The best vegan ice cream in London
These are the delicious destinations to know about if you're in search of sorbet or vegan ice cream in London
Here's where to get delicious vegan ice cream in London. Photo: Katarina Šikuljak
Ice cream season is upon us, which is totally wonderful. Even more wonderful? Delicious vegan, dairy-free ice cream is having a moment (discovering Booja Booja's tubs of vegan ice cream may be the best thing to have happened to us this year so far).
Unfortunately, not every ice cream shop in London has vegan alternatives (which is not something you want to discover after trekking to central London with your dairy-intolerant five-year-old, trust us). Here's where you need to go - in a location near you - for delicious vegan ice cream.
Darlish
140 Long Acre, Covent Garden, WC2 9EF, 12pm-9pm daily
This St. Albans ice cream parlour has popped up in Covent Garden (through September 2019), and offers sophisticated Persian flavours, like tahini and halva. There's plenty to tempt the vegan palate, including coconut and raspberry, hazelnut and speculoos, mango sorbet and coconut and cardamom - the tasty vegan varieties are made with coconut milk. The only danger? Once you try it, you can't stop thinking about your next visit...
Udderlicious
187 Upper Street, London, N1 1RQ (Islington)
24 Earlham Street, WC2H 9LN (Covent Garden)
Udderlicious is known for its homemade ice creams and sorbets in exciting flavours which change monthly - based on a public vote. Current vegan flavours include hazelnut milk and stracciatella crunch, dark chocolate and cherry sorbet, avocado and straciatella, coconut and chocolate and sorbets in strawberry, lemon, mango and dark chocolate and sea salt flavours. You're going to want to come more than once.
Yorica!
130 Wardour Street, W1F 8ZN , London
Mon-Thu: 1pm - 10pm, Fri-Sat: 1pm - 12am, Sun: 12pm - 9pm
Yorica! is your go-to sweet-treat destination for free-from delights, including ice cream, frozen yogurt, shakes and waffles and crepes - all recipes and ingredients are free from the 14 major allergens (they've even teamed up with Allergy UK and the Vegan Society). Needless to say, we're obsessed - and when you try the four flavours of soft serve and 12 ice creams, including hazelNOT and popcorn and caramel, you will be too.
Jefferson's Ice Cream
191B Balham High Road, Balham, SW12 9BE, London
Mon-Thu: 8am-10pm, Fri: 8am-11pm, Sat: 9am-11pm, Sun: 11am-10pm
If your current American history obsession is Hamilton (for obvious reasons), then you'll love that Balham's newest ice cream joint was named after one of his prime opponents, Thomas Jefferson, who brought the recipe for vanilla ice cream back to the US with him when he returned from France. It's one of the many delectable flavours on offer (in fact, there are three vanillas to choose from), but vegans can order dark chocolate or mango sorbet. Kids love the many toppings to pick from, and six are vegan, including desiccated coconut, hundreds and thousands and sugar-derived honeycomb (that isn't from honey). Even the ice cream sandwich comes in a vegan brioche.
Chin Chin Ice Cream
49-50 Camden Lock Place, London, NW1 8AF (Camden)
54 Greek Street, London, W1D 3DS (Soho)
Dinerama, 19 Great Eastern Street, London EC2A 3EJ
Chin Chin Labs is home of the delicious toasted marshmallow hot chocolate and they also have some super-exciting vegan-flavoured ice creams like pandan leaf, wild blueberry, mango lassi and black sesame cake. Head to their East London location at Dinerama for the ultimate vegan pudding: hot griddled cookie w/ Tonka bean vanilla ice cream (think griddled chocolate chip studded
The Canvas Cafe
42 Hanbury St, London, E1 5JL, Mon-Thurs: 11am-8pm, Fri: 11am-11pm, Sat-Sun, 10am-8pm
Quite simply, summer isn't summer without a ginormous freakshake in our lives. The Canvas Cafe does one better: vegan freakshakes with a coconut and soya milk base, topped with vegan homemade cake and whipped coconut milk, in flavours like avocado and chocolate. Swoon.
Ice Cream Union
With over 50 delish ice cream and sorbet flavours, emphasising the freshest ingredients used in their purest form, Ice Cream Union has some delicious vegan options including coconut chocolate chip and chocolate, as well as blood orange, watermelon, lime and blackcurrant sorbets.
Credit: East Village Portraits
La Gelatiera
17 Topsfield Parade, Tottenham Lane, N8 8PP, London (Crouch End)
27 New Row, Covent Garden, London, WC2N 4LA (Covent Garden)
1 West Park Walk, East Village - Stratford, London, Greater London, E20 1DH
Whether you're in north London (Crouch End), central (Covent Garden) or east (Stratford), award-winning La Gelatiera's got your ice cream needs covered, with vegan sorbets in flavours like pistachio, coconut, almond and mango. There's even vegan chocolate and chili, and dairy-free dark chocolate brownie.
Marine Ices
Old Dairy Mews, 61 Chalk Farm Road NW1 8AN (open daily, 1pm-9pm
This Camden ice cream parlour is a London favourite, and has a huge variety of vegan sorbets to excite the palate, in flavours like blood orange, lime, passion fruit and raspberry. You can also enjoy vegan vanilla ice cream. Simply perfection.
Snowflake Luxury Gelato
Locations in Selfridges, Bayswater, South Kensington, Marble Arch, Westfield London and Soho
There are a few appetising vegan options on the menu at Snowflake, including the fruit fest sundae, banoffee (made with rice milk) and coconut and peanut butter varieties, made with soya milk. You may have also heard about the avolato, which contains avocado, water, grape sugar, pectin and nut butter ice cream and will look amazing on your social media feed. With six London outposts, you're likely to find a Snowflake near you to quench your vegan ice-cream cravings.
