The Best Ice Cream in Johannesburg

The coolest scoops in Joburg

Johannesburg takes ice cream rather seriously.

As we should.

This is a city where summer arrives with enthusiasm, lunch regularly turns into an afternoon and there is almost always a perfectly reasonable excuse for stopping somewhere on the way home for ice cream.

And Joburg has options.

Proper Italian gelato. Small-batch ice cream. Pistachio worth crossing town for. Sorbet that actually tastes of fruit. Ice cream sandwiches requiring both hands. Rolled ice cream made in front of you. And desserts so gloriously excessive that calling them “a scoop” would be misleading.

So forget the supermarket tub for a moment.

These are the places worth leaving home for.

1. Gelato Mania — Rosebank

There are people who like ice cream.

And then there are people who want to inspect 32 flavours before making a decision.

Gelato Mania is for the latter.

Tucked into The Firs in Rosebank, this is serious gelato territory, with the gelato made on site and an impressive selection that stretches across full-cream, sorbet, vegan and sugar-conscious options.

Even the cones deserve attention — they’re made fresh in store.

But here’s the problem.

You will walk in convinced you’re having pistachio.

Then you’ll see Belgian chocolate.

Then something fruity.

Then something involving hazelnuts.

Suddenly you’re requesting samples like a wine critic.

Allow extra time.

Sublime scoop: Pistachio. If you’re ordering two flavours, pair it with something dark and chocolatey.

Where: The Firs, Rosebank.

2. Baglios — Various Joburg locations

Sometimes you don’t need ice cream reinvented.

You need it done beautifully.

Baglios has Italian heritage running through it, with recipes connected to the Barbaglia family going back to the 1970s. The result is the sort of gelato that reminds you why simple flavours can be the hardest ones to get right.

And Joburgers repeatedly mention one flavour in particular.

Pistachio.

Creamy, nutty and considerably more sophisticated than anything fluorescent green has a right to be.

Baglios also does sorbet, frozen yoghurt and granita, but on the first visit?

Get the gelato.

Sublime scoop: Pistachio.

Where: Several Johannesburg locations, including Bedfordview, Morningside and Montecasino.

3. Paul’s Homemade Ice Cream — Various locations

You can’t really write about Johannesburg ice cream without Paul.

At this point, Paul’s Homemade Ice Cream has become part of the city’s dessert vocabulary.

And much of the appeal lies in flavours that sound like someone was left alone in a kitchen with absolutely no adult supervision.

Birthday Cake.

Stroopwafel.

Churros and dulce de leche.

Bread-and-butter-pudding-inspired creations.

There are classics too, but where’s the fun in behaving yourself?

The ice cream is richer and denser than gelato, so one scoop can be surprisingly substantial.

Not that this has ever stopped us ordering two.

Sublime scoop: Birthday Cake for nostalgia. Whatever limited-edition flavour looks most ridiculous for everything else.

Where: Various Johannesburg locations, including Parkhurst.

4. Forest Gelato — Parkview & 44 Stanley

Forest Gelato is for the person who looks at the ice cream cabinet and immediately chooses the flavour nobody else understands.

Orange and Szechuan pepper?

Obviously.

Something involving seasonal fruit you’ve never considered putting into gelato?

Absolutely.

Forest makes its gelato and sorbet from scratch, works with seasonal ingredients and avoids artificial additives and preservatives. There are also particularly good vegan options.

But what I like most is that the flavours feel grown-up without becoming boring.

This isn’t ice cream trying desperately to become dessert theatre.

It’s simply very good gelato made by people who clearly care about ingredients.

Sublime scoop: Vegan Belgian chocolate or coconut and lime when available.

Where: 44 Stanley, Braamfontein Werf, and The Village Shopping Centre, Parkview.

5. Wedgewood Emporium — Parkhurst

Nougat.

Now turn it into ice cream.

You have my attention.

Wedgewood’s ice cream takes the brand’s famous nougat world and sends it directly into dessert territory.

The texture is rich, the flavours are indulgent and this is absolutely not the place for anyone announcing that they’ll “just have one little taste.”

Honey macadamia is exactly as luxurious as it sounds.

And there’s something particularly dangerous about having Wedgewood on 4th Avenue, because Parkhurst has quietly become one of Joburg’s best streets for an ice cream crawl.

Lunch first.

Ice cream afterwards.

Or ice cream first.

We’re adults.

Sublime scoop: Honey macadamia.

Where: Parkhurst.

6. La Cremosa — Melrose Arch & Dainfern

If you’re looking for proper Italian-style gelato, La Cremosa deserves a stop.

There’s something refreshingly restrained about the approach.

The focus is the gelato.

Good ingredients. Proper texture. Italian sensibility.

No mountain of sweets required.

Pistachio is always a useful test of a gelateria, and this is where I’d begin. Nutella is the obvious second scoop if the day requires chocolate.

And yes, the day does.

La Cremosa also makes cannoli, which presents an entirely separate problem because now you’ve arrived for ice cream and somehow acquired pastry.

Life is difficult.

Sublime scoop: Pistachio and Nutella.

