Foubert's

I have been going to fouberts ever since I was 5 years old, and have devised a critique of my experiences there in the past.

So, let's start with the mains, which I must mention, I have only really got pasta/spagetti from there, but have tried every dish of these. First off, it is italian done economically, as in they are nothing special, something I, myself could make a lot better. The spaghetti is standard, it's nothing to brag about, they might score better points if they used one of more exotic/better quality, waitrose sells some great range of italian pastas, but they do come in at £5 just for a bag. As I said, the dishes are economically made, basic italian food, but it's still overpriced at £7, for this you could get a well made pasta somewhere else and a complimentary salad on the side. Despite these flaws, it doesn't stop me from ordering from fouberts if I am super hungry, it is worth it.

The star of the show is the ice cream, which is the main reason I go, I have cheated on them with baskin robbins, but american ice cream can be too much, fouberts is my husband, who I will always love and cherish and come back to, and baskins is the person I go to for a little excitement. I have reason to believe many ice cream parlours/restuarnts have even stolen foubert's flavour recipes, I have been on the block too long to not notice this. Their flavours are distinct, subtle but indulging, which makes it the perfect competitor.

Overall, a great little place, I am not a fan of the mains but I, myself am I fussy eater. The ice cream is great, I recommend their strawberry and coconut ones!

We have never been to this cafe before, but today I went there with my child and her friend from school. Mom of my daughter's friend was saying that it was a nice place.  I think the staff was quite rude, particularly the old lady who might be the owner, she has to be polite to the customers. The children asked for some ice-cream, so I went to ask for it as nobody came to offer anything. I asked if they had DiSotto ice-cream but the old lady was frankly offended by my question. She asked me if I liked this DiSotto ice-cream and I said I did. She said to me that even her dog did not like Di Sotto ice-cream. I would have answered something to her rude comment but she is older than my mother.  I would have walked out if I was alone but I had kids waiting for the ice-cream. I just feel bad about going there or taking kids there and feeding such an owner.  I was astonished as they did not give a receipt when I paid the bill. Eat your ice-cream yourself.   

Incredible Italian ice-cream; authentic and delicious, but the lunchtime and evening menu should not be overlooked since the establishment moved to a smaller location. The meals are suitably filling and reasonably priced. A must-visit that I frequently tell friends about. In the summer the queue outside says a lot about the quality of the ice-cream!

Lovely, family-run Italian cafe.  I remember when my Dad used to take me here 25 years and it hasn't changed (OK, it's moved about 100 metres).  Staff still a bit crazy, ice-cream still great and it's now about the only family-run café in Chiswick, thanks to the efforts of the American coffee monopolies.  So glad places like this still exist.

Really good authentic Italian cafe and ice cream bar. The coconut ice cream is truly out of this world!!!!!

Inside is cute with little booth seats - like you get in old style fish and chop shops. I think it adds to the charm.

It stays open till about 11pm and really does do amazingly good ice cream!! & the sorbet is reeeally good too!

Good Damm the orange sorbet is immense. The only ice cream parlor which you can go to all year round.

Eat in, take away or even get them to pack it up to take home.

Also they do a small selection of hot food which is very traditional. Situated in Turnham Green a minute walk from a District line tube station there's no excuse not to visit no matter where you live in London if not the world!!

Love the icecreams. Really child friendly. When I was pregnant I went off cheese and was the only place that served cheese-less pizza that still tasted really lovely!

Fouberts is Chiswick's local. It's taken pride of place on Chiswick High Road since as far as I can remember. It was once a very standard hotel and restaurant but the food was always good and the place was far from pretentious or snotty. Down to earth would describe it well. It was definitely most famous for it's scrummy ice-creams and also known for it's ever so slightly 'rude-but-real' Italian owners. Oh, and it had a nightclub downstairs too (where I spent many a drunken night).
Due to the prime location and real estate value, they gave up/got lucky/cleared debts/semi-retired (I don't know the true reason) and ended up selling the property for zillions of pounds to The Soho House Group (see here http://www.chiswickw4.com/default.asp?section=info&pa.... Thankfully Fouberts moved just around the corner to Turnham Green Terrace and still does a roaring trade in ice-cream sales. I believe that they also have a branch in Richmond, Surrey but I'm not sure if it's still there. Definitely worth a visit for the ice creams alone.

The food here is a disgrace. I had had the spinach and ricotta canelloni and was unwell for days. The owners are rude. It's horrible.

The only point of going to this small cafe is for the ice creams. while there is nothing wrong with it, per se, sitting in a dark backroom for a coffee is definitely an inferior option in Chiswick, with so many airy, light coffee shops in the vicinity. However, the ice cream is lovely. I donm’t know if it is produced on-site or locally, but it is very creamy and comes in a variety of delicious flavours for you to try.

