iDessert By Jean-Philippe

Good to taste, look at and was unique. Fun to play around with the various options. Good sized portion that doesn’t make you feel like you consumed a gazillion calories. A bit pricey as well, even though we skipped that Vegas bowl, since it’s just for the show.

I don’t know if you can tell from the photo, but the dessert is about the size of a 10 & U softball cut in half (that is the small softball, not the big one used in college softball). I paid about $ 10 (which included a small tip) for my iDessert, which included warm bananas Foster, crunchy glazed hazelnuts, nondairy cream, chocolate ice cream, a chocolate meringue shell, and salted caramel sauce, but not the Vegas smoke.
They have iPads for you to order all the accoutrements from and then they call your name at the pick up window. You can choose your own adventure, or select from the their menu.
The Bananas Foster ($ 1.50 extra) consisted of probably a full tablespoon of bananas. The hazelnuts were like 2 teaspoons. Of everything, I liked the warm salted caramel sauce the best– the ice cream was pretty bland without it. The meringue crust tasted like meringue– which is to say, like sugar– didn’t really get much of a chocolate flavor from it.
So I’ve experienced the gimmick and now I can say, «Eh, that was okay, I’ve had better,» and I’m going back to Yogurtland or– even better and about the same price as this– Extraordinary Desserts.
Seating is very limited. The bar at the front has two seats blocked by a massive portable AC unit they’re storing there.

It’s fun. I’d say give it a try once, but for a small dessert that’s about the size of your fist, I wouldn’t go back. It’s pricey.
Gfs and I went in and looked around to see how we are supposed to order. We really just looked around for a good ten minutes with no help, only to figure out we were supposed to order using iPads. So we gave it a shot!
Keep in mind, every little thing you add costs you. Ice cream base, shell, cream inside the shell, toppings, sauce. $ 1.50 or so for each addition. Ours quickly added up to $ 12, without adding everything…
It is tasty and not overly sweet as I was afraid it would be, but I would not say I was wow’d.

Create it yourself merengue gelato dessert with a hip ambiance feel to it. The lady in the front was very helpful how to order using an iPad
This place is cool to try at least once if you’re in little Italy and have a sweet tooth. I got the Oreo merengue with vanilla cream, vanilla gelato and chocolate cake.
It was delicious but I ate it so quick sense it’s a small portion. I could have ate 2 more! I gave 4 stars because of this reason and it is pricy. Mine was about $ 7. Next time I could do without the cake. I also didn’t feel the need for sauce I think it was sweet enough.
Overall it was a fun experience and makes for great Instagram pics. If you’re in town I say give it a try, especially if you have kids. just get the basics and not add on all the extra stuff or you’ll end up spending about $ 10

This place is a modern, hip place in the Little Italy area of downtown San Diego. First impressions, walking in kind of had a hospital feel to it.
Ordering is weird, as you order on an iPad. Yes, no order taking person. I ordered a make your own sundae with coffee gelato, and exotic fruit blend with caramel topping. The gelato is creamy tasting, and seems to be quality.
I like the friendliness of the staff that’s there. They are helpful, and answered all of my questions. Two thumbs up!

Cleanliness/​décor (1) — The place is clean, well lit, and decorated well. A little bit fanciful charlie and the chocolate factory vibe to it.
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Staff (1) We came around 8:30p-9p, everyone else is nice except for the cashier, she shouldn’t be working in candy land if she’s grumpy. She wanted my friend to grab the display macaroons when it clearly stated display only, who knows how long those have been there. My friend had to repeat it like x3 that it stated display only before she gave in and would grab a new one for her from the back. Other than that, the greeter and French lady were kind/​helpful.
0.5
Food (1 – 2) — I was skeptical because of any food fad, especially on Unilocal,it’s rather misleading, i.e. Afters. But, I digress, this place is worth it, we ended up sharing Dairy Free Berry because I’m lactose intolerant. The meringue is light and crunchy, reminded me of the marshmallows in Lucky Charms cereal but better (this is a good thing). Sorbet, refreshing, light, and flavorful. Sauce, again, it tasted fresh berry purée. Cake — we had vanilla, spongy and meh, I recommend trying something else.
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Price (1) — Everyone one of these is fresh and made to order. Note the Vegas style adds dry ice effect which makes it worth it for the first visit, but, after that I wouldn’t pay extra because you’ve seen it already. Overall $ 8– $ 10 dessert is fun for a date night after eating dinner at the Italian District of San Diego.
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We loooved iDessert! Yes, first time around it was a little pricy (2 full gelatos with Vegas bowls, 2 bottle waters= $ 24) because we wanted to have everything added to our gelato, next time we will probably save five or six dollars by not adding so much to our order. But over all we had a lot of fun and loved our desserts, the staff was very nice and helpful. It’s a fun atmosphere and the meringues are AMAZING!
We will definitely be going back some time. :)