Where: Melrose Arch and Dainfern Square.

7. Crumbs & Cream — Illovo

Someone looked at a cookie.

Then looked at ice cream.

And correctly asked:

Why are these separate?

Crumbs & Cream built its reputation around the ice cream sandwich, and this isn’t the place to behave elegantly.

Choose your cookies.

Choose your gelato.

Add whatever additional chaos feels appropriate.

Then attempt to eat the thing without getting ice cream on your hands, clothes or dignity.

It’s particularly good when you’re eating with children.

Or adults who become children when presented with toppings.

Sublime order: Build an ice cream sandwich rather than simply ordering a scoop. Commit to the experience.

Where: Oxford Road, Illovo.

8. Swirl Smashed & Rolled Ice Cream — Melrose Arch

Part dessert.

Part performance.

At Swirl, your ice cream is mixed and rolled on a freezing cold plate in front of you.

Ingredients go down.

Everything gets chopped and smashed together.

The mixture freezes.

Then those beautiful little rolls appear.

It remains enormously satisfying to watch, even if you’re considerably older than the target audience for being impressed by rolled ice cream.

The real advantage is customisation.

You can create something relatively sensible.

Or you can treat the toppings counter like a personal challenge.

We know which direction this is going.

Sublime order: Pick your favourite base and build your own combination.

Where: Melrose Arch.

9. Soweto Creamery — Jabulani

And now we abandon restraint completely.

Soweto Creamery isn’t really interested in sending you home with a polite little scoop.

This is dessert turned up several levels.

The business was started by photographer Thando Makhubu using his R350 Covid relief grant and grew into one of Soweto’s most talked-about dessert destinations.

Expect ice cream accompanied by chocolate, fruit, cookies, sauces and combinations that require a strategic plan before eating.

This is not minimalist dessert.

Thank goodness.

Go hungry.

Take photographs quickly.

Then attack.

Sublime order: Choose one of the fully loaded creations and don’t attempt to calculate the calories.

Where: Jabulani, Soweto.

10. Pantry by Marble — Rosebank

Of course Pantry has ice cream.

Because apparently Johannesburg needed somewhere you could buy beautiful groceries, excellent coffee, pastries, pizza and ice cream at an unreasonable hour.

The Jan Smuts Pantry is open 24 hours, which creates an extremely useful situation:

Good ice cream has no bedtime.

This is where you stop after dinner when nobody wants the evening to end.

Or after midnight.

Or because you’re driving past.

Or because you’ve invented an emergency that requires ice cream.

No explanation necessary.

Sublime scoop: Ask what’s looking particularly good that day and follow your instincts.

Where: 170 Jan Smuts Avenue, Rosebank.

11. Fab & Co — Parkhurst

Fab & Co understands that gelato doesn’t always have to behave.

Yes, you’ll find familiar flavours.

But then something like malva pudding and custard appears.

Or gorgonzola with caramelised fig.

And suddenly we’re having a completely different conversation.

That’s what makes this little Parkhurst stop fun.

The kitchen isn’t afraid of flavour combinations that make you raise an eyebrow before asking for a taste.

The sorbets are worth watching too, particularly the citrus flavours when they’re available.

Sublime scoop: Order the strangest flavour in the cabinet.

You can have vanilla tomorrow.

Where: Parkhurst.

12. SOBAE — Victoria Yards

And finally, something different.

SOBAE makes small-batch sorbets using ripe produce, with a strong emphasis on fruit, seasonality and reducing food waste.

There is something beautifully Johannesburg about finding it at Victoria Yards: creative, independent and doing things its own way.

The flavours can move beyond predictable strawberry-and-lemon territory, bringing herbs, spices and vegetables into the conversation.

This is what you order when you want something refreshing rather than overwhelmingly sweet.

And because SOBAE pops up at Victoria Yards rather than behaving like a conventional everyday ice cream parlour, finding it feels a little more special.

Sublime scoop: Whatever is seasonal.

Where: Victoria Yards, Lorentzville — look out for the First Sunday market.

The Sublime Ice Cream Crawl

If you’re taking this assignment very seriously — and I respect that — go to Parkhurst.

It might just be Johannesburg’s unofficial ice cream high street.

Start with something adventurous at Fab & Co.

Walk.

Have a scoop at Baglios.

Walk again.

Try Wedgewood.

Continue to Paul’s.

At this point somebody in the group will announce that they couldn’t possibly eat another thing.

Ignore them.

They’ll recover.

One more scoop

The wonderful thing about Johannesburg’s ice cream scene is that there isn’t really one winner.

Want old-school indulgence?

We’ve got it.

Proper Italian gelato?

Absolutely.

Vegan chocolate?

Easy.

Nougat ice cream?

Naturally.

An ice cream sandwich the size of your afternoon plans?

Of course.

Something involving pistachio?

Almost everywhere, thankfully.

And perhaps that’s the correct way to judge a city’s ice cream scene.

Not by finding the best scoop.

But by having enough excellent ones that you need an entire summer to decide.

Fortunately, Joburg gives us plenty of sunshine.

We’ll need another cone.