My head wants to say “wow this place is expensive” but I walked by an ice cream van the other day that wanted £5 for basically nothing more than what we lovingly call a “99” here in the UK with Mr Whippy ice cream not even scooped stuff.

I opted for the regular size of the caramel and salted butter gelato and it was heavenly. It was so creamy and the flavour was mainly of that sweetness of caramel with just a hint of the salt in there to enhance it further. And the tub was filled with gelato right to the bottom as well so they weren’t skimping out there. This was just under £7 which sounds eye watering and especially when you compare it to branded tubs of ice cream you get in the supermarket but the quality absolutely does not compare. I can’t think of any store bought ice cream or gelato I’ve ever had that comes even remotely close to this.

My other half went for a chocolate one and was pleased with how full of flavour it was that they didn’t go for the dark chocolate one. You can select multiple flavours for the rose cones and a variety of cones as well. All these factors make the price vary slightly and they come in a bit more than the pots do but there isn’t a huge difference.

They also do a variety of other things from macaroons and milkshakes as well but I didn’t give any of those a try. Amorino is a chain and there is one slightly closer to me than the York location we went into so I might have to treat myself to something else from the menu at a future date.

I also love that they do larger containers of ice cream to go. So if you are hosting a party or perhaps a dinner party and want to serve your home made cake or tart with a really delicious ice cream you could go in and get a few scoops to take home and put it in your freezer. it reminded me of when the ice cream van used to come around when I was growing up and if we were having a party at a friends we would take a bowl out and fill it up, with handmade ice cream from the Italian family that ran it, so we could all make our own over the course of the day; Of course that was back at a time when you could get a “99” for less than £1 and I used to get a screwball for 50p!

The inside of Amorino in York was full of people coming and going too. There was a little bar for a couple of people to sit downstairs and a lot of seats outside which a lot of people were ordering to go and sit at. I spotted they had a more seating upstairs sign and I followed the stairs to a set of completely empty tables and chairs. So I took a seat by the window and just watched everybody walk on by on the street below. Upstairs was also a good temperature, obviously sheltered from the sun and most importantly quiet to be able to not rush and keep having conversations.

So yes Amorino is expensive but I would happily get it again for the quality. If more ice cream and gelato matched that quality maybe I wouldn’t grumble so much at the prices I see dotted around.