Unique and Delicious Ice Cream From Around the World

Now, I don’t claim to be an ice cream connoisseur, nor have I been to every corner of the globe to sample all the ice cream that’s out there. I have however had the privilege of trying some unique and delicious ice cream from several different countries around the world over the years, and wanted to share my list of favourites.

This list is simply ordered by the date I tried each ice cream, and not by any sort of ranking. I’ve also included a place that I haven’t been to yet, but that has a fun ice cream I’ve been hoping to try for the past few years.

Vona Corona, Rose Hill, Mauritius

Vona Corona is a bit of an odd name, but I assure you they started making ice cream way before the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, they’ve been making ice cream for over 90 years now, and it’s become a bit of an emblematic Mauritian dessert!

It’s a simple dessert, made up of traditionally made ice cream (originally only Vanilla or Almond), pineapple coulis, and topped with jam and coconut. It’s a bit like a sundae, but with jam instead of chocolate sauce, and coconut instead of whipped cream.

Initially, the idea of jam with ice cream really didn’t appeal to me, but my in-laws at the time wanted me to try it, so I obliged. And you know what? It actually works!! It was really delicious, and I think the proof of that is how popular it is in Mauritius.

Years ago, you could only find Vona Corona in a few places in Mauritius, and they were transported by tricycle, with the ice cream cart strapped to the back. Now, they still have the mobile carts, as well as a shop in Rose Hill.

Initial Ice Cream, Kowloon, Hong Kong

While in Hong Kong for sports several years ago, I kept seeing people passing by me over the course of several days with this awesome looking turquoise-blue soft-serve in a black sugar cone. No matter where I looked though, I couldn’t find the source of this ice cream!

Finally after a few days of this, I told my team mates we absolutely needed to hunt down the source of this ice cream!!

So we set out on a mission to find it, and after a bit of searching, we finally found it on Cameron road in Kowloon - Initial Ice Cream! It was somewhat disguised by being inside of, oddly, a clothing store, which is why I had initially missed it.

They had a few flavours, but the blue one was called “Tears”, which is what we of course went for. The flavour itself was quite mild, but it was still pretty good. And the black sugar cone was a nice touch, and went well with the blue ice cream.

Sadly it seems like they have since closed down, so Initial Tears is no more. 😥

Shun Cheng Plaza, Kun Ming, China

Now unfortunately I don’t remember the actual name of the ice cream shop I spotted at Shun Cheng Shopping Center in Kun Ming, China. I guess I didn’t think I’d need to remember it, and only remember that it was accessible from the exterior of the mall, and not from the inside. I believe it was near Zara, and possibly not far from the Starbucks, but I could be wrong.

Shun Cheng Shopping Center is quite massive, with 7 floors of shops, restaurants, and entertainment.

It’s also quite popular, and gets packed with people, especially weekdays during lunch, and on weekends.

The ice cream shop itself constantly had a line-up, so I figured the ice cream had to be pretty decent!

The ice cream available here was vanilla soft serve, but with a twist - it was topped with a delicious strawberry sauce, crushed nuts, and pink popping candy! The vanilla ice cream was super smooth and delicious, and the toppings were really fun and added a nice extra bit of sweetness and texture.

If you happen to know the name of this ice cream shop, please let me know in the comments below! 👇

Bubble Waffle Factory, Dublin, Ireland

Bubble Waffle Factory is a small shop in Dublin, Ireland, that specializes in bubble waffles, which are a popular street food in Hong Kong.

They fill the bubble waffles with delicious scooped or soft serve ice cream, and then top it with a variety of toppings of your choosing.

I stumbled across Bubble Waffle Factory a few times while passing through a small passage into the Temple Bar district in Dublin, which is where Bubble Waffle Factory used to be located.

I told my buddy we needed to give it a try at some point, as it looked really amazing.

So one night, after grabbing dinner at a carvery in Temple Bar, we headed there for dessert and we were definitely not disappointed!

While I love all of the ice cream places I’m including in this list, Bubble Waffle Factory was one of my absolute top favs. It’s so playful, delicious, and the bubble waffle itself is so fun to eat!

Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart, HCMC, Vietnam

Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart is another one of my absolute top favs. I found it by accident while searching for a different soft serve ice cream shop at Saigon Center in Saigon and I knew I had to try it.

They have several flavours, but were out of 2 of them when I was there. I saw they had durian flavour though, and I thought, “what the heck, why not?”.

I’d like to try the plain vanilla cheese flavour at some point, just to get a base for comparison, but the durian one I had was unreal! It was super creamy, had a mild durian flavour (thankfully!), and the “baked cheese” really gives it a super rich, creamy, luxurious mouth feel. Sooooooo good! 😋

Yo’s Egg Waffles, Phuket, Thailand

Yo’s Egg Waffle is another ice cream shop that specializes in bubble waffles, but this time in Phuket, Thailand.

