Darlish, the ice cream parlour that dominated our feed during the recent heatwave, has opened up a new location in Notting Hill. Yesterday, we were invited to come and sample their Persian-inspired ice-cream flavours, what a treat.
The space inhabited by Darlish is sleek and minimalist. It was an old painter's shop and apparently locals are still popping in for the latest lacquer from Farrow and Ball. Today, however, the scent of rose syrup and nutty baklava has replaced the turps and acrylic.
When we arrived, the team were busy handing out well-stacked cones to hungry customers who were coming in thick-and-fast despite the mizzly weather and lateness of the evening. We chatted away whilst I was gleefully fed spoonful upon spoonful of all of their different flavours including saffron, sweet-cream and Iranian pistachio. We asked the team to recommend their current favourites and to my delight they recommended the baklava sandwich with a sweet-cream scoop. I also opted for an additional mulberry and lavender cone.
The baklava sandwich had the potential to be overpowering, but with one greedy bite after another I am relieved to say I was proved wrong. It was nutty, slightly sweet and decadent but didn't leave you feeling overindulged - it was just right. The mulberry and lavender cone was lovely and delivered on the floral, fruit-sweet promises the name suggested.
Digging a little deeper into the Darlish story, and my spoon into the quickly diminishing tub, we discovered more about the behind-the-scenes of this unique parlour. The founder, Laura Dawson, is of both Indian and Persian heritage, and her love for Middle Eastern cooking shines through in the flavours here. It's also great to note that all of the ice creams are produced at Home Farm in Hatfield Park, Hertfordshire.
Darlish is perfect for a late-night sweet-treat or a first-date bite, and they also run a reduced number of flavours as whole tubs, so you can enjoy Darlish at home. We'd recommend the Iranian pistachio, baklava sandwich, 'Narnia' rosewater and mulberry and lavender, but there is so much to try here, it will certainly need a return visit.