Jac and I each got a scoop of gelato in a cup. Jac is not a durian fan; she chose tiramisu gelato. Il Gelato on James Street have a sign at the door and on top of the counter announcing that they sell “lao-leen”*/durian ice cream, which is a good thing, as there is no durian gelato in sight amongst the more “regular” gelato flavours on display. They have all the usual kinds of flavours you’d expect: chocolate, vanilla, bacio (hazelnut and chocolate), berry, lemon etc. My durian gelato was scooped from a container kept separate and far away from all the others (not even in the same ice box!). This isn’t surprising; I can imagine if the other gelato absorbed even just a hint of the durian smell, it would probably put most customers off the gelato. Jac’s tiramisu gelato is on the left (the brown one), my durian gelato is on the right (the snowy white one).

Jac’s tiramisu gelato had a good coffee flavour and was very creamy and sweet (and I thought its tawny colour looked really appealing) – but I only had eyes for my durian gelato.

As soon as the woman who served me handed me my cup of gelato I could smell the durian aroma. Fantastic! It looked like a cross between vanilla ice cream and lemon sorbet but the smell was all durian. I just sat there breathing it in greedily, with unashamed pleasure. Jac and I sat facing each other at a table near the back of the shop and dug our spoons into our little cups of ice cream. After a couple of minutes, Jac said to me: “Lean back”. “Pardon?” I asked. She said, “Lean back, away from me! Your ice cream stinks!” LOL. If you’re a durian fan living in Perth, you really should try this durian gelato. Obviously, nothing can beat eating the real thing, but durian ice cream’s a pretty good way to enjoy good old stinky. :) For readers unfamiliar with durian, have a read of the Wikipedia entry on durian to get an idea. Pay special attention to the section on “flavour and odour”.