Mary's Milk Bar

All-new ice-cream bar on the block, Mary’s Milk Bar in the Grassmarket is a cosy space in which to enjoy some of the best quality gelato and chocolate around. Having trained in Bologna at the prestigious Carpigiani Gelato University, the key to all Mary’s products is freshness – everything uses fresh ingredients with no preservatives. The truffles have soft, gooey centres and unusual flavours, while the gelato is soft and oh-so creamy – with new flavours to sample every week.

If you're intrigued by the coffee-shop format (rather than the classic scoop'n'go style parlour to which most are accustomed), you'll be interested to know that Mary's harks back to a time of post-war government initiatives for nourishing the nation through milk-based products.  

That said, you can still can take a scoop away with you, enjoy a ‘gelato oyster’ in a chocolate shell or one of the weekly seasonal sundaes. In short, everything you could possibly want from an ice-cream and chocolate seller is here, including bespoke parties, workshops and tasting evenings for you to sample, learn about and enjoy the dribble-worthy gelato and truffles (booking essential).

Mary's Milk Bar was also pretty popular within our Food and Drink Survey, our annual effort to help readers democratically negotiate a list of their favourite restaurants, bars and cafes in their local area. Mary's was voted one of the best newcomers to the city, along with the likes of Timberyard and The Vintage. If you're keen to read up on who else took home the gold for their fresh new vibes in 2014, check out our roundup of all the victors within the 2014 Best Newcomer category. Better yet, find out the whole list of Food and Drink survey winners from 2015 and 2014, and be that person who knows "just the perfect place" for almost every occasion.