There simply aren’t enough ice cream parlours in Glasgow. Does that make this one all the sweeter?
We first Minted on a rainy day in October. The Byres Road ice cream spot was understandably quiet. Was ice cream the mood that day? I can’t remember, but I remember my husband, my mother-in-law, and I needing something sweet. It was her birthday and we needed to find something nice through the throng of people rushing along the West End.
So, we stepped into Minted, this small ice cream shop with a trendy, clean feel about it. The menu was creatively expansive with cakes, coffees, a fun range of ice cream flavours, and even soft-serve on offer.
It was October, and I ended up getting what felt like a really seasonal treat. A tub with two scoops: one was brightly orange coloured; pumpkin spice. The second was black, charcoal coloured vanilla. It looked cool, and I felt cool ordering it! Black ice cream, what a world.
Obviously, it was amazing. I very seldom use the word besotted, but here I am, besotted with this little ice cream shop. It was just something so lovely about that day; the sound of rain, the intimacy of the cosy spot, the world rushing by outside the window as we chatted away in our little booth with something sweet.
All of these little happy moments…
It’s a happy place now. I went there before I performed some poems at Hillhead Bookclub – the first time I took myself to perform without the support of friends or family. Because I wanted to show myself I could do it, just me, for me. I got a scoop of salted Oreo ice cream to hype me up. The sun was shining that day, and I felt robust and powerful, heading to a poetry night to prove something to myself. But, while I made my way there with my cone and my scoop of ice cream, I also felt comforted and indulged in.
Then the sunny but cold day, two weeks before my wedding. We had dinner and then walked to grab a cone each and battled the wind wafting my hair in my face to eat it.
All of these other little times we went; skipping dessert in a restaurant in favour of Minted. It being warm and ice cream weather, knowing that this was the go to spot.
And Minted just being so inherently Glaswegian makes it sweeter. The name, the attitude, all of it.
I really would be happy to visit Minted at any given time or day. Come rain or shine, I’m there. Food has become something so endearing to me, and something tied so tightly to happy moments between myself and my loved ones. It’s bright mint-coloured facade caught our eyes on that one rainy October afternoon, and now it’s simply something I cannot walk past. Minted has become so closely associated with spending time with family, with laughing after a fun day, with it being the cherry on top.
