My friends have constantly been talking about ice cream shops around Vancouver.  Earnest Ice Cream, Mario Gelato, Bella Gelateria, Menchie’s, and Rain or Shine. I am pretty sure there are more ice cream shops out there that are amazing. My go to place is Mario Gelato because they have a coconut sugar ice cream. So if you can’t eat white sugar like me then you have that option.  However vegan options are limited to the sorbets.

I was in the neighborhood of Rain or Shine and decided I had to try this ice cream.  I have to admit that I am not an ice cream fan so ice cream has to really impress me (and be sugar and egg free).  My first thoughts when I went in was, “there isn’t a line up”.  I hate line ups and this is one reason that I have still not tried Earnest ice cream.  The second thing I noticed was someone making waffle cones. MMmm fresh waffle cones. It was pretty cool watching them.  There were quite a few selections on the menu: coffee toffee, chocolate, salted caramel, blueberry balsamic, coconut chocolate chunk (vegan!), honey lavender, London fog, peanut butter, vanilla, cracked mint and malted milk chocolate.  They also have seasonal flings, sundae options, milkshakes and occasional special flavors.  A unique item on their menu is a waffle cone that looks like a taco and they have a special on Tuesdays called Taco Tuesdays.  I didn’t have enough space in my stomach to try it though.

My favorite part of this is that they serve vegan and dairy free ice cream. This means that my sister can enjoy some too and all my lactose intolerant friends.  I also like how there are no eggs in the ice cream! A bonus is that they support local farmers and try to create as little waste as possible. Go mother earth!

I have tried a few flavors here. From those I would have to say that my favorite is coffee toffee.  The coffee is so strong and fresh tasting and there are little bits of toffee sprinkled throughout.  The balance between the bitter and sweet was amazing. Another one that I thought was interesting and different was honey lavender.  I haven’t tried many lavender flavored things so I decided to try it.  (PS I know that you can try the flavors but it is not the same as a whole scoop.)   I have to say that it was not my favorite because it was really floral tasting.

The salted caramel flavor was a bit too salty to me. Maybe because I don’t eat that much salt?  The caramel flavor was great but I didn’t like the salt in it.

Cracked mint was a another classic flavor that I remember from my childhood.  Their version was minty and creamy with tiny bits of chocolate. I loved how the chocolate bits were tiny and that the ice cream wasn’t an artificial green color.

On the day I went to Rain or Shine they had a kiwi lime sorbet available.  I really liked it because it wasn’t overly sweet and you could really taste the kiwi.  This one is a great choice if you want something light and fruity.

Overall, I would go here again if my friends were heading there.  There wasn’t much seating inside so we did have to walk around to eat our ice cream.  Outside there was some street seating and would be great when it is sunny but it was wet and rainy out.  The ice cream was a little pricey for me but I do definitely want to try the waffle taco next time! (and go back for the coffee toffee.)

Let me know what you think about Rain or Shine.  What other ice cream shops do you think I should try?

Recipe List