They had a stand right out in front of the hostel I was staying at, and I wanted to see how they compared to Bubble Waffle Factory in Dublin.

So one afternoon, after grabbing lunch in Phuket Old Town, I headed over to Yo’s Egg Waffles to give them a try. I wouldn’t say it was at the same level of Bubble Waffle Factory, but it was still pretty good, and the egg waffle was still nice and crispy, just like it should be.

Sadly, their Facebook page seems pretty dead, and I can’t find any other info on them recently, so it looks like they may have had to close.

Tickled Pink, Bangkok, Thailand

Before I left Montreal to go on my Vietnam/Thailand trip, I earmarked a few ice cream spots I wanted to check out during my trip, and Tickled Pink was one of them.

They have two or three locations in Bangkok as far as I’m aware, and I went to the one in Siam Square, which is a pretty big mall in Bangkok.

Tickled Pink does like a few ice cream shops here in Montreal do, where they change their flavours every week. They also hand make all of their own soft serve ice cream, and waffle cones as well, from scratch.

So if you see a flavour you like, better get it while you can, because it’s not likely to be there again for a long time, if ever!

When you order your ice cream, you have the choice to get it basic, with just the soft serve in a waffle cone, or you can get it jazzed out, where they add a bunch of toppings of your choice. Getting the toppings added will cost you a bit more, but it’s not a whole heck of a lot more expensive, and it makes the ice cream that much more fun.

I really love their concept and the ice cream is delicious. It’s definitely worth a visit if you’re in Bangkok!

Ca Lem, Montreal, Canada

Like Tickled Pink, Ca Lem is another ice cream shop that changes their soft serve flavours every week. Like Tickled Pink, they hand make all of their own ice cream, but Ca Lem’s ice creams are mostly (if not all) dairy-free.

You can also purchase their ice cream in pints to take home with you, and those come in a number of different flavours that are always available.

I’ve been by Ca Lem a few times over the years, but my favourite of the ones I had a chance to try was the Cookie Monster swirl.

It was a blue vanilla and chocolate swirl soft serve, with chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough mixed in, as well as on the outside. It was sooooooo good!

Chocolats Favoris, Montreal, Canada

Chocolats Favoris is an amazing place for sweets in general. They’ve got a ton of different chocolates, chocolate bars, chocolate fondues, candies, and of course, ice cream!

Chocolats Favoris is a Quebec, Canada-based chain. They have locations all over Quebec, as well as a few in Ontario, and one in Victoria, BC.

They have a ton of options for their ice cream, both scooped as well as soft serve, with a number of different toppings to choose from. Just make sure you have a serious sweet tooth, because the chocolate is super rich and sweet!

Kem Bơ Bé Huệ, Da Nang, Vietnam

Kem Bơ, or avocado ice cream, is a specialty of Da Nang.

It’s not exactly available on every corner (like coconut ice cream, which is another Da Nang specialty), but it’s still relatively easy to find throughout Da Nang.

It consists of creamy vanilla ice cream, mashed avocado, and I believe usually some coconut as well, although that might depend on where you go.

Like most things in life though, there are some places that do it better than others, and Kem Bơ Bé Huệ is definitely one of the places that does avocado ice cream right!

Their avocado is blended really smooth so that it’s super creamy, and mixes well with the ice cream. Some other places tend to have “chunky” avocado, which I’m not a fan of.

Apart from being super smooth and creamy, Kem Bơ Bé Huệ’s vanilla ice cream, avocado, and coconut all balance each other out perfectly, which is something else I didn’t find at some other places we tried.

So Kem Bơ Bé Huệ definitely gets my vote for best avocado ice cream in Da Nang, and I think if you get the chance to try it, you’ll see why!

Kamehameha Snack-Bar, Montreal, Canada

Now Kamehameha Snack-Bar is a bit of a different one, as it’s not an ice cream shop, but a Hawaiian restaurant. They do have a unique looking ice cream offering though, called Taiyakis.

Taiyakis are a Japanese fish-shaped cake, that are usually filled with red bean paste, but in this case, they’re filled with ice cream!

I haven’t actually had the chance yet to try them, as they’re only available after 5pm, but they look super fun, and they have some pretty interesting flavours they rotate through.

With any luck, I’ll get the chance to snag one next summer! 🤞

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That’s it for now for my list of unique and delicious ice cream from around the world, but there will certainly be more in the future!

If you have any suggestions for other unique ice cream places I should try, especially if they’re soft serve, please let me know in the comments below! 👇