Ice cream parlour near me: Tummy Topper, Fairy Hills Ice Cream, Mastika Ice Cream Jungle Of Colour
We’ve scooped the suburbs and found the tastiest ice cream and gelato stores in Melbourne. See where you can get a scoop before summer ends.
Inner East
Don't miss out on the headlines from Inner East. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Summer is the perfect time to indulge in a sweet treat, so we’ve scooped up a list of some of the best ice cream and gelato stores in Melbourne.
Fairy Hills Ice Cream, Ivanhoe
227 Upper Heidelberg Rd, Ivanhoe
Tucked away in Ivanhoe, you’ll find a premium ice cream shop that has been in the game for almost two decades.
Fairy Hills has specialised in making delicious ice cream for the retail sector since 2005 but you can have a taste of their delicious desserts at their shop on Lower Heidelberg Rd too.
David Rattray-Wood opened the Ivanhoe shop in 2012 and has been making ice cream for the past 23 years.
On a busy summer day, Fairy Hills will serve up hundreds of cups and cones, but the shop is often busy all year due to being located near local schools.
With thirty flavours in stock at any given time, Mr Rattray-Wood said the secret to his top tier ice cream was the ratio of ingredients.
“Most of my ice cream range is higher in butter fat than your standard gelato places, so it’s more creamy and it takes a bit longer for the flavour to appear in your mouth,” he said.
“It tends to keep better than gelato because of the higher fat content in it.”
The flavours often rotate, with some memorable ones including lime and ginger, pina colada sorbet or Christmas pudding, but the classics are always the most popular.
“The most popular are cookies and cream, honey crunch and chocolate, for sure,” Mr Rattray-Wood said.
Bedford Coffee Co
81 Bedford Rd, Ringwood East
Dave Keyser has taken the best parts of his old sweets shop, The Scoop Train, and moved it inside his Ringwood East cafe, well known for its very tasty vanilla slices.
And, slice lovers can now try the cult hit in ice cream form – its one of 12 rotating flavours offered up at the Bedford Rd cafe every day.
Mr Keyser said the homemade ice cream flavours – which change every two days – were made in house with fresh Australian fruit and Gippsland milk.
He said the shop sells up to 1100 scoops of ice cream on a hot day with its blood orange gelato one of its most popular.
“We boil our blood orange three or four times to get the acidity out and then puree it and churn it,” he said.
“This summer has been great for us, the kids come in and get an ice cream, and the parents relax and have a coffee.”
If you want something on top, the cafe has more than 30 different toppings including M & M’s, Mars bars and “old school mixed lollies”.
Ice cream lovers can also take home up to six flavours combined in a 500ml or 1L tub.
Tummy Topper
279-281 Heaths Rd, Werribee
After launching in March last year, Tummy Topper is wasting little time emerging as one of the western suburbs’ hottest ice-creameries.
The business runs out of food trucks in Truganina and Werribee, where it has gained a following due to its high levels of engagement with customers.
Rather than scooping ice cream out of a tin, Tummy Topper workers make the rolled ice-cream from scratch with their “secret recipe” in front of their customers; something owner and founder, Bobby Singh, says is a “satisfying experience” for those waiting.
“A lot of people have commented about how they love seeing how the ice-cream is made,” he said.
“The whole process takes about three minutes because you have to freeze the mix on the freezing plate, which takes around 45 seconds, and then add the flavours.”
There are 15 base flavours, with customers able to mix-and-match as they please.
Mr Singh says the business takes pride in its ice cream not being “factory made”.
This summer the most popular flavours have been chocolate based, including chocolate brownie and oreos.
Mango and mixed ‘tutti-fruity’ are also regular orders.
Tummy Topper is based opposite Werribee plaza and Leakes road, Truganina, with the business also hoping to expand into the CBD this year.
Mastika Ice Cream Jungle Of Colour
Shop 3/170-172 Warrandyte Rd, Ringwood North
Dani Yaacoub quit her corporate job to open what has become a neighbourhood hit next to Ringwood North shopping centre.
