Food & Drink

The UK’s Coolest Ice Cream Parlours

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Written by Tim Barnes-Clay

Keep cool with our pick of the best ice cream parlours to take the kids this summer.

Chin Chin Labs | Camden Lock Place, London

Hailed as the best ice cream in England and ‘the future of ice cream’, Chin Chin Labs uses the wondrous powers of liquid nitrogen to create their own concoctions of deliciousness. The chefs in this science lab-esque parlour will make your ice cream to order, not only making it the freshest around but its ice is crystal free for that perfect gelato texture. Ice cream that’s good for you? The flavours change daily, with vegan options available such as watermelon & dill sorbet available.

Amorino | London, Oxfordshire & Southampton

Beautiful looking ice cream is the name of the game at organic Amorino, boasting a craftsmanship that goes into every ice cream. The ‘Amorino Rose’ is the UK’s most intricate ice cream creation; the artisans turn your chosen ice cream scoops into petals to form a beautiful rose flower, with layers of flavour and colour. You can even get a delicate macaroon placed in the middle for that extra bit of luxury to admire before tucking in. An exclusive flavour for the summer is a ginger and blood orange sorbet – yum.

La Gelatiera | Covent Garden, London

The winner of countless awards and commendations, La Gelatiera can safely call itself one of the country’s finest artisan gelato creators. To ensure freshness and quality, the parlour only makes small batches of each flavour on a daily basis, with 100% natural organic ingredients. Their wacky and unheard of flavours are carefully crafted to enlighten the taste buds, such as basil and chilli and rosemary & orange.

Bears Ice Cream Company | Shepherd’s Bush, London

Think Charlie and the Chocolate Factory of ice cream, and Bears Ice Cream Company is your answer. The family run ice cream parlour is influenced by traditional Icelandic ice cream shops but boasts English seasonal flavours. It prides itself on high quality soft serve ice cream, serving it any way you can possibly imagine, letting the customer run wild with tasty and wacky looking creations. If a cone doesn’t take your fancy, try the milkshakes.

Black Vanilla | Greenwich & Blackheath, London

This fresh and fruity traditional Italian gelato parlour is full of hand-crafted flavours down to the last scoop. Started by a mum who was appalled that upon taking her two children for an ice cream in a London department store all that was on offer was packed full of artificial sweeteners and colourings, Black Vanilla was born. With exceptional quality and fine ingredients being of the upmost priority their new Pimms & lemonade sorbetto is a summer delight, whilst the Eton Mess gelato is an all-round favourite.

For the full feature in the latest issue of FQ Magazine click here