In the eight summers I've been coming with husband and his family to Muskoka, the building…read morecurrently occupied by The Scoop has been...probably eight different ice cream shops. And why not? It's the perfect little hut, situated just outside of Bala town, with its own dock and excellent views of Bala Bay. Unfortunately, none of these ice cream places ever seemed to be open in the middle of the summer at the height of cottage season. Until The Scoop. Purchased last year by a local college student and her brother, the hut received an adorable Canadian facelift -- red, white and brown paint -- revamped signage and a new life. The siblings take turns working each evening, greeting customers and proudly scooping delicious, Ontario-based Kawartha brand ice cream. A tiny Swedish berry in lieu of a cherry on your scoop is their quaint signature. We're *so* glad they've set up shop in Bala and wish them the best of luck for continuing success; cuz nothing beats grilling your dinner al fresco followed by a boat ride to town for frozen dessert.

Thankfully this popular summer spot beside the highway and at the bus stop remained open during…read moreCOVID. They didn't offer as many flavours as usual but the classics remain on the menu. Portions are quite generous and it's Canadian ice cream (you can't beat that!) Right now it's cash only...I actually think it's always cash only but I might be wrong. I'm trying to remember if the one lady working was wearing a mask. She was behind plexiglass and sanitized her hands but I cannot remember if she was wearing a mask or not.

visited this ice cream stand and the girl working had no gloves or mask on. asked her "why not"…read more She said " well I wash my hands". I watched her take money from the customer before us and went and grabbed another cone and started scooping ( no hand washing in between). We left with no ice cream and its very doubtful we will be back

Awesome (and only) General Market of Port Sandfield. BEST local sweet corn around!! Silver Stream…read moreis accessible both by car and boat. On a hot summer day we love tying up our boat under the bridge and walking up to the store for an ice cream cone. Not only does Silver Stream have corn and ice cream, they have a room full of produce, a meat counter, dairy refrigerators, a bakery, all the Canadian candy you would ever desire, a magazine and newspaper wall, cleaning supplies, and pharmaceutical items.

We decided to stop by here for some fish and chips. This place is busy even at 2pm. We were met…read morewith Christmas music in July and great hospitality. The owner explained that the cod tongues were like the neck of the cod and had a chewier texture (like calamari) while the cod cheeks were tender and more like scallop texture. Food: Cod tongue with onion rings - you get a dozen or some pieces of deep fried cod tongue - they were pretty good though I'm not sure I'm a connoisseur enough to appreciate it. Still great though! 4/5. Cod cheeks were also quite good with a similar number of pieces. Again, I probably couldn't appreciate well enough the difference between the two so they seemed similar but still tasty. The custom lemon, dill sauce was great to dip in! 4/5. Pickerel - this is a massive piece of fish and chip. The batter is delicious and the fish was moist and flaky. Totally with every dollar! Beside the fish and chips is a ice cream stand that sells kawartha dairy in massive scoops. Be aware that small is two huge scoops, baby is 1.5 huge scoops! Price: Pretty reasonable for fish and chips, and great value for ice cream! Definitely recommend if your a big fish and chips fan!

Great place to stop for some fries! Not fussy - big portions…read moreand fast. Just bring cash.

Our family was up here for a cottage weekend and we were looking for an ice cream shop and…read moremooskokas closed at 9pm and we arrived right at 9pm and they wouldn't serve our family of 8 same with Muskoka chills. So we found Ice dreams. The girls were great, spot was super cute and had delicious ice cream!!

This is a great spot for ice cream in Bala. They are always generous with the portions and have…read moreother treats like fudge and mini donuts. They also have breakfast bagels and grilled cheese. All are very yummy. They also have a large selection for the ice cream, candy and you will enjoy all of the Coca Cola memorabilia. Definitely a must stop in Bala!

Getting out of the city can be hectic, but totally worth it to be surrounded by the rolling forests…read moreand lakes of muskoka. The Rosseau General Store has anything you might have forgotten to pack or unexpectedly need, and everything else to make your cottage weekend great. They have camp groceries, seasonal produce, gourmet ingredients, toys, games, hardware, maps, souvenirs, etc. Maybe grab a snack or fresh baked goods and enjoy it on a backyard bench, with a beautiful view of the lake. The store sits on the main village intersection. Hard to miss the beautiful store front with an antique carriage. Refill, restock, and refresh here.

This store has everything you need for a weekend at the cottage. You don't even need to bring food…read morereally, you can get it all here with all the seasonings and fresh veggies to go with it! It has it's own butcher shop at the back! Forget flip flops or a towel? I did and the General Store had just what I needed! Staff are friendly too.

