With a dessert history in custard or warm, sticky puddings, ice cream is not usually a sweet associated with London. Still that doesn’t mean that when the temperature heats up we shouldn’t all scream for ice-cream. Should there not be an ice-cream van on hand, you may need to make your way to one of the cities best ice-cream parlors. Luckily, so you don’t have to walk too far in the heat, Marie Teather has the best all covered.
Fortnum and Mason’s Parlour
A 1950s ice cream parlor in one of London’s oldest department stores. The stunning David Collins, pink and white striped interior makes this a dainty place to grab a seat on the ice-cream bar and make your way through as many knickerbocker glories you can handle. Ices are homemade using ingredients from the store’s famed food hall. If your tooth isn’t so sweet—or it’s just too cold to consider ice cream—you can choose from open sandwiches, Viennese cakes, or strudels while sipping on an indulgent hot chocolate.
Fortnum & Mason, 181 Piccadilly, Piccadilly, W1J 9FA
020 7734 8040
Gelateria Valerie
One of London’s most popular patisseries also has a delicious ice-cream parlor with plenty of outdoor seating to watch Chelsea’s coolest saunter up and down the King’s Road. Maintaining that Italian air of laid-back sophistication, the big, bright-blue umbrellas provide the perfect shade to savor creamy, ice-cold gelato in flavors such as wild strawberry, Ferrero Rocher, crème brulee, or tiramisu. All the gelato is handmade each day with over 24 varieties on show at any one time and new flavors each time you visit.
9 Duke of York Square, Chelsea, SW3 4LY
020 7730 7978
Freggo
You’d be forgiven for looking at their website and thinking it’s a nightclub. Instead this is London’s first branch of the luxury Argentinean ice cream chain, Freddo. Since it opened in 2009, its ice cream menu has expanded to include cones of tubs filled with chocolate, cream, and fruit flavored ice creams. The menu even offers some unexpected South American favorites such as tortilla, empanadas, and frittia. Confused? Don’t be. Just stick to the ice cream and follow Freddo’s philosophy that they’re: ‘So cool, it’s hot.’ Argentinean ice cream will do that to you.
27-29 Swallow Street, W1B 4QR
020 7287 9506
Marine Ices
A London institution with little space left on the walls from the awards that they’ve won over the years. The slightly dated decor adds to the retro and well-loved atmosphere while the same Mansi family is still running the parlor after their Italian ancestor first arrived in London to open the store in 1900. Expect traditional Italian classics such as mint choc chip, run and raisin, tiramisu, and a fantastic selection of sorbets.
8 Haverstock Hill, NW3 2BL
020 7482 9003
Morellis Gelato in Harrods
Marino Morelli always wanted to open the “best ice cream parlor in the world.” For his first concession he headed straight for the prime location of Harrods’s famous food halls. The ice cream is not the only Italian import, 400 pieces of Italian-cut marble were brought in to create the space that serves an endless repertoire of ice cream flavors, each made fresh daily. The menu is a bible of sundaes, from contemporary to classic, and with the ‘bespoke’ ice cream service; you can even invent your own flavors.
Harrods 102, 102 Brompton Road, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 1JJ
020 7893 8295
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