Gelaaati DI MARCO. — Restaurant in Barcelona

I don't know how to start this review...I suppose with an apology, because I've spent a lot of time in Italy, married an Italian woman, and considered myself somewhat savvy on all things Italy. By that measure, I assumed all great gelato would in fact be IN Italy. By the looks and location of it, I thought it was just a tourist trap. In my mind, any place so neatly put together in the Gothic simply could not be good. Yet, after reading the reviews, I gave it a shot.

I ordered a few of the classics, because if you can't get those right, there's no reason for me to try anything new or different. Pistachio, lemon, and coconut were the selections. I started with the lemon.

The lemon blasts the back of your tongue with the tart citrus punch you get from incredible gelato. No artificial flavoring can reproduce this sort of magic. I actually said "wow" out loud. With my palette primed, I pushed to the next bite, this time coconut.

Light sweetness wraps the tiny bits of coconut as the creaminess coats your tongue. It was all you want from anything coconut, from a pie to a piña colada. Perfect. I went for my all-time favorite, pistachio, with the bar set high.

Pistachio...what is there to say? No hyper-green, fake stuff here. This is the soft, pale green perfection the gods placed it on this earth for. Small chunks dotted through the mind bending creaminess. Indulgent is an understatement. To taste this pistachio gelato is to truly know what the absolute best of the best product is. It is the Pinnacle of Pistachio, the Ideal Ice Cream, and the best gelato I have ever had in my life.

Deep breath

I almost forgot to note the establishment. The service here is friendly and helpful, the place is decorated for everyone to enjoy, and I will return time and time again.

Incredible job by everyone...

Gelaaaati di Marco is no stranger to acclaim, and for good reason—their myriad of frozen delights is nothing short of heavenly. As a devout ice cream aficionado, I make my pilgrimages to Di Marco's sacred scoops at least once a week. Its reputation has danced across the globe, and rightfully so. Each flavor they offer is a whimsical journey of frozen ecstasy, transporting your taste buds to a realm of pure indulgence.

Having navigated through the chilled wonders of Barcelona’s finest, I am delighted to declare Di Marco as my ultimate haven of ice cream indulgence. The richness of taste, the finesse in every scoop, and the exhilarating experience of delving into their diverse flavor profile is unparalleled. It's a ritual I love to share with everyone gracing this beautiful city.

However, every paradise has its forbidden fruit. In Di Marco's case, it's the Salted Caramel. It failed to live up to the towering standards set by its flavor counterparts. The disappointment was a mere blip in the landscape of frozen perfection that is Gelaaaati di Marco.

Nonetheless, this place continues to reign as the crown jewel in my ice cream adventures across Barcelona. For anyone yearning for a scoop of happiness, with the exception of Salted Caramel, Gelaaaati di Marco is a rendezvous with frozen bliss that I can’t recommend...

My experience in trying and finding the best ice cream in Barcelona continues. I bought 500gr from Marco Gelaaati, with high expectations. Here is my experience from tastes I tried:

Tiramisu: not a tiramisu flavor. It is a variegated coffee flavor with cocoa, mascarpone flavor totally absent as well as the presence and taste of savoiardi biscuits. You can smell the coffee aroma of the mocha. Balanced taste and pleasant to eat, but is not a tiramisu ice cream. It would deserve 3/5 if they had called it cocoa variegated coffee, but since it is not tiramisu. 2/5

lemon tart: lemon cream, totally absent the flavor of the pasta frolla of the tart. Overall balanced. Nothing that stands out 2/5

Cheesecake: fresh and pleasant, sweet in the right amount. Yu can feel the slight acidity of fresh cheese and the taste of milk. Once again, however, the taste is much closer to a white yogurt variegated with strawberries with biscuit grains than to the taste of cheesecake. Well balanced mix. Again it would deserve a 3/5 if it was called variegated yogurt with strawberry jam and biscuits. Final grade 2/5.

With that being said, among the best reviewed ice cream shops that I tried in Bcn , Gelaaati da Marco is the best, today, the ice cream shop to go to if you are in the capital...