This is a stick up

When passing by Stick House, you peer into the window and think, “Gelato on a stick, dipped in chocolate. What could be better?” I’ll tell you what- gelato. In a cone. Add chocolate to that, if you’d like.

While this treat sounds great in theory, the reality is just so-so. I will be the first to admit, that upon discovering the neon lights of Stick House (147 Dizengoff, and maybe also on King George, but it’s not listed on the website), I was nearly giddy. I went in, looked at all of the flavors, picked one out, had it dipped in chocolate, and I was in heaven.

However after the sixth or seventh time the novelty wears off. You begin to realize that the “gelato” on the stick is little more than frozen fruit or juice of some sort, sometimes mixed with milk or yogurt. It also happens to melt at lightning speed. And while the chocolate is good, a magnum bar is better.

The Stick House flavor list is extensive, and not always the same. However, there seem to be some ever-occurring staples. When I was there this week the flavors included:

Along with the basic, let’s call it what it is, bland-ish popsicle, there are three chocolate dipping options:

Milk
Dark
White

Plus a variation of nuts, etc. with which to top off the chocolate. On my visit the options were:
Almonds, hazelnuts, toasted coconut, and candied peanuts.

Now that you have all of the information, on to my specific knowledge. Over the course of a few visits these are the flavors I have tried:

Coconut: dipped in white and milk chocolate, topped with toasted coconut flakes. Result: as always, the chocolate was delicious; however it totally overpowered the taste of the popsicle. After I ate away some of the shell, and could really get a sense of the coconut, it was ok. Nothing special

Berries: dipped in dark chocolate. Result: This was tasty, but as with any of Stick House’s popsicles (that I’ve had), you really have to bite into them to get at the flavor (which is hard to do to something frozen).

Green Tea with Cream: dipped in white chocolate. Result: GROSS! No need to add to that. Just don’t order it.

Espresso: dipped in dark chocolate. Result: What could be bad about this combo? The answer is: nothing, except…

Mint: dipped in dark chocolate. Result: This has continually proven to be the best choice. It is actually creamy, and you can actually taste the mint without killing your teeth. If you go, pick this.

Stick House: Italian Handcrafted Gelato

147 Dizengoff (on the corner of Dizengoff and Jean Jaures), Tel Aviv

Prices vary between 12-15 nis

2 nis for each topping

Open every day, closes early on Fridays