Ms Yaacoub noticed plenty of children in the area looking bored during Covid, and wondered what it would be like to offer them a place to escape the hard times.
The result was her ice cream parlour which offers 24 different ice cream and gelato flavours, all made in house using seasonal ingredients.
“I’m a mum of three, it was struggle during Covid entertaining children,” she said.
“We had mums coming in crying saying ‘thankyou for coming’, they (the children) are so excited to come and get ice cream, I didn’t expect it to be embraced by the community that well.
“The kids saw all the colourful plants and mirrors and they used to stand there for ages pulling faces.”
Dogs are also in luck at Mastika – it offers a peanut butter or peanut butter and strawberry flavoured gelato especially for four legged friends, approved by vets.
Ms Yaacoub said she sells about 300 scoops on hot days, with her most popular flavours including honeycomb and choc mint.
Drawing on her Lebanese roots, there’s also Mediterranean-inspired flavours including baklava and rosewater, and all the nut-themed flavours are kept in a separate freezer.
There’s even better news for Maroondah ice cream lovers – the chain’s second store will be opening underneath Croydon Cinemas by the end of February.
Tutti Frutti Gelateria
Blake Street, Mornington
On hot days the lines are so long that Tutti Frutti staff are often still scooping after the official 9.30pm close.
“We sell more than 500 cones on a busy day and the queue goes out the door and down the street,” staff member Georgia Powell said.
“It’s not unusual to still be serving after 9.30pm. We hate to turn people away!”
There are more than 40 flavours to choose from at the Mornington business with new combinations regularly being added to the line up.
The signature sour cherry was always popular but new comer for this summer lemon hibiscus had also been a hit, she said.
All the artisan gelatos and sorbets are made on site and owners Peter and Michelle Rafeld strive to use local juices and milk.
“The coffee gelato uses beans from Coffee Traders next door,” Ms Powell said.
Sucree Dessert and Wine Bar
Leake St, Essendon
Essendon’s newest dessert bar is busily scooping up ice creams which are flying out the door in the hot summer months.
The ice cool addition has been popular with the locals because customers are able to suggest flavours to be included in Sucree’s display which changes weekly.
From turkish delight to brown butter or Earl Grey, owner and head chef Elisha Kesici has been kept busy trying to implement their suggestions.
“I am slowly crossing them off my little whiteboard, I get a lot of different suggestions,” she said.
“It depends on the seasonality of products and if I am able to do it, but the customer can come in and my staff say ‘Elisha is taking recommendations’ for different flavours.
“[I] play around with the recipe for a bit until it’s perfect then I’d put it up on display.”
All the ice creams are handmade at Sucree by Elisha and her team with plans to add a ice-cream cart out front in the future for locals who want a cool treat on a hot day.
“I think it being made in-house makes a difference that the customers appreciate it that a lot more,” she said.
“They can tell that it is made in-house instead of being brought in … so I think that makes us stand out a little bit more because we make it ourselves.
“Being summer the ice creams are flying out, especially with the park across the road and [customers] are always coming in.”
Sucree can be found on Leake St in Essendon.
Beans ‘N Cream
Koornang Rd, Carnegie
Carnegie’s Beans ‘N Cream offers ice cream and all sorts of old-school American treats, to satisfy the needs of sweet tooths daily.
Sporting flavours on the spectrum from weird to wonderful, including lavender, licorice supreme, biscoff and choc-ripple biscuit, the store is popular Carnegie locals.
The recent hot weather has been a massive draw card for families to take a post-dinner walk for the sweet treats.
Carnegie mum Sarah said it was something her kids looked forward to.
“We come once a week if the weather allows it,” she said.
“It’s a great way for us to spend some extra time together and get the kids active.”
Beans ‘N Cream also offers coffee and baked treats for those not so keen on the frozen dessert.
“It really is an all in one stop for a break,” Sarah said.
“I even sneak in with the school mums for a coffee before school pick up, but don’t tell the kids that.”
