I visited Mary’s Milk Bar in Edinburgh where people queue for 20 minutes every day to get ice cream

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Mary’s Milk Bar in Edinburgh was recently found to be the best place for ice cream in the UK - and after learning this I took a trip to the Grassmarket to try it for myself. 

Usually I try to avoid the busy tourist spot in the city centre - especially at this time of year, but on this occasion there was good reason to visit the gelato venue that recently celebrated 11 years in the capital. 

Situated in the corner of the Grassmarket, you’ll find Mary’s Milk Bar, a quaint and colourful shop with a dedicated line of ice cream lovers queuing outside to get in. I learned this was quite normal at Mary’s, with the Edinburgh business enjoying this success on a daily basis - there are even line markings on the pavement to indicate where people should queue. 

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Joining the line, made up of locals and tourists, I entered the vintage dessert venue after about 20 minutes, where picture perfect gelato can be seen to the right of the shop. Expectations were high. 

Mary's Milk Bar can be found at 19 Grassmarket, EdinburghMary's Milk Bar can be found at 19 Grassmarket, Edinburgh
Mary's Milk Bar can be found at 19 Grassmarket, Edinburgh | NW

A small team of smiling staff were offering samples to customers as I glanced at the gelato on offer that day, or I should say, that moment, as flavours change over the course of the day owing to its popularity. Undecided, I opted for a selection - salted caramel, dark chocolate, vegan coffee coconut sorbet and hazelnut. 

I am not an ice cream expert by any stretch of the imagination, but what I can say is each mouthful was packed with flavour, and, I must say, memorable.

The dark chocolate ice cream would turn any die hard savoury person sweet, and the subtle flavours of the milk gelato with salted caramel ripple and delicate texture of the coffee coconut sorbet, show that they really know what they are doing there. 

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The recent survey by Betway had measured the popularity of UK ice cream shops based on social media followers, Google and Tripadvisor reviews. It concluded Mary’s Milk Bar was the most loved.

And after speaking to Mary, who founded the shop in 2013, it became evident the business was born out of love, not profit. Mary Hillard, a former chocolatier who learned to make artisanal gelato in Italy, said: “I just make ice cream for my own pleasure. I make what I want in the hope that someone will like it - even if it’s something more unusual like mango and cumin.

“When I started, there was three years of no one coming in - but through word-of-mouth people started to come in a bit more. And now, 11 years on we have a lot of people waiting to come in.”

All I can say is join the queue. 

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