Giapo

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING — Beats Ben & Jerries by light years — So very good. The service is always amazing which I find so hard to believe considering this place is always packed and the line is always out the door ! But the staff do an amazing job of getting everyone in and out in a fashionable manner. As for the dessert — It is to die for ! If you’re looking for a good dessert, this is the place you need !

I am not fan of Giapo! for me it is just normal gelato with some spices and really expensive price!

As the young lady behind the counter began her greeting «Hi, my name…», I did my part in trying to be ahead of the game and already have an option or two in mind so that I won’t be that one indecisive person who holds up the line. But then, to my surprise, she asked «What is your name?» I thought… ‘Wait, my name? or you mean… what’s my order right?’ But, I soon realized, as she continues to smile at me, that she had really asked for my name. After a 5 second delay, I finally answered «Heather». She then pleasantly said, «Hi, Heather. Welcome to Giapo! Here are some of my favorites. I’ll let you try those first and then you can tell me if you want to sample anything else.» She smiles and then adds, «Btw, where are you from?». At that moment, I had an epiphany. OMG… this… is… what 5 star customer service is all about… being able to somehow connect with your customers on a personal level (without over-​doing it of course) by just simply asking what their name is.
I was already blown away by the phenomenal service, that I wouldn’t have cared if their ice cream didn’t taste as good as they looked. BUT, the ice cream was pretty phenomenal too, in flavor and in appearance. Because we came all the way from Hawaii, we wanted to try what they were known for which was the ‘Giapo Buono’. We also tried the ‘Hokey Pokey’ because we noticed this flavor at a lot of other places. We figured maybe it’s one of New Zealand’s signature flavors. Both flavors turned out to be amazing. And, I just loved how they were decorated. The nicest ice cream presentation I’ve ever seen!

Looks like Summer has finally arrived in Auckland, and to celebrate the sun beating down on our backs we headed to Giapo to cool off with some much needed ice cream. As always, the tiny store was bustling with a line out the door, but our wait was made so much sweeter by the friendly Giapo staff who distributed hand made chocolates and shortbread biscuits to the crowd. Featured above is a double scoop cup of their Afghan Cookie Ice Cream and their Peanut Slab Ice cream (an homage to the whittakers original!) topped with a caramel coating of cornflakes and a chocolate cookie on top. Though we absolutely LOVED both flavours, the Peanut Slab ice cream in particular deserves a special shout out — it was rich and chocolatey, but not overwhelmingly so because of the beautiful salty peanut flavour that was riddled through it. All in all taste presentation service experience we can’t complain! Giapo is an absolute Auckland must for locals and those just passing through this summer!

If you’re in Auckland looking for desert, Giapo is a must-​go. There will be a long line, but one look at those ice cream cones will tell you why.
Giapo’s philosophy is to taste first then visualize. So when you go inside, you won’t be able to see the ice cream — you choose a few flavors that sound interesting from the board and they’ll give you a sample. It’s one of the few ice cream parlors I’ve ever been to where they were not only generous with samples, but forced more on me even after I thought I’d decided what to order!
I ended up getting the Giapo Buono, a hazelnut flavored ice cream, but I honestly don’t think you can go wrong with any flavor here. The taste was great, but oh my goodness I have never seen a more beautiful ice cream cone in my entire life. They dipped it, blow torched it, added painted hazelnuts, and basically made me a work of art to eat. Every cone has its one design, each beautiful and splendidly unique. It’s pricey but you really do pay for amazing quality!

