I ate a lot of ice-cream during my recent trip to Japan this past December 2016. One of the stand-out ones was the ice-cream from Daily Chico due to its massive size (taste was not bad, but not the greatest). 

Located in the basement level of Nakano Broadway is a small ice-cream shop called Daily Chico. The shop is very unassuming, so you may miss it, but it's closed to a supermarket. They sell a variety of soft serve cones, but one of the options is this amazing 8 layers of soft serve for a mere ¥490 ($5.60). The flavors were strawberry, coffee, matcha, ramune, lemon, grape, chocolate, and vanilla. I was surprised to find that all of the flavors complimented one another, and I liked it - gimmick and all. 

The extra-large cone is big enough for two people to share, and they do give a spoon for you to eat with. It's best to scoop all of the layers from the bottom up. The ice-cream may topple if you don't stand it straight, and the shop will not replace it if you do drop it. 

INFO:

Item: 8 layers soft serve cone
Price: ¥490

Address: 5-52-15, B1F Nakano Broadway, Nakano, Tokyo, Japan

Transportation: 5-10 minutes walk from Nakano Station

Dolce Gelato is a gelato shop with three locations in the GTA area. They offer a wide variety of gelato flavors served on your choice of either plain cone, sugar cone, waffle cone, or cup. Additionally, they don't only have gelato, as they also have several desserts available such as cakes, cupcakes, waffles, etc ...  J and I went out to eat dinner with his cousin, Jannie, at Grand Electric, last weekend. We decided to find a place for dessert, when Jannie recommended Dolce Gelato. The establishment was small with only a few tables, but it was bright and clean. Dolce Gelato has a "pay first" system, so you'd pay the cashier first, and then go to the encased glass to get your ordered gelato (don't forget the receipt).

I am starting to really love pistachio, so I was happy to see it as an option for the gelato. I ended up getting the medium 2 flavors cup ($5.50) - pistaccio sicilia and espresso. The girl behind the glass case was kind enough to offer me a taste test of their candied pistaccio (very bright green in color) as well. I thought that the candied version was decent as it was ultra sweet, but I liked the one that I got more. The pistaccio sicilia gelato was rich, creamy and full of flavor. The espresso had a good coffee flavor to it, but it didn't really go well with the pistachio sicilia when eating it at the same time. 

As for customer service, I thought that it was excellent. There were two ladies behind the counter (one on cash, and the other scooping the gelato). They were both friendly, courteous, and offered quick service. I will definitely be coming back here since it's so close by, and the warm weather is finally here.

J got the hot Belgian waffle with 1 scoop of mango gelato, and topped off with strawberries (~$7).

The Big Chill is a small yet very colorful ice-cream parlor on the corner of Manning Ave & College St. It's situated in Little Italy, and they only take cash. However, there's a BMO right across the street from the ice-cream parlour so that's convenient. They have a decent selection of ice-cream flavors but what caught my eyes was their fresh waffle cones (made to order).

 

The Big Chill offers other kinds of desserts beside ice cream such as cookies, banana split, crepes, ice-cream sandwiches, and sundaes.

 The overall space was bright, colorful, and very reminiscent of an old-fashioned ice cream parlor of the past. 

My SO got one scoop of their coconut ice-cream flavor, which had some coconut shavings. The coconut flavor wasn't very strong but it was still a nice treat if you like coconuts.

Additionally, the service was quick and friendly for the few times that we have been there. Summer is officially over, but the weather has surprisingly been rather lovely last week. Let's hope that it stays that way for a little while longer.