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We stopped by Soft Peaks in Gastown for a quick dessert and found it to be an easy, no-wait kind of stop. From my visit, it's more of a grab-and-go spot than somewhere to linger. I ordered the Original Peak, with a twist of vanilla and dark chocolate with cereal at the bottom. The first thing that stood out was the airy and fluffy texture, almost lighter than traditional soft serve. The dark chocolate brought a mild cocoa note, while the cereal added a crunchy, slightly nostalgic contrast at the base. That said, I expected the vanilla to have more of a rich, milky flavor. This is not the place for plain vanilla; it's the combinations (think honeycomb, matcha, or seasonal specials) that bring the experience to life. Based on the shop's concept, Soft Peaks is known for using local organic milk and keeping sweetness restrained, which tracks with that lighter, less sugary profile. Adding something like cereal or crunchy toppings makes a big difference. If you're a vanilla purist looking for a strong dairy note, this might feel a bit subtle.
My visit to Soft Peaks felt like so much fun because it was specifically a soft serve shop and I love soft serve ice cream! My one complaint is I don't think the store was super clean or had much/any seating. Service was friendly!
We ordered: Green Forest - Uji matcha shot w/ sweetened red beans Biscoff N Cream - biscoff crumbs, homemade cookie spread, biscoff cookie Excellent dense, creamy milk ice cream without vanilla flavoring. Great matcha flavor and red beans were sweet in the green Forest. Biscoff n cream was exactly what you want in a biscoff cookie flavored soft serve. Service was good; employee let us sample the milk and cookie butter soft serve before ordering.
Limited strawberry mochi flavour! This was from two months ago so this flavour is no longer available. I rlly wish I waited and tried the matcha strawberry mochi flavour but I'm still glad I tried this one. I enjoyed the mochi at the bottom and found the strawberry flavour really good. Overall I really like how they have rotational flavours every month and I think it's rlly fun. However, I think they are pretty pricey for soft serve.
Green Forest was good--the matcha was strong and flavorful and paired well with the red beans. The tiramisu was delicious as well. The soft serve is creamy and soft.
I saw this place on Instagram so I had bookmarked it for our trip to Vancouver. We stopped in on a Monday at around 2 PM. It's very easy to miss because the sign is very subtle, and the storefront looks like it's closed. It's on the edge of Gastown, so it's still fine but if you walk a block or two further than this, it starts getting a bit shady. I originally wanted to try the honeycomb peak but read mixed opinions on whether or not you should eat honeycomb while pregnant. So instead, I opted for the Brown Sugar Pearls (brown sugar drizzle with tapioca pearls) and hubby had Gastown (homemade tiramisu toppings). Mine was good but nothing amazing, and nothing I couldn't find somewhere else. Hubby's was too sweet for my taste. The annoying thing was that there were little flies everywhere. One took the first bite of my ice cream before I even got the chance to. Maybe we didn't get the right flavors but I would say this spot isn't worth going out of your way for. Luckily, we were already in Gastown.
Clean interior and easy to order. They have great pre planned combos but you can also dream up and include additional toppings. Love the unique offerings. They use organic milk which I love. The ice cream itself isn't very sweet so great for those that don't like things too sweet. It's very creamy. I would love to try again with different flavors as mine didn't have enough punch for me until the end (the brown sugar settled near the bottom). Did have the vibe of brown sugar boba in ice cream form. Service was very quick. There is seating inside available.
I went to Soft Peaks and got the egg tart parfait for the Vancouver Ice Cream Festival! The ice cream was so incredibly creamy and soft and paired nicely with the egg-tart. The ice cream by itself was a bit basic and the egg-tart was just okay as there was a lot more crust than filling. However, together with the custard sauce, it was better! I really liked the design of the store though. There was a flight of stairs leading to an upstairs seating area and a mirror on the wall where you can take a cute photo. I think I'd have to try another flavour to write a better review!
When I heard about the new seasonal offering, I made sure to drop by for the matchamisu. As a tiramisu lover, the creamy mascarpone cream was really nice and helped to balance out the bitterness of the matcha soft serve. The lady fingers were well soaked in uji matcha and adds the perfect texture to each bite.
Needed a quick pick me up after exploring Canada Place and Gastown. Hubs and I shared the seasonal Ube Sago (ube soft sweet with Sago and ube jelly). The soft serve was creamy and full of ube flavor. We liked the Sago and ube jelly with the soft serve - Not too sweet. Quite a few combinations to choose from or customize your own.
