If Summer has an official flavour, that flavour is ice cream. In June Summer arrives, the temperatures rise, and we all want to enter in the holiday mood and to dive in the Summer breeze as soon as the sun starts to shine.
Then, ice cream shops start to be crowded and many of us awake the kids inside us. For some, every season is a good time to have some ice cream, to others the arrival of Summer is also the arrival of the ice cream season. For both, we picked the best 5 ice cream shops in Lisbon to visit this Summer, and maybe to continue visiting through Fall.
Santini
Santini is perhaps the most famous ice-cream shop in Lisbon. Santini's story has originally started in Cascais. Back in 1949, when Attilio Santini served the first scoop, was far to imagine that it would become lisbonites' and Portuguese reference of the best ice cream. Many locals can't go on holidays without taking-away some ice-cream boxes.
For locals, it became a tradition over the weekends or after a beach day to go for a Santini. Luckily for the lisbonites, in 2010 Santini opened their first shop in Lisbon: in Chiado.
The success was immediate and it didn't need any further presentation. Nowadays, Santini in Chiado is a must and has spread their presence all around Lisbon. In Chiado, voyageurs will notice the ice cream shop as soon as they'll see a big cue along Rua do Carmo and happy people around indulging with such ice creams.
Tip - Try the famous Santini Strawberry or the monthly flavour.
R. do Carmo 9, 1200-093 Lisboa
Amorino
The passion for ice-cream was what lead the two childhood friends, Cristiano Sereni and Paolo Bennassi, to gather and in 2002 and to open Amorino.
The goal was clear: to create exacting standards of quality, flavour and of course, give people pleasure. The result was a top-quality organic ice cream, as natural as possible and without any added artificial colours or flavourings.
Moved by the popularity of the original Italian ice creams, soon Amorino conquered peoples' heart and a legion of worldwide fans.
The secret for the success goes beyond the fame of the Italian ice cream, as Paolo Benassi says, "We insist on keeping a close eye on the production of our gelato to guarantee the highest quality standard to all our customers. In order to achieve this consistency, our products arrive at each shop ready to be served, which avoids the risk of product's alteration and we so we guarantee that our customers can enjoy the same experience regardless of where they go to have it".
R. Garrett 49, 1200-093 Lisboa
Nannarella
Opened in 2013 and neighbour of Principe Real Nannarella's success spread all over Lisbon.
At Nanarella, the ice creams use Portuguese and local ingredients, seasonal fruits (apart from tropical fruits). The cookie cone that comes from Italy.
At Nanarella ice cream combines the Portuguese products and flavours with the knowledge and Italian's ice cream tradition. Nanarella is for the owners, an Italian couple, close to an ice cream laboratory, where they test and create new recipes as they reject all the ice cream industry's prepared products. The result is an ice cream filled with flavour, texture and colour.
This ice cream lab is an open space where people can see the whole confection process. The flavours' offer is wide and changes constantly. There are classics such as chocolate, vanilla or strawberry, but also experimental and seasonal flavours such as the basil flower, apple, cinnamon, roasted apple, kiwi or watermelon.
Inside there are no seats or tables. The ice creams are served following the Roman tradition: with a spatula, with no limit of flavour choices per cup or cone. Make sure you get a little bit of (almost) each to have a flavour loaded Summer.
Rua Nova da Piedade nº 68 Lisboa
Chef Nino
At Chef Nino ice cream shop located at Lx Factory, the concept is as Lx Factory: original.
The shop is tiny yet, big enough to have throughout the day different flavours since as soon as one ends, a new one is replaced. Throughout the year there are many seasonal flavours such as the Grapefruit, green Apple or banana with cinnamon
R. Rodrigues de Faria 103, Lisboa
Conchanata
In 1948 the Italian Quintílio and Alfo Tarlatinni, father and son, founded Conchanata. Now is Michele Tarlattini, grandson and son, continuing his family business. In the same way, as the business is lead, their clientele is: Conchanata clients introduce the next generation to its flavours. For locals, Conchanata is the place where grandmothers took their mothers, then the place where their mothers met their beloved ones, and ultimately the place where the third generation meets the other in any given day for homemade ice cream. The place is almost the same for decades, and so is the ice cream. That guarantee of consistency is what keeps and renews the clients decade after decade.
All the ice creams are gluten-free and the fruit ice sorbets, apart from coco are egg and lactose-free.
Tip - The official name is Gelados Itália Conchanata, but the shop ex-libris is the Conchanata cup, if you ask lisbonites about Gelados Itália, no one will know. There, try cream ice cream with strawberry coulis.
Av. da Igreja 28A, Lisboa
