Just right when the weather is scorching and maybe even more so on the many, many days it's not - we pick out London's best ice cream and gelato purveyors. And if you're looking for soft serve, check out our guide here.
Chin Chin
Where: Camden, Soho and Selfridges.
Chin Chin's take on making ice cream with liquid nitrogen has meant that its continued to be hugely popular in both its locations. The thing to note is that it's not just a party trick, the ice cream they make here really does taste smoother because there are no ice crystals. Flavours vary depending on the branch, but the burnt butter caramel is worth seeking out and their cookie sandwiches are excellent. This year, they also have a pop-up in the Selfridges food hall.
Follow them on Instagram @chinchinicecream
The Ice Cream Project
Where: Mayfair
Open only at summertime, this is a pop-up by Anya Hindmarch that does something very different with its ice cream. All the flavours are based around classic British brands, so if you ever wanted to try baked beans ice cream, this is the place to go to. This year's mad flavours include Bird’s custard, Tiptree orange marmalade, Perello olives and Sarson’s vinegar.
Open until: 18 August 2024
Follow them on Instagram @anyahindmarch.
Ice Cream Union
Where: Bermondsey factory and Chelsea ice cream parlour
One of the longest-running new breed of London ice creams, it’s all about attention to detail from this crew who will specifically select the best produce for their ice creams. They have a standalone store in Chelsea in addition to their Bermondsey factory (which opens every Saturday). Flavours include everything from cornflake to banana split and their dulce de leche is particularly moreish.
Follow them on Instagram @icecreamunion
Mamasons
Where you’ll find them: Kentish Town, Chinatown, Westfield
So-called 'dirty ice cream' is actually a term of endearment used to describe the homemade ice cream you'll find on the streets of Manila. Expect to find quite different flavours to what you might be used to - their signature is Ube - a purple-hued ice cream made with Filipino purple yam - but they also serve up a salty queso flavour and a vegan guyabano sorbet.
Follow them on Instagram @mamasonsdirtyicecream
Bears
Where: Brook Green
Bears is an Icelandic-inspired soft serve store where you can expect flavours like lemon curd with marshmallows and biscoff crumbs. Seasonal ice-cream flavours include things like basil, white chocolate chip and passionfruit swirl or vegan sorbets like mango and jasmine tea. All the soft serves come with a choice of toppings that are dipped, rolled or smashed into the ice cream and they do ice cream cakes too.
Follow them on Instagram @bearsicecream
Festok
Where: Covent Garden and Harrods
Looking for Lebanese ice cream? Then Festok's boasts of being the only supplier in London of the ice cream with a particular light texture. They offer classic flavours like pistachio or rose, but have also come up with their own like halva, date and turmeric. Vegan options include coconut and meghli. Must try: their moreish Osmalieh bites.
Follow them on Instagram @festoklondon
Gelupo
Where: Soho
Jacob Kenedy (of Bocca di Lupo) and Victor Hugo (not the author) came up with Gelupo in 2010 and opened it right opposite the restaurant. New flavours from the popular Soho store this summer include figleaf, Pimms & lemonade and wild strawberry sorbet.
Follow them on Instagram @gelupogelato
Happy Endings
Where: Stockists across London and Pavilion Cafe in Victoria Park
Best known for their amazing ice-cream sandwiches (although they now do tubs too), this London company prides itself on top ingredient sourcing including organic chocolate from Original Beans and Jersey and Guernsey cream from The Estate Dairy. You’ll find Happy Endings ice-cream sandwiches across London at places like Yard Sale pizza and Snackbar in Dalston and lots of smaller food shops (see a full list of stockists here). Flavours include The Naughty One - Miso salt caramel parfait between squidgy slices of chocolate Guinness cake and soy dulce de leche (our favourite).
Follow them on Instagram @happyendingsldn
Le Gelataria
Where: Covent Garden, Oxo Tower, Stratford
La Gelateria co-founder Antonio has ice cream in his blood - his grandfather used to make ice cream in a small village in Calabria. And when Antonio and friend and co-founder Stephane decided to launch their own gelateria then first took a year out to travel around Italy for inspiration. It paid off, as their gelato has won multiple awards since opening. Everything is handmade in small batches, daily, on-site with flavours that you won't find anywhere else, including porcini chocolate cream and Kentish cobnut sorbet.
