I won't use superlatives about Panama City ice cream places, because I haven't checked out all the possibilities.

However, I will say that Le Petit Rendezvous, a little pastry and ice cream place adjacent to Riba Smith in Marbella, is really good. Not only that, unlike the international chains that maintain or used to maintain franchises here, they have Panamanian flavors. As in mango, maracuya (passionfruit), guanabana and a lot of other flavors based on national ingredients.

Panama's ice cream culture was way below world standards for many years, mainly because our cattle produce milk with a lower cream content than is found in temperate climes and thus people here got used to ice cream that's not as rich as the product that's available in other countries. The arrival of international chains forced a change, but these chains didn't bring us local flavors.

Now Le Petit Rendezvous has given Panama some worthy ice cream. Check it out.

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