Fortnum and Mason's Parlour © Ming Tang-Evans
London's best places for ice cream
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By Time Out Editors
Updated: Tue Jun 16 2009 -
Summer is nearly upon us, and so Time Out gets the scoop on the capital's best places for ice creams, sorbets and gelati
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Bull & Last
168 Highgate Road, Kentish Town, NW5 1QS
A gastropub that means business – not content with making just about everything in-house (from the pancetta to the duck hams), chef-patron Ollie Pudney and his team have recently rolled out their own range of ice creams for the sweet-toothed young ’uns and pensioners of Kentish Town alike. Flavours such as chocolate brownie, raspberry ripple and blueberry cheesecake appeal to the inner child in all of us, and are neatly sold in individual little pots takeaway with biodegradable wooden spoons. Nab a few to take onto Parliament Hill for a real taste of home in the sun. Read more
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ChocStar
Various locations (email feedme@chocstar.com or visit www.chocstar.com for details).
Petra Barran’s distinctive spraypainted chocolate van is a regular fixture at food markets and events. Along with gooey brownies, cookies and cupcakes, Barran whips up some mean ice creams. White chocolate and honeycomb, mint chocolate crunch and, of course, simple dark and milk chocolate. If you’re lucky enough to be there at the right time, her strawberries and cream ice cream is a quintessential taste of English summer. Feeling greedy? Ask for a drizzling of hot chocolate fudge or butterscotch sauce (for tubs only, considerately, considering the mess). Venues to look out for the ChocStar van include The Big Event in Myatt’s Fields park in Camberwell from 2-7pm on June 20; at the Slow Food Festival on the South Bank on 5 July; and Lovebox at Victoria Park from 18-19 July. Not to be missed. Read more
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Fortnum and Mason's Parlour
Fortnum & Mason, 181 Piccadilly, Piccadilly, W1J 9FA
A stunning David Collins-designed interior makes this a posh place in which to enjoy an ice cream 'flight' of three scoops with a warm, silky Amedei chocolate sauce. Read more
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Gelateria Danieli
47 Queenstown Road, Battersea, SW8 3RY
The newest branch of the original Richmond gelateria has just opened, initially for two days a week (noon-8pm Sat & Sun). Pop by for a taste of its ever-changing range of innovative gelati flavours, such as cinnamon and plum. Read more
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Gelateria Valerie
9 Duke of York Square, Chelsea, SW3 4LY
Duke of York Square is prime territory for people-watching – pull up a chair outside the magnificent glass building (situated near the Saatchi Gallery) and savour creamy, ice-cold gelato in flavours such as wild strawberry, Ferrero Rocher, crème brûlée or tiramisu under the shade of the big, bright-blue umbrellas. Or take your cone, waffle or wafer with you as you peruse the wares at the Saturday food market pitched outside Partridges grocery store. All the gelato is handmade on site each day and more than two dozen flavours are on show at any one time, to sate even the pickiest of gelati connoisseurs. Even if it starts drizzling, the coolly decked-out interior offers swivel stool seating all along the glass frontage. Read more
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Gelato Mio
138 Holland Park Avenue, Holland Park, W11 4UE
A sleek shop serving a bounty of classic gelato flavours – the milky pistachio and dark chocolate are our favourites, though there are also juicy sorbets in orange and strawberry. Read more
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Marine Ices
8 Haverstock Hill, Chalk Farm, NW3 2BL
Family-run, retro, and utterly charming, Marine Ices has been running since 1928 and is a much-loved north London institution – much to do with the friendly, buzzy vibe, but also the excellent ices for which they are best-known. All the gelati and sorbetti are own-made; the kaleidoscope of flavours are stunning. Coffee (made from arabica beans) and Caribbean coconut and pistachio (with bits of the nut nestled within) are all agreeable choices; refreshing fruit ices come in versions such as mandarin, passion fruit and lime. This is probably the closest we’ll get to the bona fide, happy-go-lucky ice cream parlour we so envisioned as children. Read more
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Paul A Young
33 Camden Passage, Islington, N1 8EA
Some of the best ice creams seem to be made by those who dabble in the cacao, it seems (see ChocStar, left). Paul A Young, acclaimed chocolatier, is dedicated to all that is delicious – it’s only natural that ice creams would be part of his repertoire. Handmade each morning with all-natural ingredients (proper double cream and the highest quality chocolate, of course), Young rolls out flavours such as his signature sea-salted caramel alongside new creations. This summer, look out for fresh garden mint with 70 per cent dark chocolate (leaps and bounds ahead of your bog-standard mint choc chip) and basil with berries in white chocolate. For an intense chocolate hit without the cream, there’s also a new range of dark chocolate sorbets for your delectation. As if the ice creams weren’t decadent enough, you can also add crunchy cocoa nibs and Valrhona chocolate syrup. Read more
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Scoop
40 Shorts Gardens, Covent Garden, WC2H 9AB
We’ve always found it a shame that this excellent gelateria doesn’t feature outdoor seating to complete the Italian picture; still, Covent Garden piazza or Seven Dials are only a short walk away, so purchase a cone and enjoy while perching on hot cobblestones. Matteo Pantani’s sheer enthusiasm for his frankly superior product is contagious – and justified. Many of the ingredients for his frequently changing palette of gelati are imported from esteemed suppliers in Italy. The pistachio is one of our perennial favourites, thanks to the distinctive smoky, creamy flavour of nuts from Bronte, a Sicilian village known for its pistachios. Read more
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Serpentine Bar & Kitchen ice cream van
OPENING SOON, Serpentine Road, Hyde Park, Mayfair, W2 2UH
There are few greater places for alfresco activities than the magnificent Serpentine lake in Hyde Park. Joining the Benugo-run Serpentine Bar & Kitchen in a week or two is the brand-new retro Citroen H ice cream van. It will be permanently parked on the terrace in prime position, a short few steps away from the lake, where you can lap up gelati next to the braying fowl. Look out for creations such as lemon curd ripple, raspberry and white chocolate muffin, vanilla with Dorset clotted cream and Eton mess. It gets even more English with their frozen yoghurt, which will feature a cherry Bakewell tart flavour. Read more
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25 comments
I was tipped off to the best ice cream in London by an Italian living in Clapham. Nardulli Gelato is a relatively new gelateria on the south side of Clapham Common. The owners are from the La Marche region of Italy on the East coast of the country and make the kind of ice cream you would taste from a good gelateria when you are on your hols! I've dug out the details and pasted them here: go and enjoy... Tel: 020 7627 1515 / 29, The Pavement, London , SW4 0JE.