My Auckland culinary hot streak continued with Giapo, and while I’ll point out that the flavor options may be limited if you’re strictly one for the classics, Giapo executes new age flavors and concepts brilliantly.
Star 1: How were the service and atmosphere?
Make no mistake, the line out front of Giapo can grow exceptionally long especially on a hot day, but free rotating samples and free cups of water keep the line happy. The process is a tad bit confusing for newcomers, where one server takes an order while another set of servers dish up the accompanying toppings while collecting payment, but everyone was patient and effective.
One thing to keep in mind here at Giapo is that flavors come with a specific sequence of toppings, so make it clear if say you order caramel ice cream but don’t want your entire scoop dipped in caramel (spoiler alert: you do want it dipped in caramel, you want it very badly). Star Granted.
Star 2: How were the portions relative to the cost?
So you probably could have guessed if you hadn’t already heard, but Giapo is extremely expensive even by Auckland standards. My two scoops of ice cream in a standard cup was NZ$ 10.00, and I was pretty shocked to see specialty dipped cones for as much as NZ$ 17.00? That’s pretty absurd. While this wasn’t enough to have me withholding a star here, it’ll come into play during that somewhat subjective fifth star at the bottom. Star Granted.
Stars 3 and 4: How was the food?
While expensive, I have to admit that my ice cream at Giapo was some of the best I’ve had.
I’m one for the classics, so I was a bit reluctant when I realized that most of Giapo’s flavors were on the exotic side. What I didn’t know is that each flavor also comes with a predetermined topping combination, so I honestly didn’t even know what I was getting myself into when I ordered a scoop of Afghan Cookie (Vanilla Ice Cream with Cookies) and a scoop of Samoan Caramel (Salted Caramel mixed with Coconut)
The combination was brilliant, and even more so when I saw the toppings that came with each flavor. On account of the caramel order, my scoops were covered with corn flakes and the whole thing was dunked in caramel. Then, thanks to the Afghan cookie, a cookie and a walnut were placed on top. This in and of itself would have lead to a wonderful treat, but the quality and flavor of the ice cream (gelato?) itself was fantastic. Fluffy and creamy but staggeringly flavorful, these exotic mixes had me forgetting about the classics entirely. Wonderful. Dual Stars Granted.
Star 5: Would you eat here every day if you could?
I genuinely want to give a fifth star here, but I honestly can’t get over the price in combination with the fact that on some days I wouldn’t be able to get a simple chocolate or vanilla. Giapo is some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had, but you have to be in the mood for one of their options… and at their prices. No Star Granted.

Umm… wowza! Great tasting ice cream!!! What led me here were the great reviews and it certainly did not disappoint. Came here on a Friday evening, there was a little bit of a wait… but it’s quite the popular place so it was expected. The wait was around 5 mins before I got to the front to order. The ice cream menu is pretty impressive, very unique selections. It’s simply not just putting a scoop of ice cream on a cone, it’s an experience seeing the whole process! I’d recommend stopping here for some fantastic tasting ice cream while in downtown Auckland!!!

After sampling a couple of flavors, we settled on Giapo Buono and Christchurch Hazelnut. The waitress actually encouraged to sample more flavors, and believe me, that’s dangerous. It makes the decision making process even more difficult, because every flavor they carry is extraordinarily good.
Well anyway, the waitress filled the cup with two flavors and passed it on the next person for the complimentary toppings. Here’s how the toppings part worked — the ice-​cream was dipped in hazelnut crunch, drizzled with some white-​sauce, flambéed and topped with hazelnuts all over. Now that’s not just an ice-​cream, it’s an art.
One bite of this deliciousness and I felt like I was in a different world. Indulge yourself in Giapo ice-​creams and, you’ll be walking around for the next hours with a big, satisfying smile on your face.

Worth the wait, worth the hype, worth a trip! I absolutely loved the quality of the ice cream, creativity of the flavors, and artistic toppings. Line moves pretty quickly, so don’t be deterred. Plus, the employees came out with hot chocolate and mix-​in samples while you wait.

Very interesting, you can taste each flavour before buy. Mine is tiramisu and yoghurt, very rich flavour, better than any ice team I ate in the past. Good service as well. Love it

I’ve been going to Giapo for wayyy too long now! The way it’s evolved since my first visit is 2010 is pretty amazing!
If you want more than just an after dinner treat or an afternoon snack, come here, it borders on fine dining dessert in portable form.
The menu changes often but a long standing member is still my favorite, the Afghan, dipped in a golden Caramelized white chocolate, rolled in cornflakes and topped with a freshly baked soft & chewy afghan cookie.
While you’re waiting in line (it’s well worth the wait no matter how long the line looks) have a look at the people coming out and see the toppings they get. You can choose 2 flavours (you should definitely get 2 flavours because who can settle on only one, and it’s only a dollar or two more) but you want to choose the flavour with your favorite topping. The staff are always happy to talk you through the flavours and what toppings come with each.
I sound like a bit of a Giapo evangelist, I just really love it, haven’t experience better ice cream anywhere in the world!

