Athan's in Washington Square

This evening, the quest took us to Athan's in Washington Square. This neighborhood favorite is well known for its coffee and pastries. This was both of our first experience with Athan's gelato.

Our initial thoughts about Athan’s were positive. There was a wide selection of flavors and the staff was incredibly helpful. Our waitress—errrrr gelato scooper—even let us get two flavors in the small size cup when

the sign on the counter explicitly says that small cups are for single flavors only. After sampling rose flavored gelato, which was not that good and tasted only of sugar, we paid our $3.16, and we took our two-flavor gelato cups to our table and started eating. Athan’s also scores points for its patience when I paid with two $2 bills.

Melanie ordered praline and hazelnut. While the flavor of the praline was good, Melanie did not like the texture. The gelato was not perfectly smooth; rather, there were unidentified gritty parts which were not to her liking. The hazelnut was tasty but the texture presented more of the same problem. Melanie strongly preferred Piattini’s hazelnut gelato. My blackcurrant gelato had an intense flavor, although I then realized that I had no idea how blackcurrants are supposed to taste, so I have no opinion as to whether the flavor was authentic. The flavor was good, but ultimately, it was a bit overwhelming. I would not have been able to eat an entire serving of blackcurrant gelato. The tiramisu gelato was overly boozy, and left me wishing that I had ordered the tiramisu sitting in their pastry display case instead. Athan’s did have full-sized spoons, which allowed us to shovel large quantities of gelato into our mouths quickly, but sadly, the taste of the gelato did not generate enough enthusiasm for us to need the larger sized spoons. Both of us had uneaten gelato at the end of this quest.

As one of the more reasonably priced gelato shops and so conveniently located to our humble abodes, we had high hopes for Athan’s. But after this quest, if I wanted gelato, I would get on the T and head back to Piattinis.