Unfortunately, not every ice cream shop in London has vegan alternatives (which is not something you want to discover after trekking to central London with your dairy-intolerant five-year-old, trust us). Here's where you need to go - in a location near you - for delicious vegan ice cream.
Darlish
140 Long Acre, Covent Garden, WC2 9EF, 12pm-9pm daily
This St. Albans ice cream parlour has popped up in Covent Garden (through September 2019), and offers sophisticated Persian flavours, like tahini and halva. There's plenty to tempt the vegan palate, including coconut and raspberry, hazelnut and speculoos, mango sorbet and coconut and cardamom - the tasty vegan varieties are made with coconut milk. The only danger? Once you try it, you can't stop thinking about your next visit...
Udderlicious
187 Upper Street, London, N1 1RQ (Islington)
24 Earlham Street, WC2H 9LN (Covent Garden)
Udderlicious is known for its homemade ice creams and sorbets in exciting flavours which change monthly - based on a public vote. Current vegan flavours include hazelnut milk and stracciatella crunch, dark chocolate and cherry sorbet, avocado and straciatella, coconut and chocolate and sorbets in strawberry, lemon, mango and dark chocolate and sea salt flavours. You're going to want to come more than once.
Yorica!
130 Wardour Street, W1F 8ZN , London
Mon-Thu: 1pm - 10pm, Fri-Sat: 1pm - 12am, Sun: 12pm - 9pm
Yorica! is your go-to sweet-treat destination for free-from delights, including ice cream, frozen yogurt, shakes and waffles and crepes - all recipes and ingredients are free from the 14 major allergens (they've even teamed up with Allergy UK and the Vegan Society). Needless to say, we're obsessed - and when you try the four flavours of soft serve and 12 ice creams, including hazelNOT and popcorn and caramel, you will be too.
Jefferson's Ice Cream
191B Balham High Road, Balham, SW12 9BE, London
Mon-Thu: 8am-10pm, Fri: 8am-11pm, Sat: 9am-11pm, Sun: 11am-10pm
If your current American history obsession is Hamilton (for obvious reasons), then you'll love that Balham's newest ice cream joint was named after one of his prime opponents, Thomas Jefferson, who brought the recipe for vanilla ice cream back to the US with him when he returned from France. It's one of the many delectable flavours on offer (in fact, there are three vanillas to choose from), but vegans can order dark chocolate or mango sorbet. Kids love the many toppings to pick from, and six are vegan, including desiccated coconut, hundreds and thousands and sugar-derived honeycomb (that isn't from honey). Even the ice cream sandwich comes in a vegan brioche.
Chin Chin Ice Cream
49-50 Camden Lock Place, London, NW1 8AF (Camden)
54 Greek Street, London, W1D 3DS (Soho)
Dinerama, 19 Great Eastern Street, London EC2A 3EJ
Chin Chin Labs is home of the delicious toasted marshmallow hot chocolate and they also have some super-exciting vegan-flavoured ice creams like pandan leaf, wild blueberry, mango lassi and black sesame cake. Head to their East London location at Dinerama for the ultimate vegan pudding: hot griddled cookie w/ Tonka bean vanilla ice cream (think griddled chocolate chip studded
The Canvas Cafe
42 Hanbury St, London, E1 5JL, Mon-Thurs: 11am-8pm, Fri: 11am-11pm, Sat-Sun, 10am-8pm
Quite simply, summer isn't summer without a ginormous freakshake in our lives. The Canvas Cafe does one better: vegan freakshakes with a coconut and soya milk base, topped with vegan homemade cake and whipped coconut milk, in flavours like avocado and chocolate. Swoon.
Ice Cream Union
With over 50 delish ice cream and sorbet flavours, emphasising the freshest ingredients used in their purest form, Ice Cream Union has some delicious vegan options including coconut chocolate chip and chocolate, as well as blood orange, watermelon, lime and blackcurrant sorbets.
Credit: East Village Portraits
La Gelatiera
17 Topsfield Parade, Tottenham Lane, N8 8PP, London (Crouch End)
27 New Row, Covent Garden, London, WC2N 4LA (Covent Garden)
1 West Park Walk, East Village - Stratford, London, Greater London, E20 1DH
Whether you're in north London (Crouch End), central (Covent Garden) or east (Stratford), award-winning La Gelatiera's got your ice cream needs covered, with vegan sorbets in flavours like pistachio, coconut, almond and mango. There's even vegan chocolate and chili, and dairy-free dark chocolate brownie.
Marine Ices
Old Dairy Mews, 61 Chalk Farm Road NW1 8AN (open daily, 1pm-9pm
This Camden ice cream parlour is a London favourite, and has a huge variety of vegan sorbets to excite the palate, in flavours like blood orange, lime, passion fruit and raspberry. You can also enjoy vegan vanilla ice cream. Simply perfection.
Snowflake Luxury Gelato
Locations in Selfridges, Bayswater, South Kensington, Marble Arch, Westfield London and Soho
There are a few appetising vegan options on the menu at Snowflake, including the fruit fest sundae, banoffee (made with rice milk) and coconut and peanut butter varieties, made with soya milk. You may have also heard about the avolato, which contains avocado, water, grape sugar, pectin and nut butter ice cream and will look amazing on your social media feed. With six London outposts, you're likely to find a Snowflake near you to quench your vegan ice-cream cravings.
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