Zany Zeus - CLOSED

Overview

In a little shop in Lower Hutt, you'll find perhaps the best ice cream in the country. Zany Zeus, the little dairy company that could, began with a brother-sister duo wanting to recreate the insanely good Cypriot-style haloumi in their Greek family tradition. Years later, the retail store is a front for the much larger factory operation. But it still feels like you're walking into a family kitchen.

The Lower Hutt store is less café, more general store with excellent food and drinks, and a nice little outdoor seating area. It's dairy heaven — if you're lactose intolerant, I'm really sorry to say that this isn't really the place for you. Although in saying that, there is a soy ice cream option. Just don't go scoffing the smoked brinza or haloumi.

Let's talk about the ice cream. Oh, the ice cream. Flavours are pretty seasonal and run the frozen gamut from lemon curd, to cookies and cream, pistachio and almond brittle, feijoa, chocolate rough, and a myriad of sorbet flavours. I had a pretty mind-blowing white chocolate and raspberry scoop. The ice cream is really well-priced too — think $3 for a generous single.

Aside from that, the cabinet is stacked with awesome $5 haloumi rolls, slices and baking, and there's a huge chiller front and centre filled with all the dairy treats you need to give yourself some serious cheese dreams. Try the haloumi, of course, the smoked brinza, the smoked yoghurt, the thick greek yoghurt that tastes like a dream and makes the best labneh. Everything is priced individually by weight, so there should be something there for every price bracket. Eat something there, take something away — the best of both worlds.