Summer is here and luckily the Mother City is brimming with ice-cream parlours and gelato shops to satisfy those sugary urges on sweltering days. Here’s where to get your next scoop in Cape Town.

Updated on 21 January 2022

The Creamery  (Constantia, Mouille Point, Newlands, Palmyra Junction, Durbanville)

This dedicated ice-cream parlour doesn’t skimp on the creativity with its range of scoops. Flavours change with the seasons, but you’ll always find 65% chocolate, sea salt caramel, peanut butter, sweet cream and Rosetta Roastery coffee on offer. Granadilla choc chip, chocolate cake, peanut cluster, malva pud and milk tart also make appearances. Try your scoop on top of a golden waffle with a toasted marshmallow and chocolate sauce.

 

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Crumbs and Cream (Sea Point)

Famous for their DIY ice-cream sandwiches and killer milkshakes, they have an impressive selection of both ice cream and gourmet cookies to choose from, so you can mix and match to create your very own perfect ice-cream sandwich or gourmet shake.

 

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The Dairy Den (Sea Point)

This soft-serve and doughnut bar serves all things sweet and indulgent. The soft serves here are swirled in flavours of vanilla, chocolate rocky road topped with peanut brittle, and a combo of strawberry, chocolate and vanilla. They also have a luscious plant-based soft serve on offer. The soft serve can also come sprinkled with choc-mint chunks, marshmallows, caramel popcorn or even some mini doughnuts for a touch of extra sweetness. Get yours in a cup, signature black wafer cone or the classic wafer cone.

 

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Ditto on Kloof (Gardens)

They serve vegan ice cream made from locally made oat milk. The smooth, creamy texture cannot be faulted and they always have an interesting selection of flavours on offer, ranging from chocolate to caramel nut brittle and seasonal fruit infusions. They make their sugar cones fresh to order, so be sure to sample one!

 

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Gelato Mania (Waterfront, Green Point, Sea Point, Camps Bay, Newlands, Gardens, Penlyn, Plumstead, Stellenbosch and Hermanus)

Nothing tastes quite as good as freshly scooped gelato by the seaside and luckily Gelato Mania has you sorted. They have 10 stores across the Western Cape and by far the biggest selection of gelato on offer. You can expect all the classics as well as a Snickers chocolate rendition, Turkish Delight and vegan dark chocolate raspberry. Not only do they have amazing gelato, but you can also enjoy the lush cooling treat in sugar cones, in tubs, on waffles or with pancakes.

 

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Grumpy and Runt (City Bowl)

While they aren’t technically an ice-cream parlour, the vegan doughnut joint knows a thing or two about fine vegan cuisine and their vegan soft serve comes with some first-class recommendations. It’s sweet, smooth and the stuff plant-based dreams are made of! They do a variety of shakes and sundaes. Be sure to sample their fairy cake sundae – it will brighten even the glummest of moods.

 

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Häagen-Dazs (Gardens, Waterfront)

Luxurious world-renowned ice cream is available in tubs, scoops and floats. They have a wide range of flavours – anything from Belgian chocolate to mango sorbet goes.

 

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IceDream (Hout Bay)

Take a drive to this little dessert gem and grab a decadent gelato to go before heading to the beach or driving up to Chappies. The pastel-coloured shop, owned by Italian brother-and-sister duo Liana and Luigi Lazzarotto, churns out fresh batches of creamy desserts daily. Flavours include Zanzibar vanilla, hazelnut, mint-choc chip, rum and raisin, tiramisu, and peanut butter.

 

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Kristen’s Kickass Ice Cream (Noordhoek)

This quaint scoop shop opened its doors just last year but has already gained a devoted following, with over 40 flavours on the menu, all of which are made from scratch with free-range cream, milk and hand-made ingredients. Owner Kristen Batzer even makes her own marshmallows, honeycomb, fudge-and-praline sauce, oatmeal-crunch streusel, jams and peanut butter. Popular flavours include cookies and cream with homemade Oreos, sea-salt caramel with dry-roasted cane sugar and Maldon smoked sea salt, garden mint chocolate chip with fresh mint leaves, brown sugar cream with caramelised figs, and a play on a deconstructed Bounty Bar with coconut cream, milk chocolate and almonds.

 

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Las Paletas Artisan Ice Cream (V&A food Market, Biscuit Mill Market, Root44 Market)

They have a wide range of locally crafted all-natural artisanal lollies and ice-cream flavours. Lolly flavours vary from vegan kefir and full-on dairy to sorbet and even sugar-free creations. You can find them at the V&A Food Market, the Old Biscuit Mill, Knead Bakery in Muizenberg, select Vida e Caffes and at most Spars, or order online.

 

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Tapi Tapi (Observatory)

Your go-to for authentic African ice cream handcrafted in Cape Town. Celebrate African food and culture with a delicious scoop of uniquely flavoured ice cream. Some of their unique and most popular flavours are buchu, chilli jam, kei apple and sour fig.

 

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Moro Gelato (Green Point, Sea Point, City Bowl)

Moro Gelato has relocated from Woodstock to Long Street in Cape Town, making it that much easier for City Bowl hedonists to indulge in their favourite summer treat. The gelato flavours range from pure pistachio to buttery salted-caramel popcorn, blond chocolate and salted lime. The sorbets, made using seasonal fruit, are not to be overlooked either. Moro offers three cup sizes: a small cup gives you a choice of up to two flavours; a medium, three flavours; and a large, four.

 

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Sorbetiere (Woodstock)

Sorbetiere prepares sorbet and ice cream inspired by the seasons, sourcing ingredients from fruit farms around the Western Cape. Sorbet flavours change constantly, but you can expect innovative options such as strawberry and mint, strawberry and basil, and G&T. Ice-cream flavours include salted caramel, chocolate, coffee and fresh mint with chocolate chips. You’ll also find vegan options like sweet melon and roasted peach.

 

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Unframed Ice Cream (Woodstock, Gardens)

All the flavours at this parlour are constructed with a scientific level of precision to give a perfectly smooth texture while still being light. Flavours may include peanut butter, Valhrona sea-salt chocolate, and a burnt Valhrona white chocolate that tastes like caramel. Order a scoop in a sugar cone or in a cup and choose from toppings like dirty sea-salt caramel, crumbled raw coconut macaroons from Moonbeam or crumbled Amaretti biscuits.

 

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