There are a few things we just can’t get enough of in the summer.
Beach days, backyard BBQs, and mostly importantly, the ultimate snack of the season – ice cream.
There are a plethora of different ice cream shops, parlours, and dessert cafes that scoop up glorious, creamy, and refreshing mounds of ice cream, sorbet, and sundaes – but we decided to round up the newest in town so you can try them all and become the true dessert connoisseur we know you are.
Here are 9 new Vancouver ice cream spots to try this summer.
1. 77k Freeze
At 77K Freeze you start by choosing your “freeze base”, then pick from a selection of fresh cream (sorbetto, coconut milk), fresh milk (vegan, soya), and real yogurt (rice, almond) to create your own unique blend of made to order nitrogen ice cream. While customization seems fun, you can always go with something already created from the menu – there are 13 kinds to choose from at this new spot in East Van. If you’re of legal drinking age and it’s after 7 pm, you can get in on some 19+ fun with 77k’s cocktail liquid nitrogen creations made with housemade liqueurs, rum, and champagne.
Address: 2240 Commercial Drive, Vancouver
Instagram: @77kfreeze
Buckets Ice Cream
Buckets Ice Cream specializes in liquid nitrogen ice cream, and man, do they do it well. This spot serves its scoops in biodegradable cups or perfectly-formed waffle bowls in a handful of flavours. As far as flavours go, right now Buckets has five – one of which is a Strawberry Vegan Sorbet. Other varieties up for order at this time are Cookies & Cream, Oolong For Me, Ginger Lime Lemongrass Sorbet, and our personal favourite, Sweet Maple Corn. This spot plans to to switch up these varieties bi-weekly, so that’s one solid reason to keep coming back to this Mount Pleasant gem over and over again.
Address: 3330 Main Street, Vancouver
Instagram: @bucketsicecream
Friendly Snackbar
Friendly Snackbar is a new plant based and gluten free snack offering baked goods, smoothies, Spark Kombucha, fresh rice bowls, and most importantly, Say Hello Sweets’ vegan ice cream. Flavours include options like Jam Session, Mint To Be, The Fog, Chocolate Nirvana, and Café No-Lait to name a few. Say Hello’s balanced and creamy taste comes from a blend of coconut milk, cashew milk, and organic agave nectar – doesn’t that just sound dreamy? Friendly also offers Ice Cream Taco Tuesdays.
Address: 2408 Main Street, Vancouver
Instagram: @friendly_vancouver
Innocent Ice Cream
Innocent offers gluten free ice cream cookie sandwiches with names like the Canadian (oatmeal cookies, maple walnut ice cream) and the Kong (chocolate cookie, banana ice cream) to name a few. You can get 12 different kinds of these babies in regular size ($6.95), or mini ($2.95). Other offerings at this spot include coffee and mini sandwich flights with four varieties so you can wet your whistle with all your favourite kinds at once.
Address: 4895 Main Street, Vancouver
Instagram: @innocenticecream
Ladurée Vancouver
Ladurée Vancouver offers specialty ice cream and sorbet cups with macarons on top to-go. These treats are available right now at both the Robson Street and Holt Renfrew locations and they come in ten different flavours: vanilla, coffee, pistachio, caramel, rose, hazelnut, raspberry, Guanaja chocolate, lemon, and strawberry. If you’re up for kicking back and sitting down in Ladurée, you can grab an ice cream by the scoop, or a dreamy ice cream creation like a Coupe Plaisir, or Mini Macarons Glacés.
Address: 1141 Robson Street, Vancouver
Instagram: @ladureecanada
La Glace
French ice cream maker La Glace is getting its own brick and mortar parlour this summer, and we couldn’t be more excited. While no exact opening date has been set, this spot’s “opening summer 2017” teasers via Instagram seem to be implying the staff is getting closer and closer to opening the doors. The menu promises flavours such as Bananes Foster (roasted banana rum cream, toffee swirl, cinnamon), Chocohuète (peanut butter cream with milk chocolate flecks), and Lavande Café (lavender infused coffee cream) to name a few.
Address: 2785 West 16 Street, Vancouver
Instagram: @laglaceicecream
Lisa Lou’s
Lisa Lou’s Chocolate Bar is offering summertime customers an ever-changing range of wicked good housemade ice creams and sorbets. This spot has a rotating set of 10 ice creams and two vegan sorbets to choose from. The flavours switch up about every three days, and you can expect to see things like Toasted Coconut, Raspberry, Earl Grey, Malted Chocolate, Strawberry Rhubarb, and Sour Cherry Cheesecake. You can also grab ice cream sandwiches for the road from Lisa Lou’s.
Address: 1007 Main Street, Vancouver
Instagram: @lisalouschocolatebar
The Praguery
The Praguery Chimney Cakes and several varieties of Prague Cones (Chocolate, Strawberry, and Prague’s OG, a combo of cinnamon sugar cone, chocolate bud, and vanilla soft serve). All of these treats are $10 and under, making a stop at this sweet mobile station the ideal activity for summer hangouts and dates. Follow them @thepraguery and keep up with the Street Food App to find out where the Praguery is heading next.
Address: The Praguery is a truck and it can be located by follow the Street Food App
Instagram: @thepraguery
TWG Tea
TWG Tea offers a variety of tea-infused sorbets including Sakura Green Tea with cherry blossom and berries, Silver Moon green tea with berries, and black tea with berries and caramel. Patrons can get single scoops for $5, double scoops for $9, and triple scoops for $13 as a treat while they are dining in the Tea Salon on West Georgia Street.
Address: 1070 West Georgia Street, Vancouver
Instagram: @twgteaca
With files from Lindsay-William Ross.