Giapo is an meltdown occurring in your mouth, its simple enough to describe the actual store, very much like other Gelato/​Ice Cream/​Frozen Yogurt place. But that is where it ends, having worked in central auckland for many years and matured along with Giapo I’ve watched the flavors change and grow, one could even say experiment (though it seems too good to be a random chance).
Giapo also is one of the first New Zealand stores I know to embrace social media fully, and in doing so it reaped the benefits of the twitter uprising (not the twit uprising, that was the last general election) and even now, you can tweet with a hashtag and see it come up in-​store.
While quite frankly, Giapo is not a store of god-​like quality, it has good and bad days, it has freezer burn on its product at times, whats important is that it tries new things, and in an often static menu market, thats a great drawcard.

After seeing the queues and hearing about the ice cream, I finally made it !
Well it seems sweet dreams are made of these, and who am I to disbelieve ?
Lucky I went with someone who knew the ropes (thanks druinie) as there was quite a selection to navigate. Not huge by any means, on the day I went there were 12 flavours/​creations to choose from .
But the cones, the cones ! Pieces of art and expertly themed .
After trying a few flavours: tiramisu, Lamington and chocolate sorbet I settled on a Raglan coconut yoghurt sorbet .
I choose to have mine in a cup $ 7.50, and yes those cones do push the price up .But this ain’t no ice cream from your local dairy .
It came with a popcorn garnish and quince jelly and was delish, the coconut yoghurt gave it a tart flavour which I really liked and it wasn’t overpowering .
I definitely see this as a treat food, and I was impressed at how friendly the staff were. It can’t be easy serving ice creams all day.

Does Giapo need another review? Likely not, but since I’ve been on a bit of a Giapo bender lately, it’s about time I reviewed it. I’m not deterred by the lines (what is this, NYC?) because the creamy deliciousness will not be a disappointment. Ever.
I love that they have legit vegan options here. Vegans should not miss out on tasty desserts! Recently I tried the Samoan Caramel flavor (vegan coconut base!!)… I’m still dreaming of the taste. It was incredible, and they injected it with some MORE salted caramel, and dusted it with the most amazing coco powder.
The Banana Chocolate Cake flavor is ALSO incredible — good natural banana flavor with some caramel and cake bits in it.
You must also try the Aotearoa Garden flavor if it is available — it is a mix of a few amazing flavors including beetroot (that’s just beet for you non australian/​new zealanders) and feijoa (another classic NZ flavor — aka pineapple guava, aka kinda tastes like bubblegum but once you have a bit you start dreaming about it for days — its an acquired taste). It is truly a NZ original, and very very delicious!
They will insist you try as many flavors as possible (score!) and they will prepare your gelato into a very special sculpturesque edible art piece. They might just have a beautiful Italian accent. They will treat you very well and be generally lovely, especially considering how packed this place is, and how pushy people can get.
The one beef I have with this place is that it’s teeny and not wheelchair accessible, meaning I can’t bring some of my friends along which is LOUSY. Giapo, please think about another (accessible!) location! No one should be left out of the amazing experience that is… GIAPO!

Italy is the holy grail of ice cream. Italians don’t look to escape the ancient, cobbled stoned streets that heat up like a pizza oven in Summer by heading off to take a dip in a pool — they go for gelato! That’s not the half of it though! The Sicilians have it for breakfast with their brioche and the rest of Italy dare to take it, in-​between meals and call it a ‘palate cleanser’! They even drown it in their espresso and call it affogato!
Giapo is a little scoop of that same Italy in Aucks!
At Giapo, you get a lot more than a scoop of artisan ice cream that tastes like it was made for the Medici court! The staff at Giapo are capable of transforming a dazzling array of creamy, soft textured flavours into Italian masterpieces! At $ 6 a scoop, you get to walkaway with a piece of art fit for the Uffizi Gallery! Only, you get to eat it, instead of hang it up on your walls! This is edible art at its best! Me thinks the old Renaissance masters would have offered their sweet approval!
Allora ci vediamo!!!

