Marco Polo Italian Ice Cream, 1447 Taraval St, San Francisco, 415-731-2833
After a five year absence, I returned last week to the Marco Polo gelato shop. Okay, after five years I returned to San Francisco, but I can't visit that city without stopping for gelato at Marco Polo. Why? Despite the name, despite the stickers of Italian flags on the wall and posters of the old country, the shop reflects its neighborhood, called the Sunset, a community of immigrants from across Asia. So the flavors speak to their tastes: Durian, jack fruit, sour sop, sesame, black sesame, lychee, guava, taro, coconut, red bean and green tea. There are some more traditional ones, too, like vanilla bean (real bean), pistachio and arcobaleno, but that's not the focus. When I met the owner a few years back, a Chinese immigrant, he told me he studied traditional Italian techniques and has been making serious gelato for over two decades. Like traditional Italian gelato he uses real ingredients and makes it by hand. So that's why I keep coming back. Last week I ordered a cone of durian gelato. It had the stink and tang of the real thing. Delicious.
Where else did you eat in San Francisco? Are you still out here?
Posted by: Tana | May 17, 2007 at 05:21 PM
Hi Tana, I was just in SF for an afternoon/eve, but I did get to have dinner at Burma Superstar on Geary in the Richmond, one of my favorite restaurants in the city... Harris
Posted by: Harris Salat | May 20, 2007 at 11:29 AM
this place has very good ice cream - probably my fave place for 'ice cream' i have found in the city, but this is nothing like gelato in italy. . . I used to live in italy across from a gelateria and ate gelato every day. When I tried this place for the first time, the word gelato never even crossed my mind... although i did tell someone they had REALLY good ice cream flavors. I had the soursop and lychee...really tasty unique flavors.
Posted by: gio | January 29, 2012 at 07:09 PM