La Coppa Gelato
In a word: Gelato, but in the mall.
The specs: #00935
138 W Towne Mall, 53719
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JM tried the caramel apple & turtle cheesecake.
Marissa tried the blood orange, dark chocolate, mint Oreo and candy cane.
Nichole tried the vanilla bean, cinnamon and dark chocolate.
The bill was about $5/person, plus tip.
JM gave La Coppa Gelato a B-; Marissa and Nichole gave La Coppa Gelato a B+; Chris recused himself due to lack of interest in gelato (see our grading rubric).
A post-work pre-dinner dessert gathering at the mall. Chris, who had later plans, wandered off for something more substantial, while the other three got our gelati.
Marissa, a gelato fan, got the blood orange and dark chocolate, which was better than her mint Oreo and candy cane which was kind of fluffy with an overly sweet finish. She says: "I mean, I LOVE gelato, but I NEVER go to the mall and I can’t really see going there just for that. If I was there though, I would choose it over my other dessert options. Especially the Blood Orange Sorbet and Dark Chocolate Sorbet combo. That was delicious."
Nichole got the three-scoop blend of vanilla bean, cinnamon, and dark chocolate. While she agreed with Marissa that the dark chocolate was pretty kick-butt, thick and very rich in cocoa, she honestly sees herself choosing Chocolate Shoppe more often than La Coppa at the mall, which is already an arbitrary limitation. On the other hand, La Coppa offered some fancier flavors CS would not be likely to do - lemon basil, for instance, which tasted like the smell of a mown lawn (if that lawn is overrun with lemon balm and a hint of creeping charlie. This might sound awful in our words but it has its charm, and if they made a cucumber-mint gelato, Nichole would go back to try that combo).
JM got the caramel apple and turtle cheesecake, which did not blend as well as two caramel-based flavors should. Both were fine, but didn't really wow. Generous and patient with samples, the server had a bit of a gamer personality which clicked with us. We were half expecting to have to roll a d20 for flavor choices. He recommended a fruit smoothie with intense citrus flavors, which we didn't get this time but might go back for.
La Coppa's State St. branch is closed for the winter, but even so, Madison does not want for desserts, which puts this place at a small disadvantage.
How odd to see this review -- I was just eating their gelato a few days ago, having been quite oblivious to their existence before. Normally I might aim for a gelato affogato, gelato drowned in espresso, but I was too intrigued by Red Velvet Cake gelato! Which turned out to be cream cheese frosting-flavored gelato mixed with pieces of cake. YUM. Kind of pricey, but still good.
Posted by: Tracy | February 19, 2015 at 05:30 PM