Lauren: Emporio La Rosa.

So the other day, while looking for somewhere to get a drink with Daniela and Valeria, Daniela's cousin, we stumbled across this amazing little ice cream shop, that also makes amazing dinners.

It kind of reminded me of Mashti Malone's in Hollywood, except instead of having it's patio in a grungy LA parking lot, it had it's patio in a garden next to a park.

The ice cream here is fantastic. Probably the best I've ever had. Known for their rose-flavored ice cream, this place also sells more exotic flavors like palm tree honey ice cream with banana (who ever heard of palm tree honey? It's in every grocery store here.), miel de ulmo (regular honey), three different types of chocolate, green tea with mango, earl grey, cherimoya, and more conventional flavors like tiramisu and pistachio.

You can also opt to get your ice cream in either a "bath of chocolate" or cream, and even the "simple" serving comes with two scoops and a Tip Top cookie (a Santiago chain).

They also had a pretty impressive menu with lasagna, gazpatcho, and a variety of sandwiches on different breads (bread here is amazing).

I have to say part of the reason why I loved this place so much has to do with the three different groups of musicians who stopped by to perform. First was the adorable accordion player with long hair who played, among other things, the theme song from "Amelie." Then there was the band with drums and a flute. A dog actually crossed the street during their performance to harass them, and they eventually left. And then the maybe 8-year-old drummer boy, who didn't stay long because of the yapping dog.

The musicians undoubtedly wandered from the neighboring artsy Barrio Lasstaria, which has beautiful architecture and lots of little cafes, restaurants, a pretty impressive little museum, and frequent antique fairs.

There was that one strange older gentleman who sat next to us, and started chatting us up during the ice cream portion of our meal. He wore gloves and reminded me quite a bit of Dr. Strangelove. Really, he could be his doppelganger. He started telling us about the enchanted north, and how we needed to go there, but no matter. Nothing could ruin my honey ice cream bathed in spicy chocolate.

We're definitely going to be paying this place another visit. So good.

-- Lauren