I highly recommend this place to any foodie or sweets lover. Just a warning the seating here is first come first serve and very limited. So … that sucks for large groups or families with babies.
I thought it was cool you order on an ipad, pay first and then have a seat. Once your order is finished you walk up to pick it up. The presentation is really cool. Makes me think its an ice cream space ship ready to take off. FYI. to get the nitrogen for all those who want to record the air blowing out of the cup… its 1.50 more on top of the cost of the dessert.
The meringue crust was perfect. Not so hard and not so soft and the perfect balance of sweetness. I had a strawberry sorbet with white chocolate pearls, vanilla custard and vanilla syrup. The combination of everything with my strawberry sorbet was perfect. Not too sweet, not to tangy but perfect balance. Although i heard tables near by where people complained it was too sweet, surely for me it was perfect. Definitely a place I would want to come back to but hope that they open more locations. Totally worth the 2 hour drive for from la to sd!

This is such a neat concept and a great addition to Little Italy. A few months back I had met someone on an airplane who worked in the food industry in Vegas, after chatting during the flight about different restaurants and great food spots in San Diego and Vegas, he told me his good friend had just opened a spot called iDessert. Several months went by and when I stumbled across it a few weeks back with a group of people we of course went in and tried a few things. Because it was my Mom’s birthday, the gal told us we could have a free Vegas bowl upgrade which would be the steam/​dry ice. We ordered from the iPad and chose all of our flavors and toppings and watched in awe as they put them together.
Now the one thing I will say it’s an expensive dessert for the size of what it is, I don’t mind paying $ 10 for a dessert but that usually can be shared, this is definitely a dessert for 1. It is however more of an activity and much more of an experience that just going to pick up ice cream. I do like the concept and I will say what we had was tasty!

This place must be new since I’ve been exploring Little Italy for the whole past year while I lived there and I only noticed it while visiting last month.
I tried to explain what type of desserts this place serves and it’s difficult because it’s so complex with different parts to it. This is what I’ll say: You get ice cream in a shell made of decorated sugar, sitting on top of a spongy cake and there is a syringe-​type device through the top-​center of the sugary dome where you inject some cream. Each of the components can be a different flavor. You can get this served on top of a bowl with dry-​ice in it for a great falling visible gas effect while consuming your dessert.
The service, atmosphere, and iPad ordering system is great. The only problem is that the place is too small! I highly recommend this spot for an awesome dessert after a great dinner in Little Italy. This is one of my favorite dessert places in San Diego (after Bobboi Natural Gelato in La Jolla).

Jean-​Philippe is a DESSERT GENIUS !!! When you combine the deliciousness of a meringue shell, gelato, cream, cake and fruit it’s a TOTAL PARTY IN YOUR MOUTH. The textures of cold, creamy, crunchy, moist and sweet is EXTRAORDINARY !
You basically start off on an Ipad by building your dessert. Choosing specific ingredients to build your dessert and then having the option to pay cash or by swiping your card at the ipad. Then VOILA… your name is called and asked if it’s your first time there for a brief tutorial on how to enjoy your dessert. Squeeze (the sauce in a plastic tube inserted in the middle, Crack (the meringue with the back of your pointy plastic spoon & Enjoy :). For an extra $ 1.50 you can add some «FUN» called a Vegas bowl which is dry ice creating a «smoky» cloud effect long enough to be able to take pics and video.
The options are endless and depending on what you add it can be inexpensive or pricey but so worth it. My kids loved it so much we went back the day after.
I did notice that on a Saturday night, the place was busy and crowded but service was fast and friendly. Had this place been in or any where near LA, forget it… the line would’ve been out the door and around the block. The 1 ½ hour drive for me back to Little Italy to enjoy is would be worth every minute given that the wait would’ve been just as long had it been closer to the city I live (or eat in).
I do hope more locations open though ! PLEEEASSSSSEEEEE !!!

Came in with family for some dessert after dinner. We ordered a couple gelatos to share. You order/​build your gelato on an ipad and then pay and pick up at the counter.
I got the pumpkin gelato (which is seasonal) with a chocolate meringue crust. They are all about the meringue crusts. We also ordered one chocolate gelato with fruit and a chocolate meringue crust «vegas» style. Vegas style is the exact same thing as the regular gelato but comes in a bowl with dry ice so you have some smoke coming out of your dessert… fun for a date or just to instagram/​snapchat/​etc BUT if you wanna save a few dollars just get the regular one and wait for another customer to get one of these smoking creations to experience the effect.
A bit over priced, tastes good but nothing special. This is a been there, done that place not somewhere I would go to regularly. Perfect for a date night.