Follow them on Instagram @lagelatiera
Milk Train
Where: 12 Tavistock St, London WC2E 7PR
Milk Train shot to fame when it pioneered cloud cones in London - you know the ones, where the ice cream is haloed with candyfloss. Mike and Kylie started out selling shaved Japanese ice and progressed on to these Insta feed delights - they're the millennial pink unicorns of London's ice-cream scene. Oh, and what no-one tells you is they're impossible to eat without getting sticky up to your elbows. There's always a seasonal special on from cherry blossom in the summer, to maple tree in the autumn.
Follow them on Instagram @milktraincafe
Morelli’s
Where: 20a The Piazza, The Market, London WC2 8RB
Morelli’s opened a year after Marine Ices - in 1932 - on the Kent coast in Broadstairs and now have their own shop in Covent Garden (as well as branches around the world). Flavours you’ll find here might include cherry meringue or caramel panna cotta. Go all in and get a sundae with a jug of hot chocolate sauce to pour all over your creation.
Follow them on Instagram @morellisgelato
Oddono's
Where: Stoke Newington, South Kensington, Battersea, Hampstead, East Dulwich, Chiswick, Wimbledon
A place for ultra-smooth Italian gelato - the original store opened on Bute Street back in 2004. As the name suggests it’s an Italian family behind it - founder Christian Oddono’s grandmother was the gelato-making inspiration. With over 130 flavours on their books, favourites are still the classics - chocolate, nocciola (hazelnut), bacio (milky chocolate and hazelnut), and pistachio ice cream. They also do a very good banana sorbet for vegans.
Follow them on Instagram @oddonos_gelati
Romeo and Giuletta
Where: Stoke Newington and Leyton
Inspired by their time living in Verona, the husband and wife team behind this Stoke Newington spot focus on classic, well-made Italian flavours. Think black cherry, hazelnut or supreme pistachio with the odd seasonal special like ricotta with caramelised figs.
Follow them on Instagram @gelateriarg
Ruby Violet
Where: King's Cross
Aiming for a very small environmental footprint, North London ice cream parlour Ruby Violet make small batches of ice cream and vegan sorbets out in Bedfordshire, and all the packaging is either recyclable or compostable. They use seasonal fresh fruit, locally sourced where possible. Flavours on offer might include blackcurrent ripple or Belgian chocolate.
Follow them on Instagram @rubyvioletices.
Snowflake Gelato
Where: Westfield, Bayswater, South Kensington, Marble Arch, Soho & The O2
Winner of loads of Good Taste Awards, founder Asad and gelato chef Paolo named their ice-cream company Snowflake because all their ice cream is made by hand, no two batches are the same. Like snowflakes. Raw organic Jersey milk gelato is the order of the day here, served at the perfect no-brain freeze temperature. Flavours include their award-winning blood orange, date and honey and sea salted caramel.
Follow them on Instagram @snowflakegelato
Soft Serve Society
Where you'll find them: Boxpark Shoreditch, Seven Dials Market
Taking inspiration from Asia, Soft Serve Society broke Insta with its inky charred coconut soft serve when it first launched. Toppings are a big thing here - cover your cone with honeycomb and popcorn or opt for a sundae like the Oh Snap with vanilla soft serve affogato, salted caramel sauce, gingerbread crumbs, salted caramel bits and waffle. They're also big on freak shakes and candyfloss lattes.
Follow them on Instagram @softservesociety.
Udderlicious
Where: Islington, Covent Garden, Crouch End
Raj and Raj opened their Islington store back in 2013 (Mr Raj's family having been in the industry for years) and there are still queues down Upper Street on hot days. Flavours are voted for by customers and current ones include peanut butter with pretzels and biscoff with honeycomb. There's a particularly strong vegan range of options too.
Follow them on Instagram @udderliciousldn
More ice cream
Araw (Soho) - Filipino ice cream shop where flavours include brown butter sage and matcha with black sesame
Bilmonte (Soho) - An Italian gelato shop that also sells gelato-filled buns
Bao (various locations) - their Horlick's ice cream is a thing of wonder and at the time of writing, they're also teaming up with Chin Chin for some specials.
Fortnum and Mason (St James) - The Parlour here features sundaes and also a range of vegan ice creams.
Gelatorino (Wimbledon) - Watch the ice cream being made in front of you at this Covent Garden shop. New boozy sorbet flavours include beer!
Gelateria 3bis (Notting Hill, Borough Market) - Rimini gelato company with shops in Notting Hill and Borough Market.
Nardulli (Clapham) - There’s always a queue at this Clapham parlour - their cherry gelato and coconut flavours are particularly popular.
Unico (Various locations) - There are vegan options for everything here. Founder Elena has longstanding ties to the Italian ice cream industry.
See also
The Hot Dinners guide to summer
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