Afters Ice Cream Parlour

I went to Croydon about a week ago to meet up with some friends. And by friends I mean fellow human beings, not just that ice cream shop I've always wanted to go to.

Afters Original Ice Cream Parlour has branches in Walthamstow, Leyton, Ilford, Green Street, Tooting and Croydon, and their menu boasts ice cream, milkshakes, cakes, waffles, juice, and is apparently the only ice cream franchise in London to utilize a cold stone to prepare ice cream.

When you first get through the tinted glass doors at the Croydon branch, you are hit with a blast of pink coming from all surfaces of the parlour. It was about 3 in the afternoon on a Sunday, and the place was almost empty, but several young families came in for sundaes towards the evening time.

The menu was a bit of a shocker for scrimping students like me, as sundaes each cost roughly £7, and my "waffle served with a sauce and one scoop of your choice" was £4.45. The dessert came occupying only half the plate, making the portion look smaller. My waffle was drizzled with maple syrup, and I chose a scoop of Kinder Bueno-flavoured ice cream to go with it.

The waffle was fragrant and yummy, especially with the maple syrup, but it could have been warmer. The ice cream had a nice, freshly-scooped-from-the-tub, creamy texture, but I would have liked the hazelnut flavour to have been more present throughout, and not only when I managed to bite on a piece of the crushed bar. When I didn't, all I got was a dairy, milky taste.

The waffle wasn't enough, and I contemplated between the array of tempting cakes and other ice cream flavours, before deciding to get a scoop of Ferrero Rocher-flavoured ice cream. Yes, I just got dessert for my dessert. Don't look at me like that.

It was better than the Kinder Bueno scoop in terms of consistent taste, and I really got the hazelnut taste all around.

Afters is a great place to go to when London finally decides to stop raining on us. The retro jukebox and pink booths make for a nice place to chill out over cakes, milkshakes, ice cream, waffles, juice – whatever you need when you have a guilty dessert craving and a Sunday afternoon to spare.


Afters Original Ice Cream Parlour
58 South End
South Croydon
Surrey
CR0 1DP
Tel: 0207 998 1643