Summer came with a wallop last week as a heat wave sent Montreal into a renewed panic. Not one based on contagion, though, or at least not primarily. Playgrounds reopened their water play areas so kids could cool off and people with respiratory diseases were told to stay inside for a reason other than a virus. Now that’s what I call “novel.” The way most people I know decided to cool off was with ice cream. You might think it’d be hard to find an artisanal ice cream cone now that restaurants are closed except for takeout and delivery, but ice cream is the perfect takeout option (in a cup, rather than a cone for delivery). So whether you ordered your sundae in advance online, got your pint delivered by bike courier, or stopped by one of Montreal’s most popular places and stood in a socially distanced, two-metres-apart line, there’s a good chance you were able to hunt down a creamy, sweet frozen treat.
And if you didn’t, here are some places selling ice cream in, well, novel ways (plus a secret bonus list at the end for those who make it that far).
The real question is will we still be allowed to ask for free samples before we buy?
Photo credit: Heather Barnes on Unsplash
Ca Lem
This shop in NDG had already opened for pre-purchased ice creams to be picked up at their takeout window weeks ago. Now that there’s also a Plateau location, you can schedule your pickup at either spot. As I write this, the NDG soft serve option is raspberry sorbet and white chocolate ice cream, either by themselves or as a swirl. Scoop options include taro, pandan-coconut, mango, strawberry-litchi, grilled marshmallow, Oreo-coconut, banana-mocha, tamarind sorbet. And there are a couple more flavour options by the pint, including passionfruit-mango.
La Diperie
This chain is delivering its milkshakes, ice cream bars, donuts, crepes, cupcakes, cheesecakes and, yes, sundaes through Doordash and UberEats. No cones, because as good as those delivery bikers are, a cone is just asking for disaster.
Dalla Rose
This St-Henri one-off started its delivery service weeks ago. It’s pint-only, with flavours including Thai tea, Moroccan mint stracciatella, Quebec corn, peanut, hazelnut and Quebec strawberry. You can also get cookies, a ramen kit, an ice cream bowl or cookie plate delivered. Oh, and pickles, because why not?
Kem Coba
The line at this place usually stretches around the block, so now it should stretch at least three times as far, as patrons have to wait two metres apart for their swirled soft serve and scoops of hard ice creams. The store reopened May 26, just in time for the heat wave, and presumably had a mad rush for its orange-cardamom and sour cherry soft serve. But that line is worth it for dairy-free ice cream lovers everywhere, as the owners turn fruity flavours into dairy-free, super-smooth soft serve sorbets without caving to coconut milk. The secret is the soft serve machine.
Roberto
If I’m going to cheat on my lactose intolerance, it’s going to be with a pistachio (or very Italian pistacchio), Straciatella or baci gelato at Roberto’s on rue Bélanger. You won’t be eating in with those gorgeous parfait glasses, but at least on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays you can get your dense, homemade scoop to go and meander to a nearby park.
Hoché Glacé
This soft-serve and ice cream shop in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve is on my list of destinations for a summer bike ride since it focuses on a daily changing (I believe) vegan soft serve. (Contrary to what I initially thought, it also has regular ice cream with real dairy, or at least frozen yogurt.) It’s located just far enough from home to make it a workout, but close enough that I’d do it regularly for the chance to taste their latest flavours, the most recent of which include matcha (which came one of three ways: topped with apple crumble, coated in 70% dark chocolate, or with a raspberry coulis) and banana with Skor pieces. There are also fruit slushes, chocolate parfaits with peanuts, and blizzards with Reese’s Pieces and cookie dough. I believe the soft serve is all made with soy milk. If not, at least some flavours are soy-based, which I definitely prefer to coconut.
Glace des Arts
until recently, the website for this ice cream shop in the very touristy Place-des-Arts area showed an image of a fallen over ice cream cone with the message “ça va bien aller.” I’m not sure how bien things will go for this relative ice cream newcomer when there are no tourists (or pretty much anyone but office workers) in that area this entire summer, but hopefully it’ll va assez bien since the shop reopened May 25 and starting today, June 1, it’s offering pickup and delivery. For now, they’re only selling $10-$12 pints, $4.50 popsicles and a $12 banana split.
Paysanne Gelato
This used to be my favourite place for sorbet that didn’t require going outside. That’s an important consideration when it’s over 40˚C with humidity. The only interesting part of that situation would be finding out whether you or the ice cream would melt faster. But since Paysanne Gelato’s downtown store is in the Eaton Centre, I don’t think it’s allowed to be open for now. Hopefully, as a chain, it’ll have enough capital behind it to outlive the wait without going bankrupt. P.S. There’s takeout or delivery in Laval or Blainville.
Bonus List
If you don’t feel like waiting in yet another line for food this week (for some, just getting groceries is still a trial, I know), you can always pick up some less commercial pints at your local grocery store. Think of it as a chance to branch out from your regular purchase of Breyer’s, Coaticook or So Delicious (if you’re vegan or dairy-free). I did a vegan ice cream taste test on Breakfast Television a few years ago and dove into the differences between different brands and different types of milk alternatives, from soy to coconut to almond. Here’s the segment and all the info. If I’m going to buy a commercial ice cream, I usually go for the following:
My Favourite Sorbet Available at the Grocery Store:
Solo Fruits pear or raspberry flavour. It’s 100% fruit and is sweetened with concentrated apple juice only. It’s the smoothest commercial sorbet on the market, which means it feels creamy, which is important when you can’t have creamy but want that texture.
My Favourite Vegan Ice Cream Available at the Grocery Store:
So Delicious’s cinnamon cookie dough flavour. The cookie dough is gluten-free, so it’s one of the only ice cream’s that’s both GF and dairy-free. I wish it weren’t cashew-based, but I prefer it to the coconut milk-based chocolate chip cookie dough flavour. So Delicious’s low-calorie Salted Caramel Swirl is my choice for something lighter, since there’s no cashew in there. There is cocoa, though, so I can’t have it in the evening if I want to sleep.
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