The newest trends in urban desserts involve a level of creativity that has our taste buds tingling. Vv Magazine’s Vancouver contributor, Helen Siwak, gives us the down low on Vancouver’s best new desserts.
Not content with the usual box of popsicles or a store-bought pie? Vancouverite’s are getting down and delicious with their interpretations of desserts. Nothing is sacred anymore and the kitchen gloves have come off this summer.
720 Sweets & Etc.
3278 West Broadway
Using nitrogen to create smoking soft serve and launching the ice-cream pie craze with flavours such as Vanilla, Matcha and Milk’ee, this newcomer is now kicking some serious dessert butt with multiple awards within months of each other. So far in 2016, 720 is the winner of Best Desserts and Best Ice Cream in the Golden Plates, and squeezed their way into the Top 10 Best Emerging Entrepreneur and Premier’s People’s Choice at the Small Business BC awards.
Tangram Creamery
2729 Arbutus Street
Artisan ice creams in unique flavours are drawing line-ups at Tangram. You have the option to try the ‘regular’ flavours such as Black Sesame, Coffee, Houjicha, and Green Tea or opt for a cup of steaming deliciousness called affogatos, made with rich espresso.
Icy Bar
4940 No.3 Road
As crazy as it sounds, the 8 Mix Icy’s are what is happening at this frozen dessert shop. Top your shaved ice base with 8 frozen toppings such as mango, mochi, coconut jelly, lychee poppers, almond jelly, bubble tea pearls, pineapple and a big old scoop of ice-cream. Think about sharing before ordering one of these or you may find yourself in the emerg with hypothermia or a severe case of brain freeze.
Nice Vice
1022 Mainland St.
Nice Vice is Vancouver’s first ever 0% daily, plant-based micro-creamery. It is organic and free of dairy, soy, allergens, GMO and cholesterol but that doesn’t mean there’s a lack of flavour. When not cruising around in the Nice Vice van, they are batching up flavours like Banoffee Pie with Graham Crackers, Blue Raspberry, Chai-Me with Aslan Chai, Orange Cardamom Kreamsicle, and Watermelon Hibiscus.
Chicco Coffee & Dessert Bar
1504 Robson St.
Chicco has nestled in at Robson and Nicola and serves a range of Japanese sweets to the hoards, but the Green Tea Parfait is the most often ordered treat. The cup contains a melange of sweet red bean, rice cake, melon, green tea ice-cream and mousse, frosted corn flakes, melon, sponge cake and a green tea stick. Other available parfait cups contain various crispy, crunchy, squishy and baked (think macarons) thingys. Who knows what they are and who cares, just scoop them up!
Sai Woo
158 E Pender St.
For a while, all we heard about was a dessert that looked like the rich thick earth. At Sai Woo, the chef created a dish that looked like a dewy spring morning in Stanley Park. The Chocolate Panacotta with espresso crumble, Dulce de Leche, roasted cashews, black sesame, and mint is pure heaven in an earthen ware bowl. Surely such a creation deserves its own category.
Eternal Abundance
1025 Commercial Dr.
Having lived near Eternal Abundance, I can testify with the draw of their mounds of sweets and not just cakes but squares, cookies, tarts, cones, triangles, every shape you can imagine. All these vegan desserts stacked up the width of the store, are affordable and the various flavours invoked memories of world travel from Ireland to India.
Che-Licious Desserts & Snacks
1120 Denman St.
The home of Vietnamese smoothie-type desserts with straws that use real exotic fruits, various jellies and beans, coconut milk or coconut juices sweetened with palm sugar. Recently the small business won a Vancouver Foodster People’s Choice 1st Place for the pictured concoction, entitled the Crouching Coco Hidden Dragon. Almost too gorgeous to scoop up – said nobody ever.
Vegan Pudding & Co.
422 Richards St.
Probably the smallest ‘shop’ ever! A sliding window on the side of a building on a side street between downtown and Crosstown is where you find the original Vegan Pudding Co. Their vegan, organic custard pudding is hand-made and the only one of its kind in Vancouver. These tiny creamy cups come in a variety of flavours including vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and matcha (green tea) and black sesame and they are packaged in biodegradable containers.
Whether you enjoy your fruity and fresh or flash frozen, Vancouver is crazy over sweet delights this summer and if you want to try the best, we hope this list does not disappoint.
RELATED LINK: New Restaurants in Vancouver: July 2016
Did we miss any of the best new desserts in Vancouver? Let Vv Magazine know in the comments below, or tweet us @ViewtheVibe.