Cute little gem in Gastown. It was quiet as it was a cold night. Tried the honeycomb one. The cornflakes is key in this one as the wax from the honeycomb detracts from the texture. Tried their seasonal matcha one which wasn't bad as I am a fan of red bean. Overall it was great and they even have seating upstairs.
We found this spot after supper. It was super tasty and and I definitely recommend if you're looking for a cold dessert. Quaint spot with supper friendly staff. They are also quick to make your treat.
Small quiet friendly little soft serve place right in the middle of gastown. A very small simple menu offering a few milk based soft serve flavors and a twist then paired with toppings. On the wall behind the staff are about 12 different suggested pairings or you can create your own. I ordered the honeycomb twist which comes with cereal on the bottom and a honeycomb. Without anything to compare it to, I felt having one blob of honeycomb on the side wasn't worth the money. I was able to break some into bite size pieces but 1/3 of it I tried to eat whole...too thick and syrupy. The soft serve itself was delicious. Very soft but not melting to quick, fresh and flavorful. Only reason I'm reviewing a 4-star was the presentation and I was expecting the cups to be more extravagant vs what I felt was a pretty simple dessert. read more
I love coming here for their super smooth and creamy soft serves. Plus they have an assortment of flavours which I love. * Green forest (S -$6 || R - $7) ~ I love this as it's my GO TO order! Matcha powder with red bean and condensed milk! I mean who doesn't love that combination! I love all things red bean and condensed milk so the matcha is a bonus! The icecream is soft and smooth and the red bean is nicely cooked. Perfect amount of condensed milk and matcha. * Blue mountain (S- $5.75 | R -$6.75) ~ got it with chocolate and blueberry syrup. Weird combination and the flavours were...interesting. I personally like the vanilla I soft serve more as it's more creamy and milky and it just tastes way better with blueberry syrup. * Rocky mountain (S- $5.50 | R- $6.50) ~ got it with twist and matcha syrup, the coconut was a nice added texture on top. Twist cone is good. * 9/10 ~ green forest is the way to go 100% taste the best! Wish it had a bit more condensed milk. * 7/10 ~ not too bad for the price but I wish there was a bit more toppings. * 10/10 ~ grab and go! read more
2 years ago
3 years ago
The soft serve is really good will come back to try other flavours! The shake is just too sweet for us. read more
12 years ago
I would give Soft Peaks a solid 3.5 stars since their organic Avalon Dairy milk ice cream is very rich and creamy, but I definitely don't think it's worth the $7-ish (after tax) for such a small cup! The honeycomb peak was very unique and delicious, but the ratio of honeycomb to ice cream was quite off. After finishing the first 1/3 of the cup, I was just left with soft serve, which I eventually got bored of. The line up that day was quite long so we ended up spending nearly 45 minutes in the shop. I understand that the rent in gastown is quite high but I honestly don't think I would come back because I would value their desserts at $5.00 per cup max... read more
hadnt been to this place in a while...so when i was in the area after dinner, i said: "why not! lol nothin could be more some than soft serve ice cream with your choice of quality toppings like expresso, classic honeycomb, etc... it is not your typical fast food soft serve...this one is the Ace of soft serves! very smooth, rich and creamy and not loaded with sugar. they let the cream do the talking. i got the classic honeycomb with frosted flakes at the bottom...very very nice! no guilty feelings afterwards..;) a plus factor is that the ice cream doesn't melt easily...and the toppings are premium ingredients. only negative I can think of is Price! for a soft serve, yes, it is pricey! but once in a while...guess its ok! however, you can actually taste the difference quality makes! cant beat this sweet treat! cheers! happy eating! read more
11 years ago
Got the original with honeycomb! The milk base tastes like milk froyo! Not sweet at all. I'm a fan of natural flavors and also of milk, so this was a good... Not so sweet dessert! Corn flakes and a dab of honey was perfect! The only downside is that the honey comb, if u keep eating it, and chewing it... Til you've devoured all the honey.. You're left with this plasticy chewy substance. That I end up spitting out. Cause I don't want to ingest plastic :P A bit on the pricier side, but would still come back to try more! Plus, it's such a nice atmosphere to walk around gas town :) read more
7 years ago
Love soft peaks! One of the best soft serve places in town. Always a favourite treat for a hot and sunny day. We got the strawberry summer special, it came with strawberries and cereal - pretty classic - and topped it off with maple syrup. The maple syrup was surprisingly good with soft serve! Definitely recommend if you're willing to spend a bit of coin on a classic summertime fave read more