Fair Italian cafe, small - for good snacks, coffees and ice creams. Good location for shoppers along Turnham Green Terrace and Chiswick High Road.

Not the friendliest service.

Small, family run Italian cafe/restaurant. Limited menu but the pasta dishes are excellent, pizzas are not their forte. Very popular at weekends as they also offer a range of about 30 ice creams. Service quick but seating is limited.

A little taste of Italy - Fouberts must be a part of the childhood memories of anyone growing-up in Chiswick!

The move on to Turnham Green Terrace has done nothing to affect the quality, as the ice-cream served here still tastes the best in this country

Fouberts is a Chiswick institution! Established in 1978 it used to be a hotel with a bar, restaurant and ice cream parlour, but since the hotel got bought by Soho house, the ice cream parlour moved just around the corner. Within, you will find the most glorious home made italian ice creams, with very flavour imaginable! All tempting and delicious! You can even buy a huge tub to take home! Bustling in the summer!

I've been twice and both times I’ve had rude service. The first time I went my partner politely asked if his tiny portion could be topped up a little to resemble what he used to get there a few years ago to which the 'lovely man' replied "If you want more, you pay more!!!" so we did, as we are so used to doing in England despite being dissatisfied. This didn't seem to please him as he continued to rant at us as we walked out the door. I wish I could say it was worth it but my fluorescent orange sorbet was unpleasantly bitter and lacking in flavour. My partner enjoyed his pistachio though. The second time, today, we went to get a litre of ice cream (1/2 lemon sorbet, 1/4 pistachio, 1/4 rum & raisin) to take away. It was put in 2 separate tubs (I hadn’t specifically asked for that) and I was charged £10 instead of £9 because I was getting 2 x 1/2 litre tubs not a 1 litre one. When I fished in my purse for the extra pound the grumpy lady serving me loudly lectured me on the price of tubs saying "you pay extra pound for 2 tubs and that's that!". I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth and it wasn’t from the fluorescent sorbet. What happened to customer service? I won’t be going back that’s for sure!

Great ice cream but don't ever try to set up a converstion about the lack of late night ice cream and coffee places and too much pub culture with the little old Italian man serving me on the night of Saturday 26 Jan 2008. He may have been the owner , not sure. My spirit of talking-to-the-cabbie went down badly.
What was supposedly my mild criticism about the imbalance of late night coffee/ice cream parlours against pubs and binge drinking in UK, became quickly a reason for the man to go on the defensive and a rant about the greatness of of our nation and how there was no problem of binge drinking in Britain and that it was all in the Govenment's and critics head. It got nastier when he told me leave the country if I didn't like it. Being Asian myself I took his subtle messages quite well and reminded him about my uk born and brought up status and that I was, like the Government, concerned about the state of my country's health. That cut no ice cream with him, he kept on lecturing about the greatness of Great Britain. The sweetness of the tarmisu ice cream I was having began to ware off quickly as I began to taste the sour part more significantly. Italian Alf Garnet sprang to mind as I walked away 'admiring' his sense of loyalty to good ol blighty and his no nonsense approach towards any criticsm to our great nations especially perhaps from 'foreigners like yourself ' he declared towards the end. I left thinking perhaps if I look like a foreigner, any care, couched in some criticisms, will perhaps be unacceptable and will be seen in terms of enemyof the state. I'm not allowed to say anything critical about my country if I wasn't white?
The ice cream on display were of all different colours but I couldn't help feeling the man's outlook was not. I don't think I will be ever going back to that place again no matter how delice the ice creams are, and I wish I could have reported this sort old men to the police.

Fourbert's have been in chiswick for over 50 years and this is why...they do the most amazing ice cream ever...in the world,flavours such as rum and rasin(no driving after)turkish delight and my fav apple pie.They have tubs or cones for around the £2.50 mark,you can also buy by the litre.
They also do great italian food the menu is massive but it great food and it wont break the bank.
If you ever need to stay in chiswick they have rooms for rent too.
Beware of the massive queue's in the summer months.

I LOVE this place - Chiswick institution. Hand-made Italian cream. Great choice of flavours. Current favourite with my 4 year old is Blue Banana. Always enjoyed the owners' bizarre taste in decoration - although the Cafe was built from scratch a year ago it looks very dated. Food served is more in the vain of home cooking than haute cuisine. One of a kind!

Serving ice-cream since 1978, Foubert's ice-cream parlour is a local tradition. It sells over 20 flavours of ice-cream including banana and tiramisu. Seasonal specials at the moment are peach and raspberry yoghurt. There's always a queue for cones and cups priced from £1.20 for children to £3.50 for large sizes. There are booths and tables to sit at if you want something more substantial, but Foubert's is famous for its ice-cream.