Giapo is ice cream Couture — New Zealand’s BEST ice cream shop.
If you are in search of a sweet treat there is no better place than Giapo. Giapo’s creations are works of art that taste even more delicious than they look. I’ve been 3 times in one month.
Pushing the boundaries of what ice cream can be, think flavours such as Tiramasu, Pavlova, Lamington and Edmonds Banana Chocolate Cake. Decadently garnished with gold coated hazelnuts, torched meringue, spun sugar or Hokey Pokey shards. Every flavour has a different decoration.
Its open late and worth the que. Bonus — You get to try a taster of as many flavours as you want to get to your dream cone.

New Zealand’s famous designer ice cream!
You can locate it by looking for a massive line out the door. It’s a little sad because there’s a froyo place right next door with almost no business. They even have a «host» running around to welcome you and basically… entertain the line. It’s kind of like Disneyland but without the costume.
Once it’s finally your turn, you get a personal ice cream artist to escort you through the process. She shakes your hand, learns your name, serves up samples. I didn’t even receive this much attention on my last date.
The most surprising thing (at this point) was that all the flavors are covered up so that you «choose based on taste». Whichever amazing flavor you decide on comes with expertly matched toppings — sometimes delicately placed with tweezers, sometimes seared with a blowtorch. They even have these specialty ice cream cones that are $ 15!!! Seems like an excellent way to impress… someone.
Basically, it’s completely over the top but delicious.

I’ve heard lots of good things about Giapo and always shrugged them off and figured one gelato place is similar to another so no point going out of my way to try it. And tonight I tried it, and I 100% regret not trying it sooner. It was the best ice cream/​gelato I’ve ever had. Hands down.
It was a busy night so we queued for about 20min and this is where the excellent service starts. Someone came out to hand out menus to people waiting in the line and offering water. Then coming back to explain the menu. When you get to the front of the queue you get taken (and the people you’re with) to one of two tasting booths where the server introduces themselves and shakes your hand before giving you a sample of every ice cream they have. Then you choose what you want and move to the payment area.
The ice cream. Well every ice cream doesn’t just come in a cone or cup, but comes fully made with toppings and sauces. I had a double cup with NZ Peanut Slab and Tiramisu. Amazing. The flavours were so intense. The peanut slab had a really strong peanut flavour to the ice cream itself and not just chocolate ice cream with peanuts in it, and the tiramisu tasted like a fresh coffee tiramisu. Words can’t do it justice — so I’ve attached the picture. And all this for $ 8.50.
I’m gonna be back here again and again!

Giapo is one of my favourite places in Auckland CBD. I have been here several times since it opened in 2008 and it has always been a great experience. They had a re-​vamp a few years ago, which looks great; however, you cannot see the ice cream flavours any more!
I went a few weekends ago and while I was sad about not seeing Giapo’s wonderful creations, the staff still let you sample all the ice creams — as many as you want. While a visual picture is important, deciding what you will have based just on taste does make it a little more exciting!
I ordered one scoop of the Cocoa Sorbet ($ 6). It by far my favourite flavour and the quality is amazing. It was drizzled with chocolate sauce and topped with freeze dried raspberries, which made it even more delicious! My friend went with a scoop of the Cocoa Sorbet and Pistachio flavours. Hers came topped with a mini macaron — it looked like a work of art!
Highly recommend Giapo. It is in a great location, right near the movies and many restaurants, so perfect for that after-​dinner treat. Staff are friendly and passionate about the ice cream, which makes the experience a whole lot better!

If Karl Lagerfeld wanted to have the haute couture of Chanel in icecream form, he would find his inspiration here.
Walking in, we got the red carpet treatment by Patrick our host who offered us chilled water and explained the detailed process. Giapo is all about the taste of their delicious icecreams’ and sorbets’ rather than the visual aspect. You can sample as many flavours as you want, especially as its $ 7 a pop for a single scoop.
Then your scoop is practically flown to Italy and transformed into a visual painting worthy of the Louvre and tastes like something out of this world!
It’s definitely worth the extra calories!