But I'll start with Amorino first since I had it today. The first thing you'll notice about Amorino is the long lines. But it actually moves extremely quickly so do not feel daunted but rather take the brief time you have in line to decide on multiple flavors from the flavor board.
And since i'm a rather poor decision maker and a proponent of systems, I decided that with 22 flavors on the board, I will try 3 at a time starting from the top and make 8 trips total, that way i'll hit all the flavors. I may skip a couple like banana and cherry though if i feel like I can't end up making 8 trips. Or i may end up combining more flavors with each trip. How Amorino's works is that you pay for a set size (cup or cone) and from that size you can squeeze as many flavors as you want into it. The more flavors you pick, the less scoops of each you get. Pretty ingenious concept if you ask me; paying for the size and not the amount of flavors that is. (Btw I got the medium size on a cone which was €4.50). Also, don't feel inferior for picking a cup to hold the fast-melting gelato as all cup-wielding customers do get a complimentary mini-cone on top of their gelato!
But anywho, for this first round of Amorino's, I ended up with chocolate amorino (must be their special), vanilla, and speculoos which according to wikipedia is a Dutch shortcrust biscuit. I have to say this round was definitely a plus. All three creamy flavors blended well with each other with the chocolate being the strongest, the sepculoos being a medium flavor, and the vanilla being light. Oh and also, did I mention that the end result of the scoops of gelato on your cone comes out as a beautiful flower shaped design?
As for Berthillon, there is no special cup privileges so the cone was a must. The flavor selection at Berthillon is actually much larger than the one at Amorino's with the board being divided into two sections, the left side being creamy, rich gelatos and the right side being icy, fruity gelatos. The flavors also seems to rotate on a daily basis which makes for more of a surprise.
With a large crowd attempting to decipher the flavor board, I decided to just be bold and pick one flavor from each side and run with it. So I boldly made my way to the counter and asked for Chocolat Mendiant and Fruit de la Passion. I figured fruit de la passion was passion fruit (which i was right) but I had not idea what choclat mendiant was besides the obvious chocolate allusion. Turns out mendiant is a historical french chocolate flavor that is composed of nuts and dried fruit. (Hit the link for more details and some interesting French history). This was the product I was given:
So as weird as the combination looks and sounds, it was actually pretty good as a combo. The rich chocolate balanced out the tart, fruity passion fruit. The chocolate mendiant had a good deal of nuts and dried fruits that added good texture (except i'm not a big fan of dried fruits so buyer beware). And since the chocolate was mostly at the top, it was natural that I finished it all first and was left with just passion fruit. big mistake. The passion fruit without the aid of the choclat mendiant was EXTREMELY sour. Like sour to the point that I couldn't finish it and had to scoop some out into the nearest trash can. It's odd because I usually love passion fruit flavor and never once has it been unbearably sour. The remaining empty cone after scooping out the sour-to-the-point-of-death passion fruit was very delicious though, crispy and flavorful!
I ended up paying €4.50 for two scoops at Berthillon, the same price as Amarino's, but at Berthillon's you pay by the scoop (with each scoop being only one flavor).
So with these two reviews up and posted now, I'm gonna have to disagree with my professor and say I enjoyed Amarino's more than Berthillon's. It may have been that I got the wrong flavors at Berthillon's (PASSION FRUIT) and I'm fair that if the opportunity presents itself, I will give Berthillon's a second try. However, Amarino's solid selection of flavors with the ability to mix and match as many flavors as you want for a set size prize coupled with the beautiful delivery of the gelato definitely gives it a one-up on Berthillon's in my book.
But I'm not one to decide for other's, so let's hear your opinion once you try them:
Amorino's next to the Luxembourg Gardens
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4 Rue Vavin, 75006 Paris, France
Metro: Valvin or Notre Dames des Champs
Berthillon's
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31 Rue St Louis en l'ile, 75004 Paris, France
Metro: Pont Marie
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