Frugii is not your usual ice cream store.
For a start, the creators John and Ed Marshall call their store a "Dessert Laboratory" and as you walk in, you can see why. Their beautiful desserts on offer look like something from a laboratory, with little pipettes of flavour on the side of the plate to inject into your dessert for that "wow" burst of flavour.
Frugii Dessert Laboratory opened its doors in January this year, after great success at the local Bus Depot Markets. There is mouth watering icecream, gelato and sorbets to drool over as well as cakes, pastries and verrines (a layered dessert) to try. In their first month there were queues onto the street and the same is to be expected this Summer.
Yes, it's that good.
$6 desserts, with flavours to savour.
Their ice-cream flavours include vanilla bean, salted butter caramel, candied orange, cardamom, musk stick, popcorn, black liquorice and sambucca.
Frugii also has organic fruit and nut flavours to choose from and is experimenting with a Paleo and herb range.
All their icecreams are without colouring or artificial flavourings of any kind, making them almost "healthy" for the kids and yourself!
The flavour board changes regularly...
On our visit we tried Salted Caramel in one cup (which was perfect - not too salty and not too sweet), and Mango in another (a pure mango hit of flavour) - pure delight for $5 a cup.
For the Winter "Truffle Festival", Frugii made a black truffle icecream and July's "World Curry Festival" inspired a Butter Chicken and Seafood Laksa icecream which had people lining out the door for more. As they don't use artificial flavours, each icecream originated from the dish's actual base, with the homemade base created by owner John.
They also make gelato (most are gluten free) with flavours such as Dark and White Chocolate, Chocolate Fudge, Coconut and Dark Chocolate and Rosewater (with cubed Turkish Delight).
Frugii is also the first company in the world to produce chocolate gelato straight from the cocoa bean.
Frugii price board for cups, cones, take home sizes, coffee, tea, chai ...with thickshakes and secret recipe limeade and lemonade coming soon.
Frugii's sorbets are mostly gluten and dairy free and make your mouth water with flavours such blood orange, white peach, blackcurrant, Feijoa, gin and tonic, champagne and dark chocolate.
It is important to note that Frugii Dessert Laboratory is open (at this stage) Wednesdays to Sundays from 12pm noon - 11pm at night. The late closing makes it the perfect spot to have dessert after dinner on trendy Lonsdale Street.
Source: Fruggi website
As we walked in on our last visit we were warmly welcomed by the friendly owners, husband and wife team Ed and John Marshall.
John is the creator of the ice creams and is a warm and personable man who is friendly to all his customers and was great with our daughter, Miss Four.
It was a highlight to meet the man who makes these beautiful creations and he stopped at our table for a chat.
I commented on how it was a great location inside the Ori building where it would be nice and cool in Summer. He said this was his main objective - he didn't want to be on the sunny street front in Summer, instead choosing a cool location indoors with air conditioning where they can open up a large side door and have extra seating, whilst staying out of Canberra's hot sun. This couple certainly know Canberra and what locals want.
Fruggi store, inside the Ori building....this side door will open in Summer for extra seating.
Ori Building, Lonsdale Street, Braddon
With its simple, modern decor fitting in with the building as it was intended, it has a welcoming atmosphere created by the owners and staff. With a communal table up the middle and individual stools and little tables along one side, you end up chatting to other diners as you admire what they have chosen and vice versa.
We were hooked with just one bite. This is a place to enjoy all year around, not just in Summer. With such a creative choice of perfectly balanced flavours, very reasonable prices and situated on trendy Lonsdale Street, Fruggi will be a regular place to visit to try out the new flavours....or just all of them!
What will you try? Source: Fruggi Facebook.
