Did you know that ice cream is the hottest thing on the food scene right now? From experimental flavours to trending tableware, everyone from chefs to supper club hosts to culinary influencers are serving up scoops. In the world of interiors, vintage-style, silver coupes have become a staple of aesthetic tablescapes, while of-the-moment restaurants like Copenhagen’s Apollo Bar are making soft serves a permanent part of their menu. Whether you’re looking for a traditional cone or a contemporary take on this classically cool dessert, we’ve picked out the best ice cafes in our 25hours cities.
1
Frankfurt
Antipodean
When Rachel, an Australian with a passion for gelato, opened her very own ice cafe in Frankfurt she decided to name it after herself—as an antipodean, that is. Inspired by a variation of flavours and techniques from across the globe, Rachel has travelled far and wide to get her processes and menu just right. She carefully prioritises whole ingredients and refuses to lean on industrial bases, instead making everything in-house and churning daily to give customers the freshest scoop possible. Plus, Antipodeon’s new lilac and coral events space is perfect for a birthday party.
You’ll find Oehlers on one of the busiest shopping streets in Hamburg’s chi-chi neighbourhood, Eppendorf, easily recognisable thanks to the lengthy queue outside. A local favourite, everyone’s here from young families and couples, to gossiping gal pals. The interiors are Instagrammable, hued in pastel pink but also pretty tiny, so grab a seat in the sunshine outside and enjoy a thick waffle cone, loaded with their homemade speciality which mixes waffle offcuts with chocolatey ice cream for a bite.
Early Bird is so cool (literally and metaphorically) that this dinky cafe and gelato store was longlisted for Dezeen Magazine’s Interior Design Awards and has made itself one of the hippest places to grab coffee and dessert in Berlin. Owned by couple Lorenzo Lodi and Charlène Sery, Lorenzo brings an Italian point of view, sourcing high-quality ingredients from his home country. Everything is lovingly made on site and always without any of the nasties, including artificial colourants, stabilizers or thickeners.
A long-time staple for Düsseldorf’s ice cream fans, Nordmanns has three locations across the city but Hermannstraße is the sweetest, with a large alfresco area, perfect for a sunny day. A large, but still family-run business, the Nordmanns are now in their fifth generation of owners and standards haven’t slipped. Their pistachio ice cream is brown, not green, as every scoop is made with high quality ingredients without an artificial colouring in sight. Vegans can also breathe easy, as the gelato flavours are totally plant-based.
Best Scoop: Spaghetti ice cream with strawberry sauce - a nostalgic favourite!
Artisan ice cream, made from scratch, using their own carefully tried and tested recipes is what’s made True & 12 a local go-to, and a regular fixture on ‘best ice cream’ articles not only for Munich and Germany, but the whole of Europe. What sets these guys apart is their passion for using real spices, from crafting their own sesame paste to experimenting with Iranian saffron, combined with rose water and crushed pistachios. Expect an ever-changing mix of 12 flavours.
Best Scoop: Happy Monkey made from ripened bananas and homemade caramel swirl
Café Nuances takes up residency in a stunning Art Deco building in the 1st, but step inside and you’ll feel a contrast of past, present and future. With interiors designed by Uchronia Studio, ice cream fans will be wowed by its contemporary feel. First and foremost a coffee bar, brothers Charles and Raphaël Corrot say they’ve given the bean a ‘contemporary vision’ with five carefully chosen blends, roasted on site. Served alongside your cup of joe, though, is an ice cream of the moment—which right now is, of course, tiramisu. Think creamy soft serve, trickled with coffee and studded with lady fingers. Délicieuse!
Best Scoop: The soft serve affogato is also a must!
Sisters Susanna and Cecilia have been vegan for 20 years and a few years ago combined their passion for dairy-free desserts to create their own brand: Veganista. With three locations, Veganista is a prominent name in Vienna and a must-try, whether you’re vegan or not. Using regional, ethically sourced, animal friendly and organic products are a non-negotiable at Veganista and the team say that, actually, most of their clients aren’t vegan at all—they just simply love their ice cream.
It’s no secret that the Danish food scene is as stylish as it comes, so if you’re looking for a seriously cool scoop in Copenhagen, we suggest forgoing the usual ice cream pit-stop and taking a seat at Apollo Bar, instead. This chic restaurant is one of the reasons ice cream is so ‘in’ right now, often serving the likes of its daily scoops in picture-worthy, silver coupes. While seasonal flavours are all the rage in summer, their iconic goat cheese ice cream served in a hollowed lemon is always on the menu.
In Florence, nothing but the real deal will do—and Vivoli sure is that. What started as a family-run dairy store in 1929, became one of the first ice cream spots in the city after the Vivoli brothers gained a contact in the ice business, going to great lengths to serve their chilled desserts (without the invention of refrigerators!) throughout the summer. Today, the grandchildren of the original owners are at the helm of the business, which is still one of the most popular places to not only get a cone, but a chic affogato, which went viral a few years back on social media.
There’s a time and place for old-school, original soft serves, but a visit to Temple Creamery ain’t it. With irreverence, humour and a huge capacity for experimentation, the team here love to collaborate with local foodies and give their fans something new to try. Take their ‘Portobello’ flavour, which mixes friend-of-the-brand Tablier 88’s vanilla and coconut cream sponge, with a large helping of mango purée, swirled into their house vanilla ice cream—sounds delicious, right?
Best Scoop: Breakfast in Bed with pieces of cinnabon nini bon, topped with fudge sauce and cinnamon toast crunch cinni swirls
Sydney's ice cream season may be on pause, but this unassuming little spot more than makes up for it. Kaska offers both inside and outside seating, but the real draw is a rotating coffee programme that consistently punches above its weight. No small feat in an area already flooded with options. If you're open to exploring floral tasting notes, their black coffee selection is something special. The team here sets a genuinely high standard, and it shows.
Tucked into a quiet Kebayoran Baru side street, Honest Spoon does exactly what its name promises. No shortcuts, no artificial fillers: just real milk, carefully sourced ingredients, and a rotating cast of flavours that have no business being this good. Think Brie Cheese with Honey and Almond, Genmaicha, ceremonial Matcha. The kind of menu that makes you wish you had a bigger stomach and more time. The interiors are calm and unhurried, a welcome contrast to Jakarta's relentless pace, and the crowd tends to match: people who know what they came for and aren't in a rush to leave.
