The Travel Chica

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The Best Ice Cream in the World Is in Buenos Aires

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This is a pretty big claim.

No, I have not been everywhere in the world, but I cannot imagine it gets any better than Buenos Aires.  I had sampled a few ice creams at various small shops in the Palermo neighborhood.  It was all delicious.

Then I was told which places are considered to be the best ice cream companies in the city.

I had to find out for myself.

Persicco

I had not eaten ice cream at Persicco before because their prices seemed completely ridiculous.  In fact, all of the ice cream in Buenos Aires is expensive, but Persicco is much higher.  I figured it was worth it to try it once and find out if it really is any better.

It is better, and it is worth it.

At Persicco, watching them make an ice cream cone is like watching an artist make a sculpture.  The cone has to be perfect.

MY ICE CREAM ARTIST CONCENTRATING ON THE ORDER AHEAD OF ME

Photo of Persicco ice cream artist
Getting the perfect swirl

This is the “boat.”

For 24 pesos (US$6.00), you can choose multiple flavors and any toppings you want.  This boat is filled with a scoop of chocolate amargo and arándanos and topped with raspberry syrup, almonds, and chocolate-covered cookie.

Photo of ice cream at Persicco

Favorite Flavors:

  • Chocolate Amargo (dark chocolate)
  • Raspberry Sorbet
  • Arándanos (blueberry)

There was also a seasonal flavor I tried that was incredible.  I do not remember the name, but it was a creamy vanilla ice cream with ribbons of raspberry mixed throughout.  Yum!

Volta

My trip to Volta happened after a steak dinner and lots of cheap wine… at 1 o’clock in the morning.  Yep, that’s right.  The ice cream shops in Buenos Aires are open really late to accommodate the Porteno lifestyle.  There were even families with their children at Volta at this hour.

Chance had to persuade me because I was already stuffed, and 1am is my bedtime.

So far Chance has not steered me wrong with food recommendations, so we went and split 1/4 of a kilo of ice cream.  This meant we got to choose 3 flavors:  chocolate amargo (my favorite in any ice cream shop), raspberry sorbet, and one of the 20 flavors of dulce de leche.

One thing that cracks me up about every ice cream shop is that they have a whole section of different flavors of dulce de leche ice cream. I didn’t know there could be so many.

Photo of Volta ice cream
Why wouldn't you eat 1/4 of a kilo of ice cream at 1am?

I quickly forgot how much I had just eaten at dinner and the fact that it was 1am.

Members of the clean plate club
Photo of empty Volta ice cream bowl
I almost licked the bowl

Ice Cream Delivery?  Why not?

The Porteños’ love of ice cream is so great that you can even get ice cream delivered to your front door.

Photo of Persicoco delivery bike
They pack it in dry ice and delivery it to your doorstep

Or you can go pick up a couple of kilos to keep at home :-)

Photo of me with 2 kilos of Persicco ice cream
6 flavors plus 2 "samples" in the tiny points of the containers

If you live in Buenos Aires or are just passing through, you must try the higher-end ice cream at least once. I have heard Freddo and Chungo are also really great.  But I really do not want to have to start wearing elastic-waistband pants, so I’m going to take a break from sampling the ice cream for a bit.

Like I said before, ALL of the ice cream I have had in Buenos Aires is really good.

However, at Persicco and Volta, it is orgasmic.

Have you tried the ice cream in Buenos Aires?  Do you think it is the best in the world?

Comments

      • Hola buenas noche Mi nombre es Esteban Emmanuel Gonzalez y queria darte las gracias por lo alagado y orgulloso que me hizo sentir esta publicacion despues de 7 años, sin duda generastes una alegria inmensa, es muy lindo que mi foto halla sido publicada espero que lo hallas disfrutado!!!

        Muchas muchas gracias!!!

  3. OK now we’re getting to the really good stuff. I really want to go out and have a “boat” right now (and coincidentally, it’s 1am here!) It looks fantastic!
    Just curious…the last picture…the yellow ice cream in the container on the right…any chance you could identify that flavor for me?
    Steve recently posted..Mamma Mia in Vancouver

  5. Persicco, Volta, Freddo, Chungo, even Cabana Tuyu are DE-LI-CIOUS.
    Ww have our Italians ancestors to thank for the great ice cream (hey, my maiden name is Astri, from the Piedmont region), so they should be proud we can produce such good ice cream.
    I have tried ice cream in Rome and it was delicious as well, no contest there. As regards the other countries I have been (including the US), no one can hold a candle to Persicco or Volta :)
    Ana recently posted..The English pub

  13. Looked very tasty Stephanie, but you ain’t eaten ice cream until you’ve eaten our Kapiti Ice-cream! And especially New Zealand’s favourite- hokey-pokey ice-cream! Drops of hokey-pokey all through it.
    The rest are all imposters when it comes to Ice -cream.

  21. Am I the only one who would not want dairy when drunk? Somehow not appealing! But man I wish I’d visited those places while I was there… Yumm!! For some reason, I like to hear about expensive places that are worth the money as much as good cheap finds.
    Abby recently posted..Napa: You Can Travel “Just Because”

  22. Hokey-pokey? What? You have been missing the finer things in life! I’ll order in a bucket when you get here.

  24. While I’ve had ice cream in BsAs but not enough to comment. But… in Salta there’s a place called Fili. It’s housed in an old butcher shop (I think). Really cool tiles. Really beautiful building.

    If you come to Salta, I’ll take you there for the best dulce de leche you’ve ever had.

  26. i’ve never tried ice cream in buenos aires, but after having read this i would very much like to have some delivered to the house, just to say i did it.

    • I haven’t had it delivered yet either. Since there are so many ice cream shops, you really only have to go a few blocks to get it.

      And I feel like I need the walk if I’m going to consume so much fat and sugar :-)
      The Travel Chica recently posted..My Argentine Crush

  31. Lovely post, as usual! Of course I’m biased, as I usually try to have at least one cone per day :)

    But the thing is I can’t choose just one favorite. I mean, I rather have the dulce de leche at Persicco, but Mascaporne con frutos rojos that Volta does… no one gets even closer. Not to mention some neighbourhood parlours that holds some nice secrets
    Geraldo Figueras recently posted..Oui Oui: el café francés pionero

  32. I tried ice cream in Norway, Germany, Spain, UK and Greece and let me tell you none of these get closer, they are lots of steps behind, the closest ice cream you can get probably would be in Italy and Croatia but still they are a few steps behind to Argentine ice cream. You gotta try Jauja, they have several flavors made with native berries from Patagonia and several unusual flavors such as homemade Patagonian beer, flowers and sheep milk, etc, it’s expensive too but it’s much better than Volta and Persicco.

  33. I don’t think we had any in Buenos Aires but I remember ice cream in the rest of Argie to be very, very good. I’m a sucker for gelato and there were shops everywhere in places like Mendoza. So if you venture out you won’t have to let your fav frozen treat go =)
    Andrea recently posted..Tasting Vienna at the Outdoor Film Festival

  38. O my god! Why did I check your post? Now I am starving for Ice cream and I am half the world away from Beunos Aires…Next time I go back there I’ll try out that Chocolate Amargo ice cream..
    Abigail recently posted..Top Free Dating Sites

  43. Wow. That ice cream looks so delicious. I just had the best ice cream that I ever tried in a mall in the Cayman Islands.

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