Ice Cream. I love it. It is one of my favorite “add a few inches to the waistline” foods. This craving sent me on a journey to find the best ice cream Rabat has to offer. The first time I came to Morocco I had been in Spain and had loved the quality of their ice creams. We were with a pregnant friend who considered it a must that we stop at the ice cream parlors of Granada twice a day. Morocco, on the other hand, for the most part offers a decidely inferior product. But after much research, we have put together the official report card of ice creams in Rabat.

F Haagen Daas: This is great ice cream. I would love to get it regularly. The only issue is the price. I think 70 dirhams for a pint (about $8 USD) is absurd. Again I am from BlueBell country where the slogan is “eat all we can and sell the rest” and a half gallon costs about $7. The price automatically flunks the ice cream test.

D- Ice Foam: This is a is a generic term to describe the distant long lost cousin of ice cream that has been posing in many of the grocery stores and cafes of Rabat.The flavor is a bit funny and the texture is some cross between normal ice cream and the bubbly substance that floats near the top of a root beer float. You eat it, sure, but it makes you wonder how artificial is this actually.

C+ Magnum Bars: You can get these (in the summer) from most of your hanuts. Beware though, the Magnum sign at the door of the stores, while making you think Magnums are inside, is not always the case. “Mabqash” (There are no more) the owner of the hanut will tell you when you ask as he looks at you like this answer was obvious. If you are lucky enough to find the actual Magnum, you are in for a treat. The ice cream quality is high and the flavor is good. But being frozen to a stick just doesn’t hit the spot like normal ice cream.

B- Food Court Ice Cream: Now we are getting closer to the real deal. You can find this at Aswaak Salam, Label Vie Gallery and Mega Mall. They have a pretty wide assortment of flavors ranging from sugar-free frozen yogurt type stuff to the real deal full fat chocolate. The taste and texture are good. I prefer the one at Label Vie Gallery as the guys behind the counter are nice and always ask about my family, even though we don’t go there that much (at least that is what I tell myself). The one thing that is strange, is that asking to taste a few flavors seems odd to these guys. Sure, one taste and your OK, but recently when my wife asked to taste a second flavor they told her (at Mega Mall) that it was “memenuaa” (forbidden, the same word as if you drive the wrong way down a one way street).

A Finally, the pinnacle of the Rabat ice cream experience: Venezia Ice. They just opened a third location in Rabat down by the Bouregreg walkway in between the Oudaya and Tour Hassan. Venezia Ice takes the prize for a number of reasons. First is atmosphere. All three of the stores are enjoyable to eat at because of the style of the store, the cleanliness, and especially with the new one, the view. Second is the quality of ice cream. The flavor, texture and variety are really good. You feel like you are actually eating ice cream (so maybe not Blue Bell, but…). Third, the portion size. Where I am from, you typically just order a scoop on a cone, or if you buy it from the store, you put it in a bowl. Not at Venezia Ice. Although you have those normal options, the first time I went I was amazed as every one around us had huge goblets of ice cream topped with whipped cream and other goodies. It is par for the course at Venezia ice to get a dish with three scoops of ice cream, whip cream, a crumbly chocolate/graham cracker thing and feel normal about it, because every one else there has the same thing.

So in conclusion, if you are on the hunt for ice cream while in Rabat, look for the Venezia Ice sign. They have one on Mohammed VI in Suisse, Avenue de France in Agdal and the third on the road to the Oudaya. The pics below are of a foggy day at the third one, but when summer comes, I am sure it is going to be the place to hang out at night.