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Aug 19, 2024

Best Unusual Ice Creams in Paris: Our local recommendations

Temperatures are soaring here in Paris and so it’s the perfect time to check out some of the newest and most interesting ice cream offerings in the city. There are a number of wonderful traditional ice cream makers here, but we’d like to step off the beaten path and share five of our favourite new discoveries with you that may just be some of the best ice cream in Paris. That way you’ll have the coolest stay here in every way!

Pâtisserie Michalak

Renowned French pastry chef Christophe Michalak produces delicious ice creams based on typical French desserts in his pristine shops lined with beautiful pastries. This spot has some of the most famous ice cream in Paris, and for good reason.

There’s a whole range of flavours to choose from – some we particularly liked the look of! How about chocolate and caramel tart, raspberry, lychee and lime pavlova, vanilla and pecan millefeuille or hazelnut Paris-Brest? We tried the hazelnut Paris-Brest and it was extremely decadent, with a gooey hazelnut layer on top of the ice cream, topped with caramelised hazelnuts. There is no doubt that this one stood out for its presentation and it’s worth a shoutout as one of the best ice creams in Paris!

7,90€. 📍​Multiple locations around the city

The French Bastards

This innovative bakery is known for having some of the best ice cream in Paris, France, along with surprising creations such as the cruffin (croissant/muffin). We tried the ice cream cookie sandwich.

Available in 3 flavours – vanilla caramel, stracciatella charcoal or chocolate spread.  We went for the chocolate spread (as the others were already sold out) and, as one would expect from such a popular bakery, the cookies stole the show; they were so soft!

5,50€. 📍​Multiple locations around the city

Café Isaka

Situated in the middle of the Little Tokyo neighbourhood, with a typical kawaii décor (very cute!) this is the perfect place to try typical Japanese flavours, some are very unusual! How about white rabbit candy (milk sweet), pandan, purple ube, white or black sesame or cold brew Vietnamese coffee? Not forgetting of course the ubiquitous matcha!

Everything is made in house and you can also get iced mochi.

We had a deep fried ball of rabbit candy ice cream in Panko breadcrumbs; it came topped with popcorn and caramel. The contrast of the warm fried outer layer with the cold ice cream is incomparable to anything we’ve ever tried before. It is almost impossible to describe but this ice cream is most definitely the epitome of a sweet treat. It was undoubtedly the winner in this round of tasting and a must try for those who are really looking for something unusual!

6,80€. 📍​9 rue Thérèse, 75001

Café Nuances

Cafe Nuances is an artisanal coffee shop known for quality coffees and unusual drink combinations, particularly their rose latte!

Our ice cream choice here was a Matchagato - an affogato made with homemade soft serve Fior di Latte ice cream, but with a shot of matcha instead of coffee! Café Nuances has a reputation for their matcha, so the quality of the matcha shot is what really made this ice cream stand out. The serving is very generous and the matcha infiltrates into all of the crevices in the ice cream, meaning every mouthful is matcha-infused. It is definitely one for the matcha lovers!

7,00€. 📍​25 rue Dannielle Casanova, 75001

Hoct&Loca

Hoct&Loca is a Chocolate bar – absolutely everything is chocolate based!

Here we tried a soft serve vanilla ice cream which they dip into one of their six chocolate fountains right in front of you to form a chocolate shell. You can choose different chocolates - dark, milk, white, pistachio or hazelnut - the options vary as they sometimes introduce new flavours. Although this may seem like a normal vanilla ice cream, the quality of the chocolate takes it to another level. We opted for the dark chocolate, which was incredibly rich and velvety, and the shell adds a nice crunch to the creamy vanilla within!

4,50€. 📍​99 rue de la Verrerie, 75004

ENJOY!

Thank you!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read our blog! We are a small Paris-based tour guide company that prioritises a boutique personal experience where we can share our passion for our heritage and community with every individual that joins us. If you'd like to take a tour then head over to our website for an unforgettable trip to the city of lights. Also, check out our social media @memories.france for everything you could need to know for coming to Paris, from how to use the metro to coffee shops closest to each major monument, there is something for everyone!

Freya, Siobhan & the Memories France Family

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