11 years ago
The main thing to knock this place down would be the price but way to turn something so simple into something the girls ahead of me deemed snapchat, Twitter, & Instagram worthy all done in the wait of my order (which was just a good few minutes). With no hesitation, I guiltily snapped the hell out of my soft serve masterpiece as well. I got the Mudslide (the one with the Tim tams & an additional topping of cereal) and the cousin got blueberries and cereal flakes for hers. Coming from LA, hearing soft serve makes you think frozen yogurt or the machine you used to go to while waiting for your parents to finish up at the buffet. Also, McDonalds.. But Soft Peaks decided to make you question all that by throwing any and every topping they can at you. ...And it was diabolically delicious. Heads up(s): - If you're a first-timer, definitely start small. The toppings are no joke so don't overwhelm yourself right away. It could get real sweet, real fast. - Beat the rush because the line does get long.. So can the wait for your soft serve. - Limited seating, so say this is after a hang out with friends or after a date night? Let Soft Peaks be something you can walk & talk over. You are in Vancouver's Gastown after all.. read more
Came because a colleague wanted to try it out and we were in the neighborhood. The first thing I noticed was how SMALL their regular cups for $7+ were, so imagine how small the actual small size would be. It's my first time here so I wasn't sure I'd like it; I wisely choose the small size for $6+. When we got the soft serves, I noticed the small and regular size had pretty much the same height, but just in a different sized cup. Very photogenic soft serves but when it comes to taste, it's not memorable. The different flavors are just different toppings put on the same basic milk soft serve which didn't actually have any taste of its own. The soft serves were also not that soft... I had the Honeycomb and was not a fan. It came with a clump of honeycomb on top and I had to bite off a piece of honey every time I took a spoonful of tasteless soft serve. Too much work involved. Same with trying to get to the crunchy cornflakes on the bottom of the cup. I tried my colleagues Blueberry and the Matcha & Red Bean, both toppings tasted better than the Honeycomb. If I had to come again, I'd choose the Matcha. That is if going elsewhere wasn't a choice... +1* for serving organic products. read more
3 years ago
3 years ago
Great concept, mediocre execution. Plus side: organic milk. Tim Tams crushed on ice cream. Imaginative flavors and combinations. Negative side: little seating, blah flavor and texture of ice cream, overpriced. Got a sundae with combo recommended by the counter guy, so this had the potential to be great. The eating was blah and no way worth the calories, fat, sugar, and cost. Would not return. read more
9 years ago
We wanted to go for a walk and get some ice cream after dinner, and my "AroundMe" app pointed me to this place. This is like premium soft serve ice cream with high quality ingredients that taste almost "healthy" lol. Honeycomb peak with swirl soft serve - the honeycomb is so good! It tastes fresh and natural, soft and gooey chewy. It was the best part of my dessert. To my surprise, the dark chocolate soft serve was sweeter than the vanilla. The vanilla tasted very milky. The cereal on the bottom was good but not amazing. I wish the cereal flakes were on top though so I didn't have to dig all the way down the cup for them. Overall a good experience. For the price at around $6, I'm just not sure if I'd get this again over other types of ice cream though. read more
I like ice cream period. So have to say got the rainforest ice cream. Wow I love it. there are mocha powder and condense milk at the bottom. You won't taste the sweetness until you get to the bottom. The ice cream is super good. The place does get a bit busy but only after 6 pm. Another negative thing about here is parking. You have to pay for parking. Also you can there are almost no seats at this place. So you can only grab and go. read more
10 years ago
I'm not a big fan of ice cream but I do like to eat ice cream at hot day. As a dessert freak, I would try soft ice cream made by Avalon milk. I went there on Sunday afternoon, but, it's not easy to find parking at Gastwon. After I parked, we had to walk 5 blocks to there. We were lucky coz there was no line-up when we arrived. The menu is simple and limited. The ice cream was rich and soft which full favour of Avalon milk. I had yuzu marmalade, I loved it. Yuzu sauce was fresh and delicious. Green tea and red bean was good but not outstanding. I have no problem to pay over $6 for a quality ice cream. Just try to not gain weight after summer. read more
7 years ago
