What’s your earliest memory of ice-cream? 

A trip down memory lane often has me reminiscing of a time when things were much easier and simpler. No work, no stress, no bills and no worries.

The only thing on my mind would be to get enough money in the form of one shiny coin (earned through hard work be it weeding, cleaning or helping out with chores) for when the ice-cream man comes around.

Back in the day, 50 cents would go a long long way. We could use that beautiful coin to purchase Paddle Pop sticks. My favourite flavour was always the rainbow flavoured ones.

My two little sisters and I would be waiting for the loud horn of the ice-cream man on his motorbike (we didn’t have ice-cream trucks in Malaysia) to come around tooting (barp-barp-barp) and stop outside our house.

These days, ice-cream affairs seem to be that much more work. Gone are the care free days where nothing else mattered except the flavours of ice-cream to eat on that day.

Now, you have to line up at foodie approved artisan ice-cream ‘parlours’ for a taste of the flavoured cold.

From Sydney’s Messina to Melbourne’s Lygon Street gelatos, ice-cream punters everywhere are making buying ice-cream an art form in patience. With queues measuring in meters to get to these cold delights, one must really want to eat ice-cream before deciding to stand in queue. From flavours and dramatisation of liquid nitrogen made ice-cream, ice-cream sellers have got it down pat.

Now with Sydney’s N2 (chemistry is so important and fun kids!) delving into Melbourne, Brunswick Street will no longer be the same. 

With new flavours being released every Thursday, you will never know what to expect (lest you jump on their Facebook or visit their twitter feed).

The day that The Boy and I paid a visit, the AFL Grand Final was on. This worked out perfectly as we found a park right in front of N2 just as they opened their doors. We were served immediately once we chose our flavours.

We had 8 flavours to choose from which included Pash Me Pavlova, Mango Sorbet, Concrete Jungle, Rosemary Choco Fudge & Hazelnut, Colour Blind Vanilla Sorbet, French Early Grey & Dulce de Leche, Me So Happy and Creme Brûlée.

If you’re reading this and think that you have completely lost your mind and none of these names makes sense apart from the obvious ones, don’t worry, N2 has descriptions for all of their flavours on their giant chalk wall. Take for example, Me So Happy is a milk gelato topped with miso caramel laced peanuts. 

We tried the French Earl Grey & Dulce de Leche, Pash Me Pavlova and Creme Brûlée. When we finally got through all three flavours, my tongue had gone completely numbed from the cold. It was hilarious!

N2 is certainly a fun place to visit and puts on a different twist in making ice-cream to order. There certainly is a certain draw in watching your ice-cream being made with liquid nitrogen and the cold air that is released as the ice-cream is being churned out.

Winning flavour for that day? Creme Brûlée. C’mon, it even had a glazed sugar top for us to crack! That’s a win!

Note of warning – this place may have you giggling like crazy and your 5 year old may be embarrassed with your enthusiasm.

*Disclaimer: All food ratings & review are purely based on my own experiences and how I feel about the service, food and quality at the time of visit

Food/ Cuisine: Gelato
Dining Style: Gelateria

Opening Hours:
Monday to Sunday, 1:00pm – 11:00pm

Address:
329 Brunswick Street
Fitzroy VIC 3065

Website: http://n2extremegelato.com.au/

Twitter: @N2ExtremeGelato

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