Stella Luna Gelato Café
Affogato at Stella Luna Gelato Café
Gelato at Stella Luna Gelato Café
Gelato at Stella Luna Gelato Café
Stella Luna Gelato Café
Stella Luna Gelato Café
Foods from Stella Luna Gelato Café
Comments

2016 Jul 21
We went tonight and loved it, as usual. The line was out the door. I was talking to one of the guys working there and he said that on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night it can go down the block all the way to Sunnyside. He counted 97 people in line once, just outside. Probably another 20 inside waiting.

Anyway, he also let me know that they have sales Sunday night from 9-10. 40% off! See you there!

2013 Jun 16
Funny story...I was in Rome about two weeks ago and was told that this was the place to go. Go figure!

Last night I dragged my couch surfing friend to end our evening of cheap eats YOW edition.
We looked at the line up and weren't too certain. "Well it must be good" I quipped. Was not dissappointed. In fact better than the stuff I tried in Rome. We each chose 2 flavours and of course had a tast test.

Mine were Cream, Limoncello with Pine nuts and the Raspberry Mango Sorbet. She tried Marcapone, rum and the last of the Grapefruit Bloodorange sorbot.

Thoughts: Both gelatos were delightful and all flavours came out vibrant and delicious.
My sorbet was more on the sweeter spectrum but not overly. I enjoyed it but in small doses. My friend's sorbet was quite tart which suited her perfectly well. Very tasty but not my cup of tea.

We opted to bring this home. Although beautifully decorated and welcoming it was crowded and the noise level was too intense for a recluse like me. It survived the 5 min drive and I will definitely be back - perhaps in the middle of the day when we can relax and enjoy the cafe as well

Also, since gelato is a frozen treat, sweetness is to be expected.

2013 Mar 13
Went at 7pm on a Wednesday and it was fairly busy. The servers were extremely helpful and friendly. I chose pistachio, maple with walnuts, and ferrero rocher. Pistachio had actually been the reason I had gone to Stella Luna in the first place (its difficult to find pistachio flavoured treats!). I was actually very neutral towards the pistachio: not many pistachio pieces in it. Disappointing since I had gone in search for it. The Ferrero Rocher was incredible, as was the maple with walnuts. Overall, I will definitely be going back.

2012 Oct 21
My husband and I came here tonight and really liked it. It's a bit far from where we live, but we agreed that in the summer especially it would be worth it to come down here just to get some gelato.

He had honey lemon almond, blackcurrant and raspberry-orange (in the forefront of the photo). He was disappointed that there was no plain lemon flavour since that's his favourite, and he wasn't too crazy about the honey lemon almond combo (I sampled it and the flavour wasn't strong at all) but he really loved the blackcurrant and raspberry-orange.

I had chocolate orange, pistachio and honey cinnamon (in the background). It was a struggle to narrow it down to just three. The chocolate orange was delicious, as was the honey cinnamon. It had a subtle flavour, not overwhelmed by either the honey or the cinnamon. The pistachio was a bit disappointing because there was only one small piece of actual pistachio in the whole serving. I had the drink special of the day as well. I forgot the exact name - it was a caramel chocolate latte, or something like that. It was just the thing for a chilly fall afternoon, but I do wonder why they put the whipped cream on a saucer on the side.

The decor is very cheery, cozy and welcoming and the staff were polite and very patient with us as we took a long time to decide what we wanted. We'll definitely be back when the weather warms up!

2012 Jun 8
Hubby and I walked into this place by pure accident. We were looking for a coffee shop and I saw the gelato sign and couldn't resist.

Not knowing the big hype about this place, I ordered 3 kinds of gelato:

Hazelnut: My favorite, nutty and creamy!

Pistachio: I liked it, but it's probably not to everyone's liking. It almost had a foul taste reminiscent of Chinese style stinky cured tofu.

Vanilla: Again I liked it, maybe a tad too sweet for my liking but very smooth, just melted in my mouth.

My husband had a latte, and half the glass was foam, strange for a latte which usually has only little bit of foam.

Excellent gelataria, perhaps the best one in Ottawa. Now I have to go to Piccolo Grande. ^_^

2011 Dec 14
I had a sausage and mushroom panini with hot chocolate for lunch here today. My panini suffered from not having been sufficiently pressed - the cheese hadn't fully melted and so the flavours weren't as melded as they should have been. Still, it was decent. The place was packed and I saw someone else with the same sandwich done properly, so mine was obviously a rush job. My hot chocolate was delicious. Real, spoon-sticking chocolate. I'll be back to try the gelato. It's cozy but not at all cramped, great for meeting friends or taking the family.

2011 Nov 11
Thanks to the review by Johanna, we went there today, not for gelato but for lunch. We both had the chicken panini sandwiches which also contained arugala and grape tomatoes and I had a side soup. We really enjoyed our lunch, and will be back.

2011 Nov 7
I'm sorry to say that I'm going to be the first voice of dissent here :(

We went last night to check this place out, since we're huge fans of Piccolo Grande, and we have heard only great things about this place.

I have to believe my issues come down to personal preference (a palate that tends toward the savoury) and not something else. Not knowing what to order I tasted the vanilla (far too sweet), chocolate peanut butter (just ok, not creamy), pistachio (did not care for it at all)and one other one I can't recall. A lineup was building behind me, so I decided to get 3 flavours in a regular cup since surely I would like at least one of them. I ended up getting ferrero rocher, dulce de leche, and chocolate caramel.