You have to try Cocorino on Thayer Street in Marylebone. It only opened a few weeks ago but has the most gorgeous creamy Italian ice cream ... as well as great looking cakes and savoury food .. only tried the ice cream so far but am definitely going back soon!
I've been to Melt Chocolates on Ledbury Road, Notting Hill. Amazing ice cream! They make it on site, and you can see the chocolatiers busy at work in the open kitchen at the back of the shop. Delicious, amazing dairy-free chocolate sorbet, and a massive range of toppings. We loved the salted caramel sauce and hand made marshmallows! BEST ICE CREAM IN NOTTING HILL!
Kitty Travers who sells at the Islington Farmers' Market is amazing. She's an ex pastry chef who's studied the art of ice cream making in Italy. She creates fantastic flavours with locally picked and sourced ingredients - everything from gooseberry and elderflower to blackcurrant leaf. Def. worth checking out.
The ice-cream stand at the North entrance of Greenwich market always has fabulous flavours and satisfyingly crunchy waffle cones. Another good option in Greenwich is the hidden-away Loseley ice-cream stand in a pub beer-garden - can't remember which pub seeing as my eyes are only ever looking for ice-cream, but on the walk up from Nauticalia towards Greenwich Park Bar & Grill
I went to Marine Ices yesterday. HIGHLY DISAPPOINTING. Please do not waste your time and money. I made a special trip expecting it to be an absolutely life-changing gelato experience because of the glowing reviews on this site (which I suspect are fake). When I got there, although the selection was good, I was underwhelmed by the quality. The pistachio was bright green, which is a signal to me that it's not real pistachio, so I asked for a taste. When I tasted it, sure enough, it was awful -- extremely bland and had no pistachio flavour at all. Shocking because TimeOut actually recommends pistachio in their review. Most of the gelati did not look home made either. I ended up having tiramisù and mango. The tiramisù was a bit boozy and the mango sorbet was sickly sweet and devoid of mango flavour, save for the colour. I was really confused as to why this place was included in this list. Don't waste your time here, try Scoop (absolutely amazing) or Oddono's instead for real gelati.
honestly , i m not trying to be funny ,
but you should guys pop in to queens ice and bowl in queensway and you see the art of gelato ,
the place name is bella gelato what a fantastic top class dispaly
really tasty and incredible flavour
Would the people complaining that the ice cream parlours listed ehre are all in W or SW postcodes like to suggest a few places of similar quality in the E, SE and N* postcdes that could have been listed, coz apart from marine Ices I can't think of anywhere in those areas which makes decent ice cream. And i'd like to know if they exist or if peple are just moaning about postcodes.
Looks like Marine Ices should be NUMBER ONE in the list - I haven't been there but will definitely go now!! Is is a long-established family business? They tend the be the tops.
M&S ICE CREAM. NOT FOUND ANYTHING MORE PLENTIFUL, LUSH AND MORE AFFORDABLE. FORGET THESE TRENDY SCOOPS THAT CHARGE ALOT FOR A DROP OF CREAM.
Haven't you all realised yet that Time Out is now completely Played Out and Burnt Out? Not just Harrod's and Fortnum's in this (completely inadequate) list but Bute Street, Holland Park and Yuppy Central down on the Queenstown Road. Completely useless as any kind of guide this is an exercise in laziness. Is this the best they could do? Unfortunately these days, yes.
I long ago gave up expecting to find anything useful in their reviews or their guides. Sadly, they can't even raise the energy to be pretentious any longer.
Wot no MARINE ICES on Chalk Farm Road NW?
Tsk tsk tsk Time Out!
One of the most friendly salons with a take away counter and ever changing favours.
Ice creams and sorbets that are gorgeous and not too pricey either.
Please remedy this omission asap.
Kx
I know marine ices is the best too, But it is good that TO missed it out.... shhhhhh, dont tell everyone. hard to get a seat on a sunny day already!
There's a nice icecream place on Hampstead Heath, tucked away between the ladies pond and the large house that used to have the open air concerts - worth looking for if you're wandering on the heath - it's in a little wooden chalet.
Apparently London's postcodes are limited to W and SW for the purposes of this article. You'd think you were reading the Daily Mail.