Last Updated on 27. June 2018

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Summer has arrived in London and how better to enjoy the weather than with some nice ice cream?

There is a wide variety of ice cream parlours in London which is good because the heat can become quite intense between the tall buildings in the City and the Tube can become quite boiling, too.

Nevertheless, I do enjoy the summer in London a lot! Especially as I don’t need to wear a suit but can explore the streets in flip-flops and with some ice cream in my hand.

Therefore, enjoy the summer heat with my favourite places for the best ice cream in London!

Yorika – vegan delights in Soho

Yorika is a vegan temple of temptations at 130 Wardour Street in Soho and offers vegan ice cream, frozen yoghurt, waffles and shakes. All ingredients are gluten-free, without dairy, eggs or nuts. To quote their webpage: All is made „without an animal product in sight“. Full culinary pleasure without guilt with amazing taste! The shop is open between 11 am and 10 pm on most days. Different times during the weekend. It might be best to check online on their homepage. The Tube stations Tottenham Court Road, but also Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square are close.

Softserve Society at Boxpark Shoreditch

The Softserve Society can be found in a small shop at ground level of Boxpark in 2-10 Bethnal Green Road. As the name might suggest already, they offer soft ice cream. And this in rather unique flavours like Matcha and Charcoal & Coconut (which is an ice cream with coconut flavour that gets its black colour due to the added charcoal). They also do Freak Shakes and an ice with lots of candyfloss (the Cloud 9). Prices start at £3.50.

I tried the black coconut ice and loved it! Very coconutty, a black ice cream in a black cone. What else could my Gothic heart ask for… They are open daily from 11 am until 9 pm, Sundays from noon. Either use the Overground and leave at Shoreditch High Street or have a walk from Liverpool Street Station.

Avocado-Ice cream at Selfridges

At Selfridge’s Food Hall (in 400 Oxford Street) there is also an ice-boutique by Snowflake. Besides “classical“ ice creams and sorbets they have vegan options which are made with rice or soy milk.

After their £ 99 ice-creation in 2017 (which had real gold on top…however, opinions were quite controversial about it….) their latest creation is the „Avolato“. Avolato is a vegan ice made of Hass Avocado with an edible stone made of nuts. The price is way cheaper than last year’s but still not a real bargain with £ 9.95. If you are looking for a classical sweet flavour, you might be disappointed. It really tastes like a frozen Avocado. The taste couldn’t convince me..

Therefore, I want to recommend the “Mint Chocolate“ flavour to you which was very nice with a fresh and very minty note and much cheaper as well.

During the week you can get your ice creams from 10 am until 10 pm, different times on Sundays. There are more branches of Snowflake in London, check them out online.

 

The ice blossoms by Amorino

Amorino has several shops in London and creates these wonderful blossoms out of your chosen flavour. Vegan options are available. All flavours are made without preservatives, artificial colours or flavours. Very nice and refreshing and – of course – very pretty to look at. Most shops open at around 11 and are open until late.

Watermelon Ice cream at Dominique Ansel

Besides the Avolato (see above) there is a second It-ice cream in London this year. “What-a-melon” is created by Dominique Ansel. A watermelon-flavoured soft ice offered in a slice of real watermelon with chocolate seeds on the outside. The price starts at £6.50 (for take-away), eating in costs more.

Unfortunately, the soft ice machine was broken on the day of my visit. The ice seems to be quite popular online but if this is due to the special look only or whether the taste itself can convince as well, you need to find out by yourself.

The shop can be found at 17-21 Elizabeth Street, which is close to Victoria Coach Station. Opening times are 10 am – 10 pm Monday to Saturday. They are closed on Sundays.

Persian Ice cream by Darlish

While searching for the Avolato (see above) at Selfridge’s Food Hall, I came across the pop-up stand of Darlish. Their peculiar flavours made me curious. Or have you heard of Orange Blossom & Pistachio or Turkish Coffee ice cream before? Nor did I.

What I liked a lot was that I could taste some flavours before actually deciding. This was quite helpful as my first choice (Orange blossoms) was way too flowery for me. Therefore, I had the Chocolate & Halwa and Black Tahini and loved them both. Sweet but not too sweet, full flavour and an unique taste.

Good to know: their stand at Selfridges is open until the 24th of June only. But you can still buy their ice cream in boxes at the Wholefoods shops or in their main shop at 5 French Row, St. Albans, Herts (which is sadly over 1 hour away from Central London).

Ice from one of the many small ice-huts

Nearly everywhere in London you will find these small ice huts where you can get some refreshments for small money. Besides original Italian ice cream, the „Flake“ is still very popular. Its name comes from the Cadbury Flace chocolate which is stuck inside the soft ice.

My ice cream wish list

Summer is just starting and hopefully we will have many more months ahead of us which allow us to eat tons of ice cream. On my wish list I still have the following locations:

Where in London have you eaten nice ice cream? Which parlours can you recommend? Leave a comment below this post and add more places to my wish-list.

* for this post and the tagging of brands and locations I did not receive any payments, discounts or free ice cream. By declaring this post as “advertisment without sponsor” I meet the new legal requirements in German law.

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