I found all of the flavours too sweet, not really creamy, and the dulce de leche just tasted strange. Almost chemically (although I know everything is made fresh with pure ingredients). I vastly prefer the flavours and creaminess at piccolo grande.

I didn't finish my gelato, since I saw no point in continuing to pack in calories I wasn't enjoying :(

Hubby got the mango sorbetto and seemed to enjoy it. It was a bit strange that when he asked the server which flavours were vegan, she gave him a stink face and said, "......Everything." I have to assume she thought he meant vegetarian, and since there is no meat in gelato they are all vegetarian...After clarifying ("No dairy") she stared at him again and hesitantly pointed out the sorbettos. Didn't really inspire confidence, although checking the website confirms the sorbettos are dairy-free.

Service was not pleasant at all. They had four staff milling around doing not much of anything, so I would have thought they could have been a bit friendlier. They were impatient and none of them seemed happy.

Important piece of info for the Stella Luna fans - gelato is 40% off on Sundays from 9-10 pm, presumably to clear out inventory for Tuesday.

It just isn't the place for us, so we won't be back, but I can see why other people like it.

2011 Nov 6
I haven't commented on this place because I figured that everyone obviously knows that this is now the place in the city to get gelato. I mean, you all knew that, right?

From the cheerful yellow storefront, to the warm, inviting chairs by the window, to the spectacular ever changing selection of 16 gelati lovingly made in-house, available for sampling with a real (not plastic) spoon... this place is probably the best addition to Ottawa's food scene since Art-Is-In opened their retail outlet.

I've sampled several flavours so far including dulce de leche, chocolate mint, rich chocolate, ferrero rocher, mango, madagascar vanilla, piedmonte hazelnut... and I'm sure there are a few others that I can't remember off the top of my head. In every case the flavour has been pure and clean, without the cloying sweetness I find at Piccolo Grande or Truffle Treasures.

But the secret weapon here is the cone... the cone! Imported from Italy, I would come away happy if all I got was the cone to eat by itself, it has such a great, toasty wafer flavour.

Last visit I noticed (and smelled) that they are now making waffles so that's up next on my list. I should also mention pricing: $3.25 for a small cup or cone which gets you 2 flavours. If there is a better deal in town right now then please post on the forum!

2011 Aug 25
Tried it for the first time mid-week, 9pm'sih, late Aug 2011 and all i can say is WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD!

The place is cute - i can't believe what they did to the drab grey mess that used to be there.

The gelato was great. Easily on par with Pure or Piccollo and probably better.

We tried gianduja - nicely smooth chocolate with nutty undertone, madagascar vanilla - great 'real' vanilla taste, mint chocolate chip - that we were told was just made and going fast and we could see why, and mascarpone/rum - the hands down fave, excellent creamy gelato with a rum undertone.

Two smalls with two flavours each (our choice, they'll pack in smaller scoops of more flavours if you ask) were $7 and change. Comparable to anywhere else and well worth the dollars.

Staff were friendly and kept things moving even with a decent crowd. Lots of seating.

Panini sandwiches in the display case looked good - may have to go back for lunch.

Will be back, will send others. Will be spending more time at the gym now that OOS has this plus Life of Pie and Stone Cold all within six blocks.


Older

2

9

2013 Aug 20
I went to Stella Luna on both Saturday and Sunday because I loved it that much. It wasn't my first time there, normally I would have the affogato, but the Saturday visit was my first time trying the Ferrero Rocher flavour. It was amazing. It was as if I was eating an actual Ferrero Rocher chocolate. The second flavour I had was the Rich Chocolate which was lovely.

My best friend had pistachio and a fruit flavour, I was impressed with the pistachio, but my caveat is that I've never tried it before so I have nothing to compare it to.

On Sunday we went back again, and this time I had the Ferrero Rocher again, and the Chocolate Salted Caramel. The chocolate salted caramel tasted just like a gourmet chocolate from a box, and I already knew I was going to love the Ferrero Rocher. Best friend had pistachio again, the lemon blueberry and the mango. The lemon blueberry was great, but I found the mango a bit sour. That might have something to do with the sweet flavours I was eating!

I didn't get a third flavour because everyone in front of me were blocking all the flavours. Also, with the line I felt pressed to make a quick choice. If I don't get to plan my choice I always feel a bit stressed, so I was saying how I wish they had a sign while you waited in line to see what the flavours of the day were.

2013 Aug 11
My favourite gelato flavours are always the nutty ones, and in this respect I'm going to say that this place has the best gelato in town.

I tried the Ferrero Rocher, the Salted Peanut, and the Buttery Almond gelati. A small cup treats you to up to three different flavours (small cone can handle two flavours). The Ferrero Rocher and the Salted Peanut were just incredible. The Almond was good but very mild.

I'm already fantasizing about a future threesome with Rich Chocolate (I tried my wife's... amazing), Salted Peanut, and Hazelnut -- it would be like peanut butter cups with nutella! :P~~~





2012 Nov 21
LocaMochaLata...mmm! Gelato, coconut milk, espresso. What's not to like? Get it with 2 shots of espresso. I like to change the mocha gelato to any beige or white gelato since the mocha overpowers the espresso and coconut. I like the cafe gelato in particular (in which case you don't need the 2nd shot of espresso unless you're a caffeine fiend).





2013 Aug 20
This used to be my go-to item at Stella Luna. There are different versions using different ice cream flavours and either chocolate sauce or espresso. I had the very safe Madagascar Vanilla with chocolate sauce and the whipped cream topping. It was heavenly!