After attending a meeting at HVCB (Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau) my wife & I went to the Ala Moana Mall yesterday to return (you guessed it) Christmas gifts. After shopping and returning for some time, we decided we’d like a dish of Gelato. Now I understand the rents at the mall must be very high and vendors there have a lot of other costs as well, but we felt that $7 plus for a single scoop of gelato was just too much. My wife had heard about another place the MAKES Gelato, La Gelateria, and looked it up on her phone. We drove over and found the store (thanking Google Maps the whole time) and pulled into the parking lot. As I say, we were at Ala Moana Mall and it wasn’t too far away but don’t ask me how we got there. La Gelateria is on a side street, behind a Meadow Gold Dairy facility but without Google, I don’t know that we would have ever found it.
All that aside, it was worth the trouble to find it! Turns out this is the place that makes Gelato for a lot of the high-end island restaurants. The “store” is located at the back of the facility and it seems you’re walking into a factory, which I guess you are. When you go in, you will be in a cramped space with a small desk, a friendly employee to help you and a large cooler with their various gelatos. I guess that due to it being part of their factory, the store hours are the same as the factory: 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday. Take some cash with you as they do not accept credit cards.
My wife went for the Peanut Butter Fudge and I got the Condensed Cream (which turns out is one of their most popular flavors) and we enjoyed our gelato sitting at one of their two tables outside the store in the parking lot. The gelato was excellent, and it was a good experience. One of those “hidden gems” we’re always looking for. Oh, and by the way, instead of paying $7 plus for one scoop at the mall we bought two scoops for $4 including tax.
If you’re in downtown Honolulu and get the urge for a cold, frosty dessert enter 819 Cedar Street into your GPS and enjoy a serving of really good gelato.
Larry-O