Curiosity got the best of me here. It’s quite conceptual on what we are dealing with here. You get to build your own dessert or choose a pre-​fabricated one, chosen by the chef himself. You get to choose your meringue, cream, texture inside, sauce… the works. You are essentially layering your treat to a complete concoction. I feel that it would be helpful if you have an idea of what goes with what to optimize taste. One can definitely make some random combination and taste quite weird. Granted that its dessert and you can pretty much slam everything together but without proper foundation of acidic balance, sweet, tart, and richness, you may find yourself in wonderland after a few bites. I was there due to my curiosity of building a random one. We also ordered a prefix one but in the end… I just don’t know. Pricing is who different subject. After you finish your build, you can opt to «Las Vegas» it and have dry ice on the bottom for show. Skip it. Watch it on one of these clips which i’m sure someone posted. Save you some money there. As for the dessert itself, if I were to do this again, I would go much simpler on the layering. But for 12 dollars for the portion, taste, and texture… its a bit much. At least I’ve tried it.
Interior décor is nice. Kind of reminds me of those old ice cream parlors back in the 60’s. Just shy of roller skates. Jean-​Philippe has a good reputation for desserts. With this move… I’m not sure. I’ll stick to his place in the Bellagio, Las Vegas.

Hmmm… I have mixed feelings about this place.
Today was my first time here. The interior is extremely cute. They have cases of decorated meringue which are beautiful!
First you order on ipads. You can choose from a set list or custom your order. Since I am picky I thought it would be best to choose every aspect of my dessert.
I chose an oreo crust, chocolate cream, mint ice cream, vanila cake, chocolate perles, and caramel. I also purchased the Vegas bowl because it’s pretty instagram worthy.
When you get your dessert, you have to crack the meringue and it reveals the contents inside. Everything tasted good, but after a while it just started to taste extremely sweet.
My biggest problem was with the caramel. I love caramel. But the caramel that came with my dessert was a bit odd. It tasted smokey or musky. And it actually made my dessert overwhelming. My cake absorbed every bit of the sauce and whenever I bit into it just tasted like perfume. My fault for not tasting it first before pouring all of it in. But I wasn’t expecting such a flavor from caramel.
Also, this place is a bit expensive. Minus the vegas bowl, the dessert is around $ 7. All it really is a scoop of ice cream and meringue. The cake is just a small layer and gets drenched to the point it doesn’t taste/​feel like cake. And it just didn’t meet the expectations I had prior.
This place is definitely great for photos, I mean that vegas bowl is pretty cool. However, I probably wouldn’t come back here by choice, only if a friend wanted to.

A novel idea and good execution on customized desserts! If you aren’t sure about the components of what you’re about to eat and devour, check out their animated video that loops nonstop on their large flat screen outside their store window. The animation is so fascinating that I couldn’t stop staring at it…
I had the UFO-​looking dessert that was made of Oreo crust, Pistachio gelato, Vanilla cream, Berries, Berry sauce and Caramelized hazelnuts. Since it was my first time, I went all out. Some components were included in the dessert price and some weren’t. My combo was great and delicious! If you don’t trust your culinary sense or just simply being lazy, you can always pick from the chef’s choice which has everything laid out for you. The Intense looks pretty awesome if you’re a chocolate lover.
The flavors and quality of the ingredients were amazing. Prices were on the high side ($ 10) for the portion, definitely higher than what you pay for dining in at restaurant when desserts typically run $ 7 a plate. However, I think I’ll still want to come back because it’s good and it’s fun!

After seeing numerous photos/​videos on Instagram, I had to try this dessert place for myself!
You can order your dessert with the workers or use the iPads. You can choose from their speciality desserts or make your own creation & I made:
Crust: Hazelnut
Gelato: Vanilla
Cream: Strawberry
Cake: Vanilla — A little on the dry side.
Sauce: Chocolate
Fruit: Strawberry
Crunch: Caramelized Hazelnuts
All in a Vegas bowl which is a must for your first time! Definitely a fun added effect to your dessert.
De-​licious! The dessert looks bigger than it really is because of the bowl, it is actually just the size of the crust, I wish it was bigger for the price!
Customer service was great!

