Madrid / Labonata: Good but not the best ice cream

On a hot day in the city of Madrid there comes a moment you scream for an ice cream.

Wanting to taste the so-called best ice cream in Madrid, we found ourselves in the Chueca area at a place named Labonata.

Many reviews claim this is one of the best ice creams in Madrid, while some even dare to call it gelato, not even being aware they hit our weak spot by saying that :)

Labonata is a rather small, not that easy to spot place, tucked in between a row of buildings and located next to a very local square.

It is not the location we minded but was more the final taste that didn’t convince us 100%.

Even the concept behind would promise an interesting experience having in mind it was developed in the Netherlands and introduced to Madrid in 2009, with a premise to use traditional Italian gelato manufacturing techniques and adapt it to meet modern demands for new and exotic flavors, it still didn’t fulfil the true gelato standards.

More than just an ice cream place, Labonata also sells all kind of hard and gummy candy per grams, which made us doubt even more how much ice cream is really in the focus here.

Finally, speaking of their decently wide selection we opted for Spanish specials.

This is how a scoop of turron, a typical nougat done with roasted nuts, and a scoop or leche mer gelo, a milky ice cream flavored with cinnamon, ended up in our cup.

The result wasn’t fascinating.

The ice cream was well blended but missed a kick of whole milk taste, and one of those pleasant flavor spikes you would expect to come from caramelized nuts or a pungent spice like cinnamon.

The interior didn’t either transmit any kind of special mouth-freezing but heart-warming feeling, but more looked like a kids lab with very low plastic chairs that were not particularly comfy to even support the attempt to enjoy our ice cream.

There is definitely a genuine potential but misses the real gelato signature.