Rollickin' Gelato Cashel Street

Many of Christchurch’s most well-loved shops got their start at our bountiful farmer's markets. Rollickin’ Gelato might just be the poster child of the bunch. Their second shop, located on Cashel Street, offers the same spunk and creativity with which the business was founded and is the premier CBD spot for late-night dessert.

Since 2014, owner Jed Joyce and his team have managed to bring the city something truly special when it comes to sweet treats. Rollickin’s out-the-gate flavours beckon out-the-door lines and their Cashel Street store brings the yom to the next level with extended evening hours.

Rollickin’ Gelato Cashel Street is the biggest of the two shops and stays open late to satisfy all your post-dinner cravings. Think late-night dessert party with funky tunes, outdoor seating, dogs, kids, gelato scoops, Rollickin’s famous ‘Gerry Brownie” and more seven days a week.

The Cashel Street shop’s “fish bowl kitchen”, gives these five star dessert chefs ample space to whip up all of the cookies, crumbles, cakes and ripples that get folded into the decadent gelato. That’s right, even the accoutrements are made from scratch here. Dessert enthusiasts, meanwhile, can peer into the wonderland that is the Rollickin’ kitchen and watch these concoctions come to life.

The Rollickin’ Gelato chefs (who often start work at 3:30 a.m.) use wholesome ingredients like organic, free range milk to create each scoop from scratch. This ground up approach yields gelato that is chock full of flavour and fun.

About ten classic flavours are always on offer and so are dairy-free sorbets which, we might add, aren’t just there to check a box. They’re just as tasty. In addition to these, Rollickin’ rolls out three new flavours every two weeks. A few highlights:

Donkey Kong: old school chocolate gelato and real bananas with house-made chunky banana cake and waves of caramel.

Bloomberry: coconut and raspberries whipped into creamy gelato, swirled with blueberry sauce, house-made vegan marshmallow and chewy coconut cake pieces (vegan, dairy free, egg free, gluten free!)

With more room to create than ever before, who knows what Rollickin’ will do next? Rumours of fried gelato and a sweet breakfast menu are in the air (think pancakes), so stay tuned.

Plenty of seating is available both indoors and out with heaters and blankets for chilly evenings. Rollickin’ is absolutely 100% dog and kid friendly so bring the whole gang.