The Argentinians and artisanal ice cream are an inseparable pair and for good reason. A huge ice cream lover myself, I obviously tried as many different vendors as possible during my time in Buenos Aires. Here are the results, locations listed by preference, in descending order.
Rapa Nui Originally only a chocolate producer from Bariloche, Patagonia, the ice cream flavors of this vendor are in my view superior to all others I have tried so far in Bs As. Their 80% Chocolate ice cream is just to die for. Also the calafate ice cream is very delicious (calafate is a berry similar to blueberry, see more info here) with an intense fruity flavor without being too sweet. Prices are comparable to others (they are all more or less the same in Bs As). Unfortunately, they only have four locations in Bs As, two of them can be found in Recoleta. The walk there is totally worth it though – trust me.
Rapa Nui, Chocolates de Bariloche
Arenales 2302, Recoleta // Uruguay 1284, Recoleta // Av. Elcano 3127, Belgrano // Av. Pedro Goyena 1515, Caballito
Opening Hours: Sun-Thurs 11-1am, Fri-Sat 11-2am
Freddo Once the favorite of many Argentinians, it has lost its appeal as it expanded more and more and can now be found in more than seven countries and some people feel it has lost its special touch. Still, I consider their “Mousse de Maracuya” (= Passion fruit Mousse) one of the best ice creams I have ever tried. The Argentinians like it sweet and thus, fruity ice creams are often too sugary. Not so the flavors I have tried from Freddo. Locations can be found all over the city.
Freddo Argentina
Galerías Pacífico // Defensa 901 and various other locations in the city.
Opening Hours: Mon-Sun 10am-10pm // Mon-Thurs 1pm-midnight, Fri-Sat 1pm-1am, Sun 11am-midnight
Lucciano’s This ice cream parlor seems to be from Buenos Aires with most locations in Bs As as well. While the chocolate ice cream convinced me, the mousse de Maracuya just lacked something and was too sweet for my taste.
Lucciano’s
Galerías Pacífico and various other locations
Opening Hours: Mon-Sun 10am-10pm
Persicco Some locals claim this is what Freddo used to be. I tried it once and the ice cream was good, although the chocolate chips in the “Granizado” (=Stracciatella) were a bit small and the chocolate was not dark enough for my taste. In addition, service was not good. It seemed as no one wanted to work there. This somehow ruined the visit a bit.
Persicco
Honduras 4900, Palermo SoHo and various other locations
Opening Hours: Mon-Thurs 9am-1am, Fri 9am-2am, Sat 9am-3am Sun 9am-1am
Abuela Goye Originally also from Patagonia, this vendor is often a local’s favorite. It offers the usual flavors: from Dulce de Leche, to Chocolate Suiza, to Tramontana (vanilla ice cream swirled with dulce de leche and little chocolate pearls). However, the fruity flavors did not convince me and generally, I find the texture not silky enough. Ice cream from Rapa Nui and Freddo is definitely creamier.
Abuela Goye
Galerías Pacífico and various other locations
Opening Hours: Mon-Sun 10am-10pm
Heladería Esmeralda What can I say? I went there, because it’s open late. It is the cheapest of all ice cream parlors tested and sometimes you get what you pay for. Or in other words: Stay away. The supposedly raspberry ice cream had this artificial strawberry chewing gum flavor (yikes!) and the chocolate suiza was just not creamy and I couldn’t find any dulce de leche.
Heladería Esmeralda
Esmeralda 962
Opening Hours: ah, you don’t need to know these anyway…
