nanashake toronto — Strawberry Nanashake (Image: Libby Roach)

Vv Magazine’s Libby Roach visited Toronto’s first dedicated vegan frozen dessert parlour for an exclusive first look.

Nanashake has opened in the towering green buildings known as Emerald Park, near Yonge and Sheppard. Tucked around back, the tidy shop was the first tenant to open in the buildings–it is also the first frozen dessert parlour dedicated to vegans in Toronto.

The new concept, created by husband and wife duo Yazeed Yasin and Tamara Aldip, was conceived after searching for a vegan dessert and coming up empty handed. Tamara took matters into her own hands and the Nanashake was created. The “original” serves as a base for all the flavours–a mix of frozen bananas, almond milk, nuts and agave syrup. The flavours are all natural, meaning there are no fake colourings or weirdo preservatives, just a clean vegan plant based product that is gluten free too!

Flavours run from standard chocolate, strawberry and mint chocolate to more sophisticated choices like Rosey Pistachio, Spiced Date or the Affogato. The fresh dairy free desserts are whipped up in two sizes: a single that will set you back $4.99 and a double that will run you $7.49. Toppings (which are 100% vegan) are an extra 50 cents, and grab-and-go popsicles are $2.99 each.

The overall texture of the Nanashake is similar to a crunchy PB & Banana sandwich; there are rifts of chunky nuts and sweet banana without being overly sweet. I’m nowhere near close to being a vegan but I still enjoyed the flavour and the feeling of having a satisfying dessert, without the sugar crash.

Nanashake is open Monday to Friday 9am-6pm, Saturday 10am-6pm and closed on Sundays.