Chin Chin Lab's nitro ice cream - just like magic

It’s hot, you’re on holiday, darling little Apple is going into meltdown, you have a headache, you need a quick fix and there’s no kiddy valium at hand. Time to turn to one of life’s simplest pleasures – ice cream, or gelato if you’re feeling Continental, guaranteed to soothe and satisfy both young and old. From good ol’ fashioned ice cream trucks serving brand new flavours to the latest laboratories and their whiz-bang liquid nitro confections, here’s our pick of five places for a deliciously cooling tongue tango.

Mmm-ad about Gaya Gelato

Bali – Gaya Gelato
Now, here’s the scoop. Just 40 minutes from the coast of Bali, in a granite gallery-cum-restaurant-cum-gelateria in the cooler hills of Ubud hides a store of unexpectedly milky, handmade goodness. Gaya Gelato are churning out the real deal, using local ingredients like coffee and vanilla bean where possible. Choose from classic flavours such as choc or rum & raisin, or temptingly unique combos like organic indigenous cocoa beans with palm sugar and lychee blossom honey.
Jl Raya Sayan. T: +62 979 252. W: gayafusion.com

Venice – Gelateria Il Doge
Venice in the height of summer, are you pazzo?! After fighting your way through La Serenissima’s throngs, you’ll be in need of a little something to help you rediscover your own serenity. Situated in buzzy Campo Santa Margherita is the piccolo takeaway gelato joint Gelateria Il Doge, a chocaholic’s paradiso with a grande cocoa selection, as well as their famed, orange-laced Crema del Doge. It’s the perfect ending to your Dorsoduro stroll and the LUXE Venice guide has an itinerary that takes you right to it.
Campo Santa Margherita. DD 3058/A. T: +3941 523 4607

Move over Heston Blumenthal, there's a new playa in town

London – Chin Chin Laboratories
Ice cream as theatre and custom made to order in seconds right before your very eyes? That’s what you get at London’s first and much hyped liquid nitrogen ice cream ‘lab’. Simply choose from vanilla, chocolate or flavour of the day - think Early Grey, basil or lemon curd, then watch in wonder as the white-coated, goggled ‘mad scientists’ pour liquid nitrogen over the mixture, instantly transforming it into smooth, thick n’ creamy spoonfuls of joy. To finish, choose toppings such as salted caramel or raspberry coulis and voila, the result is a science experiment gone right!
49-50 Camden Lock Place, NW1. W: chinchinlabs.com

Madrid – Giangrossi Helados
Skip the post-lunch siesta and lap up some melt-in-your-mouth helado from fashionable chain, Giangrossi, instead. With several outlets around town and some 35 delectable flavours of sorbet and gelato to choose from, ranging from customer favourite, Dulce de Leche to unusual Turrón (a traditional Spanish Christmas sweet), or the lush gin & tonic sorbet [ed. An ice cream maker after our own hearts], there are simply not enough hours in a waking day to sample their selection.
Velazquez, 44, plus branches. T: +34 781 3073. W: giangrossi.es

The perfect truck stop

Los Angeles – Lake Street Creamery
The ice cream van makes a comeback as the food truck craze continues unabated in Los Angeles. Not your average soft serve kiddie trap, Lake Street Creamery’s confections are very much for grown ups. The highly edited choice of flavours include liquorice, donut and Pancake Breakfast, made with bacon and maple syrup and served in a waffle bowl, or as part of a nostalgic float. All their ice cream is handmade with natural ingredients in the same baby blue truck that it is served out of, and you can track the truck’s location via their website, Facebook page or Twitter. Lickety split!
W: lakestreetcreamery.com