The Dessert Studio

Alpha Mall, 117 Ogudu Road, Ogudu | Instagram | 0806 116 5936

As far as ice cream spots in Lagos go, Dessert Studio isn’t one of the most popular, even though they’ve been around for a little while. But when has that ever stopped us? If anything, it gave us the small ginger we needed to check it out because you never know, right?

The truth is not every food brand has a cult following and a store on Admiralty Way, and that’s fine. Oftentimes, packaging or not, there’s a good product there.

Encouraged by their 4.4-star rating on Google Reviews and in search of a new ice cream spot on the Mainland, I stopped by Dessert Studio’s Ogudu store to get a taste of what they’re serving up — ‘gelato’ (we’ll address this later), waffles, milkshakes, biscuits and so forth, but the ice cream is really why we’re here.

My first impressions were that they don’t have a lot of indoor seating and it’s not great for large groups, but if you’re stopping over with a friend after a lazy Sunday evening drive, no qualms. It’s also not the most aesthetically pleasing space I’ve been in and, truthfully, I expected a bit more cheer from an ice cream/dessert parlour. But what was most important, of course, was the ice cream-gelato.

This is where my quarrel with Dessert Studio starts, because what they call gelato doesn’t taste so much like it. Thanks to Hans & René and a few other good spots, we now know that there’s a difference between ice cream and gelato, and that the two are not interchangeable. I would call this more ice cream, than anything else, because of the density and the way the flavours come through. It’s just not as delicate as gelato should be, so they’re either not doing it well or not calling it the right name — both of which didn’t make me too happy 👀

Now that we’ve settled that (unless you still want to come and drag me in the Comments, of which you are welcome to), as far as ice cream goes, I’ve had better — a lot better.

For a quick sugarific hit, and in a bid to wait out traffic while you catch up on DMs, Dessert Studio’s ice cream works, but not for much else. It’s not ice cream you break a diet for or something you would describe as nostalgic or super comforting, and if you know good ice cream, you’ll know right away it’s not top-quality.

P.S. on one occasion, I had the salted butter caramel flavour and on another, I had the Lotus cookies version, and the verdict is pretty much the same.

So, cheap and cheerful? In this economy and at N1200, yes.

Worth your coins? Depends on what you’re looking for.

The best I’ve ever had? Not even close.