Welcome to our award winning parlour for officially one of the best ice creams in the UK. A long established family business, our ice cream recipe has won Champion of Champions at the National Ice Cream Awards an incredible 4 times. We hand make traditional, delicious flavours and sometimes guest flavours in small batches on our farm in Machen, our factory is right next to the parlour. We use quality whole ingredients, which support British farmers, local suppliers and other family businesses. We try our best to ensure our supply chains are ethical. We enjoy getting creative in the parlour and use carefully sourced quality ingredients to make a wide variety of Sundaes, Shakes and Waffles to eat in or take away in vegeware packaging. The parlour was judged the best desert outlet in Wales in 2019 and runner up in the Welsh cafe awards held by the Welsh Food awards team. We do our very best to create a welcoming and friendly atmosphere, were customer service and satisfaction is paramount. Please, relax in our parlour garden or in the stable buildings enjoying stunning countryside views, while the kids play in our popular play area. We have comfortable outdoor seating and a shaded top terrace. The lower terrace has bench seating. We also have 2 cosy indoor seating areas. We welcome dogs in all areas except the factory and order point. We have ample free parking and there are lovely country walks near by. Basil and Rustys' is the perfect place to catch up with friends over a gourmet coffee and home made cake, as well as ice cream galore, while the children play happily. We also offer children's sundae making parties and ice cream afternoon teas for parties for adults. A bit of history....
Sue and Lewis (Rustys' Mam & Dad) bought Minolis of Machen in the 80s from an Italian family who were making a non dairy recipe that had an excellent reputation. Now being a farmer by trade, and then a milkman , Lewis was keen to utilise fresh milk and cream in his product. So they set out to develop a dairy recipe. They went on a 2 week intensive University course on ice cream manufacture. When they came home they borrowed a small home ice cream maker, and in their kitchen set about creating a deluxe dairy ice cream. They made 4 recipe's originally that they liked, and over a period of weeks got any visitor to our busy family home to taste the 4 samples and give a rating. 2 of the 4 scored highly. They combined the recipes, and that was the recipe sorted. The ice cream alliance is the trade organisation that supports and represents the interests of ice cream producers. Being a member means we are committed to producing a high quality product. Winning Champion of champions means that the ice cream won first in the dairy class and then went on to win the best of all winners in all classes. Last year (2019) we won a silver in the artisan dairy vanilla class. This is a recognised industry award and judged by people who really understand ice cream. Our sister and brother in law developed the parlour buildings and ran Hapus ice cream parlour before deciding to pursue other interests, meaning that Basil and Rustys was very unexpectedly born. Luckily Rusty had made ice cream and been involved in the business growing up and had gone on to have career in sales. Interestingly , Basil also has ice cream heritage. Her great grandparents having made ice cream and owned a parlour on Canton Road, Cardiff in the early 1900s. If you enjoy a non commercialised, rustic experience and quality artisan food , please visit us, we really value your support. Open 10 -6 daily from Easter till October.