We Got The Scoop
3/1385 Healesville – Koo Wee Rup Rd, Woori Yallock
A colourful new ice creamery and lolly shop has proved to be a big hit since opening last October in the Yarra Valley.
Married couple Melly and Rosco Westbury have been thrilled with the reaction to their store, We Got the Scoop.
Melly said they sold 22 different flavours of ice cream, with cookies and cream, bubblegum and rainbow most popular with customers.
Sweet tooths can also choose from 41 different toppings to mix with their ice cream.
The store also offers a pick and mix (where customers can choose different lollies to enjoy), lucky dips, shakes and sundaes.
“(The community reaction) been amazing; when we first opened we had lines out of the door,” Melly said.
She said customers had told them there was a real need for an ice cream shop in the area.
“There was nothing like us here,” she said.
“We get told from a lot from people that they love that we’ve brought this to the area.”
Customers can expect a bright and cheerful atmosphere when they visit the store.
“We have a speaker always pumping out tunes and people come in to see us as well because we are really happy and bright people,” Melly said.
“I’ve always got bright colourful clothes, I always have a bow in, and my husband always has something colourful on as well.”
Melly said owning her own ice cream store was a dream come true.
“It’s always been a lifelong dream of mine and I dragged my husband along for the ride!” she said.
Just a Little Bit Gelateria
1591 Ferntree Gully Rd, Knoxfield
Have you tried the classic milk chocolate gelato from Just a Little Bit Gelateria?
If you have, and you loved it, you’re not the only one, with the flavour proving a big hit with customers at the new Knoxfield business.
The store is the passion project of couple Chris Watson, a long time gelato lover, who has years of hospitality experience, and Marina Argyros, a pastry chef, cake decorator, recipe creator and lover of all things creative.
Together the couple make the best gelato and sorbetto they can with the highest quality fresh and ethically sourced ingredients.
Marina said they opened the store 11 months ago and had received a great response from the community.
The couple make all their gelato and sorbetto themselves, using mainly Australian ingredients, including far north Queensland vanilla beans, Victorian milk and cream, and all Australian grown fruit.
The couple learnt how to make traditional gelato from Italian trainers, and use a hybrid of Italian and Australian methods.
Chris said they’d had a lot of great feedback from locals happy to have a gelato shop in the area.
“We just really want to bring a smile to people’s faces,” he said.
Apart from the classic milk chocolate gelato, the far north Queensland vanilla bean and biscoff flavour are also popular flavours with customers, while the strawberry sorbetto is also a hit.
“We try and make it a fun place for everyone to come and want to make sure our customers leave with a smile,” Marina said.
“We’re really proud of what we’ve created, and everyone that leaves a good review saying this shop is this best, or seeing someone say our products are fantastic, it’s like our hard work has paid off,” Chris said.
OTHER TOP PICKS
Kariton Sorbetes
50 Leeds St, Footscray, 177 Russell St. Melb CBD
Inspired by the ‘dirty’ ice-cream carts that roam the streets of the Philippines.
Hareruya Pantry
University of Melbourne
15-17 Lincoln Square S, Carlton
A small Japanese takeaway shop specialising in handcrafted Japanese gelatos, bento and more.
Chamman ice cream
Dandenong, Tarneit, Carlton
Lickt Ashburton
Shop 1/426 Warrigal Rd, Ashburton
Gelato, brownies and cakes
Billy van Creamy
212 St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North
Real ice cream, churned fresh daily.
Gelateria Primavera
157 Spring St, Melbourne
House made gelati and sorbetti, cold pressed juices and coffee
Vulcano Gelato Rye
2387 Point Nepean Rd, Rye
Gelati, coffee and donuts
Have we missed your favourite? Tell us in the comments below.
Gold rush: Where Victorians are finding nuggets in their yard
Victorian prospectors are on the hunt for cheap land as they hope to turn bush blocks into golden addresses, and experts reveal they’re charging some regional housing markets.
Winning time: Oakleigh Cannons champions again
For the second time in three years, Oakleigh Cannons are NPL Victoria champions, edging arch-rival South Melbourne in a tense grand final.