We stopped by this ice cream shop for dessert and we're really happy with our experience…read more 1) This place is popular and always has a line. 2) They have lots of options to cater to everyone's needs. They have meals, desserts, ice-cream, smoothies, coffee, tea and bubble tea. 3) The line moved really fast. The Food: We ordered an ice cream and smoothie with boba. I love this new trend because I love boba and my boyfriend loves ice-cream. It makes it really easy to accommodate both of us when we try to satisfy our sweet tooth's. - Smoothie with boba: I ordered a mango banana smoothie with boba after I found our the bubble tea mix had dairy in it. I was very happy with this option and it tasted great. It was made with less sugar than boba typically is (score) and had my tapioca pearls. It was delicious and I would order this again. - Moosetraps Ice-Cream: My boyfriend really enjoyed his ice-cream. He thought it was delicious and the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter. Would we go back? Absolutely!

Great place! I visited the Gravenhurst area and the waterfront and I was quite impressed with the…read morequality of food and desserts from here. I'm not a local to the area, but from what some of the locals tell me, this place is one of the go-to places for fast Asian food and desserts, especially bubble tea.. so much so that some days, the tapioca runs out for the day. The food menu also switches up regularly I hear so there's always something new to try. I tried the fresh fruit shakes here and the ice cream cones and I loved them! For sure this place doesn't compare to some of the places you'll find in the GTA, but it's pretty great for the area. I'm definitely coming back here next time I'm in the area.

My fiance and I stumbled upon this place purely by chance. We were craving ice cream after a…read morecamping trip and a quick Yelp search for ice cream led us here. At first, we weren't sure we were at the right place. We saw a few signs for ice cream, but no ice cream shop. We asked around and found out that the big old steam boat was the ice cream shop. To our delight, they served Kawartha Ice Cream in almost every flavour imaginable! I got Raspberry Thunder (white chocolate and raspberry ice cream with white chocolate chunks) and some caramel one with butterscotch ripples and chocolate caramel pieces. The fiance got moose tracks (vanilla ice cream with peanut butter and fudge swirl with chocolate peanut butter cups) and vanilla (I gave him crap for ordering vanilla of all flavours!). They didn't have bear claw, which is the flavour I wanted, but I was happy with my choices. Kawartha ice cream is always delicious and you can tell the ice cream here is very fresh because there's no ice chunks. The pricing on the ice cream here is outrageous...ly cheap. $3.50 for a "double scoop" of ice cream, tax in?! Unheard of! Especially in Toronto. The double scoop was really a quadruple scoop, if not more. I had a hard time finishing all my ice cream and had to share with my dog, who eagerly gobbled everything up. You can also sit on top of the boat and enjoy the view and breeze while also enjoying your ice cream. All in all, I'd totally come back to this place for ice cream if I'm ever in the area.

The ice cream is delicious but the display cases are terribly off putting and so unclean. Dead bugs…read moreeverywhere inside where the ice cream is, several inches thick frost around tubs, fingerprints all over the glass and it looks like the bottom of the freezers have never been cleaned either. Clumps of old ice cream and blacks specks line the area at the bottom. It looks like whomever owns this place has made zero effort to maintain any cleaning schedule and I have no idea how it passed inspection. I wouldn't have even ordered anything here but my friends guilted me into it. I'm no hypochondriac but this place may have turned me....ugh....

Again, was not disappointed! Stopped by for lunch with a friend. Ordered the same chicken club on…read moreGF bread since it was so good last time. This time I also tried a salad on the side that was like a vinaigrette slaw made from mainly cauliflower - it was delicious and flavourful. My friend got the pulled pork sandwich with potato salad and said it was excellent! We were able to eat outside which was so nice. We both agreed, we'll be back next time we're in the neighbour.

Cottage Cravings only recently came to Bala after a fire at their original Gravenhurst location…read more last year left them looking for a new space. But I'm so glad they landed in our tiny, sleepy town: CC is about as close as it gets to a one-stop shop here. There aren't a lot of places where you can grab a coffee and sandwich, pick up cheese and charcuterie to take home, or grab wall art or dish towels for the cottage. I appreciate that the products here are so thoughtfully selected as well. Cottage decor can teeter on kitschy, but the selection at CC -- technicolor enameled outdoor dining sets, lake-themed hooked rugs, craftsman birdhouses -- is tasteful as well as fun. Popsicle makers and painted martini glasses give ideas. Food from local vendors means you don't have to wait for next week's farmers market to pick up those jams or condiments. And a bounty of healthful dining options from veggie paninis to fresh soups make a quick, delicious lunch. CC definitely makes a great addition to our little hamlet.

I have a huge pro tip for avoiding the huge line for cups and cones!…read more Go inside the dairy shop, and ask for a tub of your favourite flavour. They'll give you as many spoons as you want, and you can eat it on the picnic benches while everyone else looks at you like you're a genius. Bring a cooler so you can enjoy the leftovers at home!

Huge selection of flavours to choose from, there really is something for everyone. Service is fast…read moreand friendly. Staff are great at handling any questions you might have about their large menu. If you get a milkshake, you can even opt to have it made with chocolate milk! I have a sweet tooth so of course I jumped at the chance to add even more chocolate to my milkshake. Would definitely recommend.