Helli & Leo Best ice cream in a sunny location

It tastes like sun, childhood and summer holidays. It puts a smile on everyone's face and is the only sweet thing Werner Helnwein really likes to eat: ice cream. Little wonder, then, that he (an old hand in the Viennese gastronomic scene) has been dreaming of his own ice cream parlour for a long time.

After a pop-up in the second Lockdown, the time has come, and the first permanent Helli & Leo ice cream parlour has opened its doors. And it's on the banks of the Danube Canal - in a perfect south-facing location so that it's bathed in sunlight all day.

The shop looks like a comic strip: Black edges, white surfaces, and no wall decoration. Nothing should steal the show from the ice cream, which shines out of the counter in all colours. Only Austrian organic milk, fresh fruit and the best ingredients are used. The pastries for flavours like brownies or cookies come from the in-house patisserie.

The staff member ("All ice cream on me" is the message on his T-shirt) recommends chocolate (wonderfully creamy!) and cappuccino (great strong coffee note!). As a fan of sour things, I squint at passion fruit sour cream. "Ur-aufwändig" (big effort), the staff member says with a laugh, as the flesh has to be scraped out of the little shells by hand. The effort is worth it: the ice cream is creamier than a sorbet but just as refreshing, fruity-sour and discreetly sweetened.

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The assortment is deliberately kept small, says Chef Werner, because the search for ingredients of the desired quality is time-consuming. I find the selection already abundant and can't make up my mind. Besides some unusual creations (white chocolate with poppy seeds, apricot dumplings or King Kong with banana and nougat), there are all the popular classics and numerous sorbets, all fresh and not too sweet.

Recommended, because it's delicious and rare to find: Cherry. Perfect in combination with hazelnut or, even better, chunky coconut.

Fun fact for dog owners: Their animal companions also get their money's worth at Helli & Leo. Since the boss had a dog and wanted this four-legged "family member" to get something out of his visit to the ice cream parlour, he came up with the idea of "dog-friendly" ice cream. This means it is lactose- and sugar-free (which makes it much harder and, therefore, the "perfect occupational therapy") but can also be eaten by two-legged ice cream lovers.

For now, I'll stick to the "normal" ice cream, treat myself to four scoops, and sit in the sun with them.

Verena Carola Mayer

Author Vienna and Berlin