John L.
Yelp
Yelpship is threefold - you get love, you give love back, and you pass love on. During our recent O'ahu trip, I relied on my friends' reviews - locals and out-of-towners alike. When my wife and daughters found something via Yelp, my default response was, "Let me check if my friends have reviewed that." I'm way behind in the review department but I'll make it a point to diligently complete my drafts from now on. Whether it would help my friends (or someone else) remains to be seen, but I have to start somewhere to give something back...
A couple of hours removed from trying Lemongrass Gelato, here we were again at another gelateria before we made it to the Vatican Museums. It was not our intent to do a gelato crawl; it's just that there was this itch that needed some scratching. Old Bridge Gelateria lies just outside the Vatican walls along Via dei Bastoni di Michelangelo. It is a very small spot but it was very easy to locate because the line outside made it impossible to miss. It reminded me of Ici, one of our favorite ice cream places in Berkeley and of Bi-Rite Creamery and Humphry Slocombe - San Francisco's finest.
When in Rome, you're supposed to do as the Romans do. And we complied! Not only that, we did what probably every tourist did at that time - fall in line for some good gelato. Since we just had dinner and dessert prior to this, I was the only one who saved enough room to squeeze in some more. For 2€, you could get 2 flavors served on a cone. The first flavor that I chose was Bacio which had a caption of "chocolate and hazelnut" written underneath. Now quickly, what does that remind you of? That's right - Nutella!!! It is of Italian origin and, interestingly enough, they had this flavor placed right on top of Bacio, as if daring you to get both and compare. I decided to go with Bacio and it was what I thought it would be... Nutella on high gear - with real hazelnuts and drizzled with chocolate!
For the love of burnt and salted caramel flavors, I had to go with the closest available - Caramel. It was rich and luscious, but it still made me miss that crème brûlée-like flavor from burnt caramel and that salty taste from its salted counterpart.
The line may be long and the space may be cramped but this place has been around for 25+ years so they know what they are doing. I've seen it in different lists of the best gelato in Rome and that was reason enough for me to bookmark it in my offline map. I can't give it 5 stars because I did not get to try many flavors. But based on the smooth, velvety texture and creamy, delish taste, this place is totally legit. Molto bene!
In case you're wondering where the photos are, they are out there on the business page. They are not included in this review because Yelp will not add pictures that have been posted 6+ months before your review. Go figure...