolate addict, and I'd say this is one of the best chocolate experiences I've ever had. The price for this pleasure? 50 CZK.

The place has a small cafe seating area in the back. They also have a display case full of other rich-looking deserts like Black Forrest cake, Sachertorte, and tiramisu cake.
It felt a bit funny going into a gelato shop in the middle of winter. Going out, I could care less what time of year it was. There's never a wrong time for mind-blowing chocolate.

Look, I'm not going to pretend I've taken anything like a survey of the gelato/ice cream shops of Prague. All I can say is, I can't imagine how anything could possibly better.

Update
Maybe nothing is better in Prague-- but you might find some gelato just as good. People are telling me the cold creamy stuff at Cremeria Milano comes from Cream & Dream, which has a location at Husova 12 in the center of Prague. Their website is in Italian, a very good sign for a gelato company.

Cremeria Milano
Pařížská 20
Praha 1 - Staré Město
Tel. 224 811 010

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cream & Dream tastes more betterer.

Brewsta said...

I will definitely try it.

Anonymous said...

They do a nice Calvados sorbet at CM

Anonymous said...

I am going to Prague in May and i love reading your reviews.

I cannot wait to go to the icecream place. Like me I think its def ok to go and eat ice cream in the winter. ( in ireland we are lucky to get good weather!)

Brewsta said...

Thanks so much. Everyone is telling me Cream & Dream is equally good (someone told me Cremeria Milano gets their stuff from them, but I haven't confirmed that). Both are in the center. I'm planning to compare. Hope you'll enjoy your visit.

Anonymous said...

i lived in prague for last year and i went plenty in the winter.
i'm a native georgian, so ice cream in the winter isn't foreign to me... snow and ice however were another story.
: )

Anonymous said...

Yes, winter is cold in Prague, but anyway there are not many places in the world, about which I can say I love them. I have to confess, that Prague is ONE of those. I have been living in Prague for 3 years now. It is very special city, capital like no other. I am very lucky I can study here - city for students, that doesn’t miss anything including perfect universities with cool campus, parks, bars, dorms, where I can live.

burgeoningfoodie said...

Will be visiting Prague for 3 days. Is the other creamery still open?