Stampede Gelato

Unfortunately I’m not a fan of Stampede Gelato, I really wanted to be but I’m just not. I feel like the focus is more on coming up with strange flavours and less on making a good quality gelato.
If you’re into unusual tastes then this may be the place for you, and I know people who really love stampede and can’t get enough. However, when I eat gelato I want it to be creamy and thick, and stampede doesn’t offer that.
Sorry Stampede :(

Rum and coconut ice cream! Sweet Jesus it’s delicious! We checked out the pop up shop in Bayswater and stumbled upon this little Perth gem, will also be making the trip to freo at Mantle for more sweet treats!!!

We all screamed for ice cream (at least that evening).
I’d heard about these guys through the grapevine, and thought I’d give them a shot.
Needless to say, seeing the flavours on offer I was initially hesitate, but tasting them turned me around very quickly.
Now you won’t get me anywhere near Durian ever, but i’ll happily try an olive oil and rosemary gelato any day of the week. It was refreshingly tasty, not overpowering, and quite a change from the usual ice cream and gelato flavours I’m often seen trying. My friend was also quite pleased and surprised by the Salted Licorice, was a pleasant flavour and a great change from the norm.
I wasn’t sold on the Mountain Dew and Oreo however, but what I saw and tasted was more than enough to get me coming back for more some other time and seeing just what new wonders of gelato alchemy they concoct the next time around.

I am a lover of ice-​cream. I will never say no to ice-​cream. And even more a lover of gelato. But Stampede Gelato was the #1 most disappointing gelato ever. Again, going by reviews, I decided to check out this place after a disappointing dinner. As the Blue Cat had stopped running by gelato time, getting to Stampede Gelato while trying to avoid massive lightning and flash heavy rain (including a power outage in some areas in Freo) meant that it took us an hour long walk and some quick sprinting to get to Stampede Gelato.
Ok so this place isn’t even visible. It is literally a small ice-​cream display cabinet thingo in the Mantle. On a corner. It doesn’t even accept Eftpos. You see lots of A4 pages on the wall behind a tiny Asian man with ‘This week’s flavours’ written on them. You see lots of interesting flavours like Salted caramel brownie and get excited. But the flavours on display today are (wait for it):
1) Durian u-​yee (I could barely read what was written as it was half rubbed out and the Asian man’s speech was indiscernible)
2) Orange champagne
3) Chocolate milo (Huh — is Milo meant to be something other than chocolate?)
4) Gaytime magnum
5) Nutella parmesan
6) One other I can’t remember
Ok — so out of the 6 flavours, I didn’t want to try any. I know… how can I say no to gelato?
I forced myself to try gaytime magnum and nutella parmesan.
Gaytime Magnum tasted nothing like Magnum or Gaytime and I did not have a gaytime sampling it. It just tasted like sweet vanilla ice-​cream.
Nutella Parmesan was neither yellow or brown in colour and tasted like neither of the flavours.
I asked the Asian man if I could have the salted caramel brownie and he said no and that they changed the flavours every week. Say what — no standard flavours?
He also went onto say I just do what my boss says — mix flavours and come up with something.
Well, I did not like his inventions. What if someone liked a flavour and wanted to come back for it? Could they never have it again? OMG.
I walked out without buying gelato — that has never ever ever happened. I have never ever said no to ice-​cream.

No matter how full I am after dining somewhere in the Mantle, I always somehow find room for gelato at Stampede. I love the crazy and unique flavours they have as well as some of the classics. I’ve tried most of them and every time is a hit. Only one was too weird for me — thick cut slices of bacon and maple walnuts got a little funky in my opinion but the other people I was with enjoyed it, so it must be a preference thing.
The creator always seems to be there and loves chatting about his flavours — he says he does a lot of experimentation and tries to have a few crazy flavours each night. He’s open to suggestions too and I’d like to think he’s in his kitchen right now experimenting with our suggestion of a deep fried oreo ice cream one :)
I saw pints of Stampede Gelato in a store and it was a whopping $ 20 (!!!) so it’s better to get it from the stall in the Mantle for sure.

I love this place! I love how the owner serves you, and i love the flavours he comes up with! I had a banana flavour which was amazing! The doughnut ‘sanga’ was really good! Yum! This place is in the mantle, perfect for desert! What an amazing place it is full of goodness! I love short order burgers and i will definitely try magna pizza soon. Come and try this place, you won’t be disappointed!

I had seen photos of Stampede Gelato about the social media circuit for quite some time and they had me drooling, but the first time I tasted this special gelato brand was at a Unilocal Elite event. There were samples of many flavours to try, so try I did. The brand is known for having slightly left of centre flavours, but that is right up my alley. I’m all about the weird flavour combos. That night was Cinnamon Brownie, Dark Chocolate, Rosemary and Olive Oil and Salted Fennel. The Salted Fennel was the stand-​out for me, with Rosemary and Olive Oil a close second. The fennel was somehow both subtle and strong in flavour — non fennel likers were swayed by the light aniseed flavour, potentially mellowed by roasting? I’m not sure, but it had a sense of that sweetness that roasting vegetables gives. The olive oil beautifully coating your mouth as the rosemary flavour came to the front.
Visiting him at The Mantle for dessert I had Lavender Carrot Cake, which was the perfect level of lavender (no old lady flavour creep at all) with juicy bits of cake throughout the ice cream, Lance had Chai, which was made with a delicate hand rather than punch you in the face spice and Salted Caramel Popcorn. The salted caramel was on-​point (the salt level was perfect) but the texture of the popcorn was a bit hit and miss. Some bits still had that nice popcorn pop, others were a bit chewy where they’d absorbed too much cream. Unavoidable, but overall a flavour well worth trying.
The thing that makes Stampede Gelato great is also the thing about it that is frustrating — given it is such a small operation, the flavours change frequently. So you might have a hankering for a particular flavour that’s not «on» that week. But that’s still also kind’ve excited as new flavours can come onto the scene all the time. The pop-​up shop for Stampede is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at the Mantle, and jars of select flavours of gelato (bacon macadamia toffee, I believe) available at (very) select IGA stores and the like. Well worth hunting down.

When my wife bought me a jar of Stampede Gelato from IGA a few days ago, I was intrigued. The label says «Bacon Macadamia Toffee».
It was sweet, a bit salty, had lots of textures from the bacon bits, macadamia nuts, and other things. I was impressed!
So when we went to dine at the Short Order Burger Co last night, we were ecstatic to see Stampede Gelato sharing the same premises.
Adam, the genius behind Stampede Gelato, was serving behind the counter and was very friendly, patiently explained the flavours to the customers, including how his car now smells like durian, ever since he created his durian gelato.
We tasted the durian gelato, sandwiched between two pieces of waffles. Enuff said. Stop drooling now.
The kids had the Nerds gelato and they were still awake at 10pm. Thanks Adam.
We also brought home a jar of mixed gelato. Our adventure continues…
Delicious gelato, interesting flavours, and a friendly owner. Best combo ever!
If you can’t make it to Freo, you can find Stampede Gelato at IGA supermarkets. They’re only available in jars and a couple of dollars dearer than at The Mantle.