Where’s a good place do you take your four years old son on a late summer Sunday afternoon? To get an ice cream of course.

My discerning son was thus the perfect companion to try out Creams, a dessert and ice cream bar with branches all across the UK. The brand has around 90 shops in the UK – I confess I had not come across it before which is surprising given their wide presence. 

Known for its silky-smooth scoops, Creams’ selection of ice creams and sorbets, made to its own exclusive recipe in its East London factory, comes in 24 flavours, with seasonal

specials added regularly. Classics include salted caramel gelato, banoffee ice cream, or Amalfi lemon sorbet, available in a cone or cup, a sky-scraping rainbow-coloured sundae is another option for those who want to go all the way.

With signatures such as the Creams Sundae Royale, made with Creams Rocher gelato, chocolate fudge brownie gelato, creamy vanilla ice cream and finished with milk chocolate sauce, a Ferrero Rocher and a Creams wafer; or the Creams’ take on a traditional Knickerbocker Glory – there’s delights in-store for kids and adults alike.

They also offer a number of savoury snacks, from nachos, popcorn chicken waffle bites, and a selection of savoury wraps and crêpes as well as a regular hot and cold drinks menu.

We went to the London Bridge branch as it was the easiest for us to get to; it’s right under the bridge and located inside the railway arches. On a sunny, warm day, they had the heating on which we found bizarre and later we’d realise – actually not ideal.

The venue is decorated with colourful skates on the walls, American style booths and has some fun quotes stencilled all over as well as TV screens showing the latest – we guess – trendy tunes.

Famed for its vibrant, star-studded and instantly recognisable interiors, Creams’ 90 cafés are a nod to retro 1950s Americana, with splashes of black and purple, distinctive lighting and playful décor.

Clearly the demographic target isn’t yours truly but the boy loved the skates and soon proceeded to move tables twice in the thankfully fairly empty venue (we’re in a pandemic after all) to be closer to the eye catching decor.

The team welcomed us warmly and we placed our orders. There are waffles, cakes (including a range of cheesecakes, exclusive to Creams, from US-favourite The

Cheesecake Factory), smoothies, protein shakes but we thought we’d stick with the classics. While they mention a kids menu on the main menu, this didn’t seem to be available when we visited. 

The shop manager tried to suggest kids really love the psychedelic coloured Bubblelicious: blue and pink bubble gum gelato, Creams soft serve vanilla ice cream, drizzled with bubble gum sauce, strawberry sauce, 100s & 100s, popping candy and a Creams wafer.

Thankfully my companion knew better and pointed towards the much more appealing Chocolate Coffee Fudge sundae. I noticed they hadsome sorbet flavours too and ordered a cup with a forest berries and chocolate scoops. 

The cups arrived pretty soon after we took our seats and the little one proceeded slurping on his sundae. The vanilla soft serve is good, not too sweet; the ice cream flavours creamy and with a pleasant taste. It is a huge portion and even the energetic toddler could not finish it. 

My sorbet cup suffered massively in the warm air con. The chocolate was pretty much a puddle under the still just frozen berries.

My first choice of merengue topping wasn’t available so I had chosen white chocolate swirls, fruit compote and a strawberries sauce, but very soon after I had started eating it all became quite a mushy mess. The sundae fared much better and I had quite a few spoonfuls of that.

While this surely is not artisan, freshly made or seasonal gelato, it is a fun place to bring a kid and get yourself a sweet treat.