The dark chocolate swirl was a little too much to pair with the gastown flavor. I feel like the smallest size would've been the best portion to have as a desert - the regular was very big!! Couldn't finish it. The milk flavor was very nice and smooth, liked how it paired with the chocolate drizzle read more
9 years ago
8 years ago
I walked all the way from the sea wall up through Coal Harbour and across gas town just so I can get to soft peaks. I was really craving ice cream and this is the only place I was craving. The ice cream is so organic it tastes like 3% milk straight out of the jug. Instead of adding a bunch of sugar the honeycomb Peak which has a real chunk of honeycomb inside. You bite off a piece of that as you eat the ice cream and it's a natural sweetness that you just can't beat. Be sure to try the ice cream on its own for the first few bites that you can taste the real real milk flavour. read more
This would be a 4 star review if it was based on the quality of the soft serve alone. So let's start with that: I came in and split a small twist soft serve and it was insanely delicious. The twist was milk and dark chocolate soft serve swirled together without any toppings - just pure soft serve goodness. Wow. This is seriously good soft serve - you can taste and feel the quality of the milk instantly and each flavour was delicious in its own light. The chocolate was rich and deep without being metallic and the milk was tangy in the way that good dairy should be. Often with soft serve the first couple of bites ante good and then it ends up being a bit disappointing- this was the opposite it got better the more we ate! The biggest let down was the service - which was unusually unwelcoming for Vancouver and very unhelpful. If they can improve their hospitality I would not hesitate to recommend this to anyone in the area! read more
8 years ago
I've been to Soft Peaks on two occasions when visiting Vancouver and I enjoyed the ice cream. It's made with organic milk and there are some cool flavour combinations. I tried the Mudslide (pictured) and Honeycomb Peak. I preferred the Mudslide which is chocolate soft serve topped with Tim Tam flakes (a type of cookie / biscuit), which gave it an awesome crunch. The Honeycomb was definitely interesting but a bit too sweet for me, although they use the original vanilla flavour to offset the sweetness. Often big line ups on the weekends I've gone there in the summer. Photo taken by @CheatEatsTO, my food Instagram. read more
Not going to lie. I was rather disappointed by this place. I had this place high on my list of dessert places I wanted to visit while in the city. I ordered the honeycomb peak with both vanilla and chocolate ice cream. I believe they also put cereal in it as well. Despite that, it was rather bland. There was no way for me to differentiate between the vanilla and chocolate ice cream as their was no depth of richness in either choice. The honey froze and didn't really add anything to the ice cream. I just felt disappointed all around. I was sharing the ice cream with a friend and she stopped eating it after two bites. I feel like it's a great idea but the flavor isn't really there in the ice cream itself. Also it's pretty overpriced for the size. read more
7 years ago
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9 years ago
I never have been much of a soft serve person, but for Soft Peaks, I make an exception. Their soft serve has a pure milk flavour and not masked by sugar. I love that they use milk from local organic dairy farm, Avalon Milk. The soft serve is smooth in texture and does not melt right away which is always a plus since no one likes a soupy ice cream. The crunchy cereal adds a great texture and I went with the strawberry topping - fresh cut strawberries and strawberry coulis. I now understand why this Gastown Soft Serve Parlour always has a line extending beyond its door. Really is worth the wait for this delicious treat. read more
7 years ago
My daughter and I LOVED this ice cream! It is not sickly sweet or heavy at all - which really allows the toppings to shine. I went with the Gasworks (tiramisu) and my daughter ordered the mango/coconut. read more
I faintly remember some older folks telling me as life progresses, your palate will inevitably change as well and what tickled your fancy might not again later. I paid that no mind back then but now I understand. I really like soft-serve and they'll always have a special place in me. Soft peaks presumably uses Avalon products, and you can tell from the self-serve water glass bottle to their many milk crates lying around on the side on the first floor, they're all Avalon. And you know the big A, their products range from rich to almost creamy and i think that's why I'm not quite enjoying myself here that much. The Gastown in twist tasted just way too dairy for me, to the point that strong over-powering milk taste lingers in your palate for a quite a few seconds after every spoonful. Kudos to them for using all compostable spoons and clear plastic cups though, yes those plastic-feeling cups are compostable too ! read more
10 years ago