If you’ve been to Vegas to the Aria or Bellagio hotels then you’ve probably come across the Jean-​Philippe Patisserie. His European style pastries are beautifully made and his extravagant dessert displays would really catch my attention!
This pastry chef apparently represented America and won the World Pastry Championship years ago. We are lucky that he decided to open up a shop in San Diego in the heart of Little Italy when there are other big cities in the U.S. I think. Just a quick drive away… to taste his magical creation.
Upon entry into the shop, a very modern feel. I’ve got to say that I’m not a fan of ordering on iPADs and not really interacting with the workers but I guess it goes together with that «idessert» innovative concept.
Onto the idessert… create your own or choose from a list of their recommended choices. I mean the combinations are endless. Choose a merengue, gelato, creams/​fruit and cake. They also offer milkshakes, coffee as well as other baked sweets as well. If you want a gluten free option they cater to that also. It’s an extra charge if you want your idessert served with the dry ice/​liquid nitrogen smoking look. Sorry I think it’s funny that they have that extra charge for dry ice but when I came here with my husband I just said let’s just try the entire idessert experience.
At the end of the day yes, I agree that the price is pretty hefty at almost $ 8 – 10 per dessert and the size of it is quite small. Considering you’re not being served it is expensive. However, It is a novelty and you are definitely paying for that Jean-​Philippe name. You must also be paying for all that plastic that they use to serve the dessert. Warning though make sure you listen to the employees when explain to you how to eat the idessert. I watched as this family next to me just filled their merengue with cream (there’s a little plastic sauce dropper they give you) and their dessert literally exploded. And when i say exploded i mean sauce flying everywhere onto the windows, their clothes and faces.
Parking in Little Italy may be a bit tricky since it’s crowded so hopefully you can find street parking and the line for the shop can be quite the wait. I usually am so deterred to go to places especially when it’s so chaotic from the crowd of people but I wanted to at least try this place once. It was fun concept… different for sure. Try this place at least once just so you can at least say you had the Jean-​Philippe idessert experience!

This exotic dessert item is a bit complicated. You can either chose a premade signature one to make life easy or make it your own on tablets located in the store.
You start with a meringue shell of whatever flavor you want. Then you proceed to add gelato, cream, sauce, toppings, and a layer of cake on the bottom, all of which you can chose from various flavor options.
The dessert is small, the size of your fist and will cost you about $ 10 if you do add all or most of the listed options.
The «Vegas bowl» is a plastic bowl with nitrogen inside so it looks like fog is coming out.
Overall the dessert itself was pretty good. It is basically a toss of meringue, gelato, ice cream and cake mixed into one small mound of dessert. However it is pricey!!! I would say it is a decent place to try once since it is pretty unique in concept, but not a place I would prefer to go back to.

This place is pricey for the amount you get. It’s very creative and unique with great customer service, but I just do not like the meringue shells at all. Their gelato is a hit or miss but if you’re in little Italy already, there are other gelato places that have wayyyyy better gelato.
I got the raspberry shell with the mango passion fruit gelato, vanilla cream, and warm berry compote. The best thing in my dessert was the warm berry compote and since its pretty hard to mess up compotes, I’m not sure that’s saying much. The mango passion fruit gelato was good, but had a veryyyy sour aftertaste. My boyfriend got the pistachio gelato and I’m not kidding you, it tasted like perfume! There’s no other way to describe it except that it definitely did not taste like pistachio at all.
I think it’s something to try since it is very unique, but don’t have high expectations. Be prepared for a long line on the weekends and very limited seating.

It’s nice to have a brand new concept be introduced to San Diego that originated in Las Vegas. It brings more character to our city. The desserts themselves, we all have to admit, are really cool looking and almost exotic, especially when you get the Las Vegas bowl with the smoke coming out of it, great for instagram!
The shop itself is pretty small. A few tables on the inside and a few on the outside.
The whole right side of the shop is dedicated for ordering your desserts.
There are multiple ipads set up so you can create your own order.
Personally, I like that kind of set up because you can take your time in choosing what you want and you can go back and re-​edit/​change your order. You can also pay with card on the ipad on your own. I think it makes the process faster and easier and you don’t have a worker waiting on you while you decide your options.
But if necessary, you CAN order with a person at the register.
There are two designated registers you can order with a person at the counter.
Each item ranges from $ 1-​$ 1.50.
Step 1: Choose your crust.
Step 2: Choose your gelato.
Step 3: Choose your cream.
Step 4: Choose your cake.
Step 5: Choose your sauce.
Step 6: Choose your crunch.
Step 7: Choose a regular plate or the vegas style bowl (Extra $ 1.50)
My creation:
1. Hazelnut meringue crust.
2. Coconut gelato.
3. Chocolate cream.
4. Chocolate cake.
5. Caramel sauce.
6. Caramelized hazelnut crunch.
7. Vegas style bowl
TOTAL: $ 9.67
In my opinion, the meringue crust just simply tasted like sugar and not much other flavor. It was pretty crunchy. A bit on the tougher side, looks pretty and cool but not necessary. The coconut gelato was very thick and creamy and delicious. The cake was also delicious. The caramel wasn’t too sweet. And the crunch was good but not enough portion to go with the whole dessert. It was like a light sprinkle. The vegas bowl is cool but you’re basically paying an extra $ 1.50 for 30 seconds worth of smoke. That’s it.
Overall, I do think that the dessert is overpriced for what it is, but you’re basically paying for customization and uniqueness. I would just be happy eating the ice cream and cake with toppings. It’s fun to experience it at least once, but nothing that amazing.