Beku Gelato

Former engineer Agusta Triwahyu learned to make gelato with a friend’s relative while holidaying in Rome. She didn't have any ambitions beyond winning the dessert stage at dinner parties back home, or sugaring-up her future kids. But when she returned to Australia, she began wholesaling to cafes and restaurants, and in December 2017 opened the original Beku in Brunswick.

Meaning “frozen” in Bahasa Indonesian, Beku has since moved to a bigger space in Carlton, where Triwahyu continues to draw inspiration from her Indonesian heritage and the flavours of Southeast Asia more broadly. Past highlights include durian, and teh tarik, or Malaysian condensed-milk tea. Vegans might find sorbets made with yuzu and blueberry, or coconut with jackfruit bits.

Chocolate, vanilla and raspberry are also stored in the counter's recessed pozzetti tubs, if you can’t go past the classics. Just don’t leave without trying our favourite: the aromatic Turkish delight. The entire line-up of flavours changes monthly.

As we’ve come to expect from Melbourne’s new-gen gelaterias, everything made at Beku is free from artificial preservatives and colourings, though the gelato does contain a natural vegetable-gum stabiliser.