Sunday, January 23, 2005

Chillin' in Glendale

Beautiful downtown Glendale has two new ice cream operations, but I can only recommend one. The new branch of venerable Persian ice cream parlor Mashti Malone's has opened a gleaming, clean shop on a little passageway between Brand and Maryland. I've probably been going to the one on La Brea and Sunset almost since they opened 22 years ago, but this one is much more pleasant than fighting the grimy parking lot at the original location. Try the rosewater, the pistachio, the mango, the saffron -- everything we tasted was creamy and divine.
Mashti Malone's
143 N. Maryland Ave.
Glendale
Another gelateria (why, all of a sudden, are they multiplying like fruit flies?) has opened at the Glendale Galleria. Don't bother, unless you need to quiet restless children and it's the only way you can avoid a trip to Cinnabon. Melt Gelato looks ok from a distance, with Italian-style cases and a few interesting flavors. But they serve the gelato in scoops balanced atop narrow paper cups. You can only get one flavor for $2.95, which completely contradicts the point of gelato: packing two or three flavors into a wide cup, then flattening off the top. Also, there was no coffee or espresso flavor, so like, what's the point? The flavors were overly sweet, the texture was gelatinous. My daughter's Swiss chocolate wasn't too bad, if you must. But skip the caramel apple. I still haven't found gelato nirvana in L.A., and I guess there was no way it was going to be in a chain store in a mall, anyway.
Melt Gelato
Glendale Galleria

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Pat, thank you so much for bringing this to my attention. I've only been to the Mashti Malone's on La Brea and Sunset once, but I live in Glendale (fairly close to that intersection, in fact) so I'll be sure and stop by at the next possible opportunity. Nice to see that they're expanding.

Have you seen/heard of/tried that new Japanese fusion restaurant, Octopus, which is right on that street as well? I haven't, but I've heard good things.