Last week the National Food Chain Safety Office (NFCSO) published two top lists with five Balaton ice cream parlours on each, but some of you may have missed the news. The top 5 emerged based on the average scores of each establishment, with points being awarded for how good the ice cream was and how well they complied with regulations. As the NFCSO’s inspection revealed that none of the ice cream parlours was selling products harmful to health or containing life-threatening bacteria, we took the list showing which flavours the inspectors liked the most, and added some of our own suggestions.
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1. Várkávézó - Szigliget
Várkávézó snatched up the top spot on the second list of NFCSO, which provides information collected during the inspection in a detailed Excel spreadsheet – that’s an achievement we cannot argue with. The ice cream parlour is run by a young man, who starts working at 5am every morning, and doesn’t stop making ice cream until late at night. The fruity treats contain 50% fruit, meaning that for 4 kg of plum ice cream he uses 2 kg of plum. That’s why he mostly works with seasonal fruit. Their most recent invention is mixing greengage into the plum ice cream and adding nectarine to the peach flavoured variety. This was our first time trying an ice cream that tasted like the frozen version of the best fruit jam in the world – this is something every true ice cream fan must try.
Special flavours: All of the fruit flavours are worth trying, but make sure you don’t miss peach and plum.
Price: 250 HUF
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2. Florida Ice Cream Parlour - Balatonmáriafürdő
We’ve already talked about the fact that Florida is perhaps the best contestant on the south shore, and it was also voted best by our readers during this spring’s Ice Cream of Balaton competition. Attila Pálfi and his family compose and prepare their ice creams to “suit the taste of Hungarian people”, and their selection is absolutely huge. Customers can usually find about 30 different kinds of ice cream in the display case. The queue can get a little crazy, but at least you’ll have time to decide what you’re going to have.
Special flavours: This is where last year’s Ice Cream of Balaton (Balaton Rendezvous) was dreamed up, and our photographer say that they offer an outstanding rendition of this year’s winning ice cream (Sunflower) as well.
Price: 210 HUF
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3. Bergmann Confectionery - Balatonfüred
The Bergmann team has been a strong player on the Balaton dessert scene for a long time. After learning a lot from his parents and travelling to Italy to see how the genre is done there, one of the boys, called Ernő, assumed control over the ice cream department a few years ago. Regardless of which Bergmann unit you drop by, the fruit ice cream will contain 30% fresh fruit at both locations, and it’s also worth noting that you won’t be insulted with creations that have sat in the display case for days in any of their shops. They mainly create natural and simple flavours, the craziest combination you’ll find here is mint and lemon.
Special flavours: The vegan pistachio is as delicious as it is hard to make, so definitely give it a try if you see it in the display case. Another one not to miss is this year’s new flavour, beetroot with cherry and ginger.
Price: 250 HUF
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4. Cappuccino Café - Balatongyörök
Cappuccino has been on the market for 25 years, and it’s another one of those establishments that offer ice cream prepared on the premises. Their hit variety this year is a creamy, custard-based ice cream, which was cooked up in honour of Balatongyörök’s traditional pancake festival, held every May. They had run out of it by the time we got there, but that only goes to show that their raspberry-rosé ice cream is a firm fave of the locals.
Special flavours: If you don’t feel like a pancake festival, go for the lemon-elderflower or the strawberry-cottage cheese.
Price: 180 HUF, sugar-free: 220 HUF
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4. Levendula Ice Cream Parlour - Tihany
The Tihany shop is part of the same franchise that recently received praise on our sister site for some excellent, healthy ice cream options. It would be pretty surprising if the company didn’t have an ice cream parlour in Tihany, the home of lavender mania. This is the only establishment on the top 5 list that is actually a chain, and we think that’s quite commendable. They also swear by seasonal fruit; in August, for example, they are focusing on cantaloupe, watermelon and peach.
Special flavours: Since you are in Tihany at a place called Levendula, why not try their signature lavender flavour? From what we saw, their seasonal fruit ice creams were also very popular.
Price: 250 HUF
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5. Márton Confectionery - Balatonlelle
A few weeks ago we published an article about the two famous confectioneries of Balatonlelle, and we wrote about Mr Márton, who kept saying there’s nothing special about his business. After the NFCSO inspection and our visit, it seems like that claim has been refuted: their ice cream is as good as the recipe of their krémes is old. The display case at Márton has been full of tasty ice cream every summer for more than 30 years now – this is a field where they are happier to experiment than with their classic cakes. Főnök kedvence (Favourite of the boss), two kinds of Kinder ice cream and Lellei álom (Lelle Dream) are only some of the cool flavours you’ll get to try here.
Special flavours: All of the ice creams listed above, and we’d also add Homoktövis (Sea buckthorn).
Price: 200 HUF
