Madrid: best ice cream or gelato?

Please correct me: it seems that in Madrid there is no quality gelato.
The best ice cream is Giangrossi( they also have places in Barcelona and Marbella). Excellent flavors.
Their place that we saw in Madrid was just about the nicest looking ice cream pace ever seen for adults. Beautiful large tall ceiling room with very nice white leather sofas. The room where they make the ice cream very nicely separated.

I like Giangrossi a lot--particularly their dulce de leche ice cream. It definitely is the hippest ice cream parlor ever, but don't let that stop you from taking kids there. They also make chocolates, though I haven't tried them. They have three or four locations in Madrid. I usually go to the one on Alberto Aguilera, though I heard one is opening soon in my neighborhood (La Latina).

I also like Ricci (http://www.heladeriaricci.com/). They have different flavors every day--I tend to like the creamy flavors best. Their sorbets are too sweet for me. Their original location is near Plaza Santa Ana at C/ Huertas 9, though they just opened a bigger place less than a block from my house on c/Toledo (on the east side of the block just north of the La Latina metro stop).

Another good place is Bruin. Their ice cream is sold in lots of shops in Madrid, but I think their main store is by the teleférico (ugh, I forget the word in English--the cable car thing that goes in the air) on c/Pintor Rosales. Flavors like pistachio, leche merengada, turrón, etc. are always a good bet.

I've had some great ice cream in restaurants, as well. Many make a few flavors in-house during the summer.

Thank you for very informative post. Did you have web site for Bruin? ( is this related to UCLA?)

Speaking about resaturant prepared "ice cream"-about the best in Madrid we had was the dessert creation at the Vividiara: "Jamaican Flower splashed in Tequila with Greek Yoghurt ice cream ala pedro Ximenez"

Has anyone else had such?

Did you mean Viridiana?

I've had a very similar ice cream--Yogurt with Pedro Ximénez--but in Toledo at Hierbabuena. Which, I believe, is run by relatives (cousins?) of the chef of Viridiana. Definitely in my top five favorite scoops ever.

The address of the main Bruin shop is Pintor Rosales, 48. I would imagine that is where you will find the most flavors. A lot of smaller neighborhood places carry their ice cream during the summer, but not so much at this time of year.

There's another good place with an italo-argentine bent on c/Acalá, past Goya... the name is escaping me.

[kel]

ANY UPDATES FOR LATE 2011 OR FOR 2012?