This place is definitely hard to get to considering I live on the other side of the city, but it was totally worth it. I had the Blackcomb soft serve which is just their creamy milk soft serve with a shot of cold espresso. It was probably one of the best ice creams i've tasted to date. It was super creamy and had sweetness that wasn't artificial tasting. The espresso added a bit of bitterness and coffee flavour to the ice cream. I have to say though, prices are pretty high for ice cream, but I wouldn't mind paying the extra dollar for some organic non GMO ice cream. Everyone should try! read more
Yum! Stumbled upon this place while shopping around Gas Town. Never thought I was much of a soft serve fan UNTIL THIS PLACE. Got the original with matcha powder on top instead of the cereal and wow. So refreshing and creamy on a sunny summer day. read more
10 years ago
Here I am again, posting a review of an ice cream place in December... Can you tell that I really want it to be summer?! Conveniently located in the heart of Gastown, I've seen how busy this place can be, so it just so happens that my boyfriend and I were walking by one day, we saw that there was NO LINE. We obviously jumped on that opportunity and went in. I really like soft serve ice cream, so I was excited to finally check this place out. I got the Mudslide (chocolate drizzle and tim tams on top) and he got the Blackcomb (toffee and an espresso shot on top). Both were really good (I liked mine better). The toppings to ice cream ratio was great, which is something I (weirdly enough) look at in ice cream stores. There is a little mezzanine above where you can eat your ice cream (and people watch), and since it wasn't busy, we sat there and finished our ice cream. Overall, Soft Peaks didn't disappoint, and is definitely one of the few ice cream shops I'd splurge on during the winter time. read more
10 years ago
Tried their Honeycomb Peak as a "twist" which is a swirl of both dark chocolate and milk ice cream. Both flavours were very creamy and smooth although I preferred the dark chocolate (I love dark chocolate so I'm a bit biased hehe). The local honeycomb complemented both flavours. I thought my cornflakes were missing at first because I'm so used to seeing cornflakes added at the top of ice creams. I love texture in my ice cream so the cornflakes were a nice touch. I would've preferred if they were in a middle layer so I could get to them faster (but that's just my preference). read more
Good milkshakes and ice cream with a noble mission of sustainability. They source ingredients from local farms and vendors. Their shakes are very tasty and not heavy, Espresso shake had a great coffee and.milk taste. Strawberry shake was.smooth and not sweet, more like home made. Place is a few meters from Maple tree square in Gastown , so definitely try it out in the middle of your walk in Gastown. Very friendly staff and relaxed setting or easy to take out. read more
Soft Peaks announced their "soft" opening today and boy, were they popular! I thought I was odd for going by the shop around 6:30 to get dessert before dinner but there was already a long line up outside by the time I got there. Let me reassure you, the wait was 100% worth it. Dan & Ken definitely underestimated their success as they didn't prepare enough Honeycomb to go around that day. By the time it was my turn, I had to settle for my second choice, Sunrise In California, sweet and sour Yuzu marmalade with their organic soft serve. However, despite the store being so busy and going out of certain toppings, Dan & Ken kept their cool and did a really good job keeping up with the demands. The girl on cash was also lovely, and explained each flavour really well whenever it was inquired. Not only did she encouraged me to try the Sunrise In California, I found it especially thoughtful of her to recommend trying it with cornflakes which she added for me free of charge. Thank you for that, and I'm glad I took your advice! The Yuzu marmalade was so refreshing and it went really well with the creaminess of the soft serve. My brother got the Rocky Mountain, soft serve with honey, caramel, or organic maple syrup, topped with toasted coconut. I didn't get to taste much of it before he devoured his cup but the toasted coconut was surprisingly really nice and crispy from the bite that I did steal. Hopefully next time round, I'll get to try the Honeycomb Peak! read more
I don't think it's worth all the hype of lining up and waiting. The sunset of California is simply milk icecream with yuzu sauce (like those jars of yuzu tea sauce you get in supermarket) The breakfast style is just cereal with milk icecream. The Rocky Mountain is just chocolate sauce on milk icecream. Honestly there is nothing special to these fancy names. I would suggest just try a plain one with either honey or caramel sauce. The ice cream itself is not sweet at all, It's very interesting... More like biting cold cream that tastes like condensed whole milk. read more
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