Ice cream presents quite a stumbling block for vegan and dairy-free diners looking for a quick summer cool-me-down. But in recent years, vegan ice cream has become more readily-available (not to mention more tasty), as per the below London cafes and restaurants, which all serve dairy-free versions.
As for gelato and sorbet — they're quite often vegan anyway, but it's always worth double-checking as sometimes honey, eggs, or other non-vegan ingredients are used.
Vegan ice cream at Chin Chin Laboratories, Soho and Camden
View this post on Instagram
Chin Chin has always been ahead of its competitors in the ice cream game — it was using liquid nitrogen as far back as 2010. Vegans are catered for at both Chin Chin locations; the ice cream parlours in Camden and Soho have a regularly changing menu, with the weekly specials often vegan. Past examples have included pandan leaf, lychee & geranium rose, and banana pudding. Vegans needn't miss out toppings either, with raspberry sauce, glossy cherries, and pistachio & cardamom powder among the offerings.
Chin Chin, 49-50 Camden Lock, and 54 Greek Street.
Vegan sorbet at Amorino, across London
With several London locations including Soho, Covent Garden, Stratford and Chelsea, gelato parlour Amorino has become a staple on the London ice cream scene, and although many of its gelato flavours contain milk and eggs, it does a range of vegan sorbets — and they're rather exotic.
Take the lime and basil for example, a green-hued scoop that tastes like summer itself. The banana nanica is a sweet and exotic option, while the camarosa (strawberry) errs on the side of tradition — yet deliciously so.
See menus in individual branches to find out which vegan flavours are currently available.
Vegan sundaes at The Parlour at Fortnum & Mason
View this post on Instagram
We love the sleekness of The Parlour at Fortnum & Mason. In winter, it's our go-to place for hot chocolate, then when summer rolls round, we head there to work our way through the sundae menu, drooling over that curved ice cream counter, its neon sign and pastel palette luring us in.
While your non-vegan friend tucks into a knickerbocker glory or one of the other OTT sundaes on the menu, vegans can build their own 'Super Sundae'. Strawberry and salted caramel are the vegan ice cream flavours on the menu at time of writing, with lemon, raspberry, pineapple, pomegranate and lychee sorbets also suitable. Pimp it up with a vegan sauce — think chocolate, salted caramel, raspberry, strawberry or passion fruit. Still not decadent enough? Some of the extra toppings, such as fresh fruit, are vegan friendly too.
Vegan knickerbocker glory at Persepolis, Peckham
Ah, Persepolis. This petite Persian cafe in Peckham — dubbed 'Snackistan' by its characterful owner Sally — is highly underrated on the London food scene as far as we're concerned, and deserves to be better-known by vegans particularly. Everything on the menu is vegetarian, and lots of it can be made vegan on request. The highlight is the vegan knickerbocker glory (an absolute steal at just £4).
Vegan sorbets at La Gelatiera
View this post on Instagram
Artisan gelato shop La Gelatiera changes the flavours of its sorbet and gelato on a regular basis, so it's worth following on Instagram for the latest flavours.
The sorbet menu caters more for vegans that the gelato side of things, with Sicilian pistachio; extra dark chocolate with Calabrian chilli; coconut; almond; and alphonso mango just some of the example flavours that might be available on any given day (we'd cross our fingers for the chilli chocolate...).
The Soho branch is cosy, with limited seating, so we'd recommend going on a summer day, then hot footing it to Soho Square or Covent Garden to enjoy your ice cream in the sun. Other locations at Stratford, Crouch End and South Bank.
Vegan gelato at Prime Gelato, Shaftesbury Avenue
Despite its Shaftesbury Avenue location, Prime Gelato is less well-known than some of London's other ice cream and gelato shops, but don't write it off as a tourist trap, especially if you're vegan.
Hats off to the brand for dedicating a whole page of the website to vegan flavours, making it easy for those looking for ice cream and gelato free of animal products, to find what they're looking for.
Prime Gelato offer six different vegan flavours at any one time, including dark chocolate, hazelnut, and pistachio — and all of their sorbets are naturally vegan friendly.