The hottest new must-have accessory for London’s restaurants is distinctly on the cool side – Ice cream. It’s always been an essential feature of London summers, but mainly acquired from tourist spots on Oxford Street, and vans taking advantage of heat-stricken locals by charging £4 for a 99.

But ice cream, and soft serve especially, has had an upgrade. Instagram is now full of swirling, colourful mountains of whip. Gone are the days when the only choice was what syrup you wanted on top of vanilla, but once London’s restlessly creative culinary minds start sinking their teeth into an idea, inevitably, a host of weird and wonderful flavours are popping up. Want hot cross bun soft serve, or purple lychee? How about apricot habanero?

Bake Street, the North London cafe, has been experimenting with soft serve for years, while new spots Tasca and Forza Wine have taken things up a notch this year. On the gelato side, Michelin-recommended spots Brat and Camille take their ice cream extremely seriously; meanwhile, the 2025 opening of The Dreamery has pushed its chips all in, opening as an exclusive wine bar and ice cream spot. Cooling down has never been this gourmet.

Tasca

The Bethnal Green hotspot has jumped aboard the soft serve train and taken it to new and wild flavour locations. The flavours change weekly, but expect unique mixes like crème fraiche and apricot habanero.

Expect unique mixes like crème fraiche and apricot habanero.

where: 255 Paradise Row, Greater London E2 9LE
Website: www.cav255.com

Rambutan

This Sri Lankan spot in Borough is one of London’s absolute gems, and its ice cream is worth the trip by itself. They like to mix it up depending on what’s in season, and right now they’ve got two showstopping flavours – alphonso mango with kithul, and lemongrass and lime.

Rambutan’s ice cream is worth the trip by itself.

Where: 10 Stoney St, London SE1 9AD
Website: rambutanlondon.com

Forza Wine

Another spot on the soft serve hype train, the summer pop-up on Southbank has a revolving door of interesting flavour combinations ready to be devoured. Think marscapone with stone fruit compote, Earl Grey ice cream with strawberries, Victoria sponge, apple crumble and even hot cross bun.

Forza Win has a revolving door of interesting flavour combinations ready to be devoured

where: The Rooftop, 133A Rye Ln, London
website: www.Forzawine.com

Nine Elms Kitchen

Nine Elms has also gone down the soft-serve route, but taken a more traditional path with a silky-smooth vanilla ice cream. Toppings include velvety chocolate or golden caramel sauce, and fresh strawberries, rich brownie cubes, crunchy chocolate pearls, or delicate feuilletine.

Nine Elms has taken a more traditional path with a silky-smooth vanilla ice cream

where: 7 Nine Elms Ln, Nine Elms, London SW8 5PH
website: www.hyattrestaurants.com

Bocconcino

When it comes to ice cream, Bocconcino do it the old-fashioned way. Handmade, classic flavours, the finest ingredients and totally indulgent. Right now, they’ve got a silky-rich Madagascan vanilla, churned in-house and served with a glossy drizzle of dark chocolate and roasted hazelnuts.

When it comes to ice cream, Bocconcino do it the old-fashioned way.

Where: 19 Berkeley St, London W1J 8ED
Website: www.bocconcinorestaurant.co.uk

Bake Street

This Stoke Newington cafe knows how to keep its customers cool this summer, offering a range of inventive artisanal soft serve flavours. Expect purple lychee, butterscotch, guava and blueberry, roasted banana, and kesar mango.

This Stoke Newington cafe knows how to keep its customers cool this summer

where: 58 Evering Rd, Lower Clapton, London N16 7SR

Brat

One of London’s hottest bookings, Brat has been taking ice cream seriously for years, collaborating with Hackney Gelato. From olive oil ice cream with pickled blackberries to a brown bread number, this is the spot if you want truly velvety gelato with interesting flavours.

From olive oil ice cream with pickled blackberries to brown bread

where: 16-18 Beak St, London 
website: www.mountainbeakstreet.com


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