🍨 Sweets & ice cream

The island's best borekas, a knockout vegan breakfast and legendary halva

The sweet side is a department of its own: the halva dessert, the apple pie — among the best desserts on the island — a Snickers cake and a cheesecake. Whole cakes, pecan pie included, can be ordered in advance.

ℹ Whole cakes to order in advance

The spinach-cheese quiche, the salads, the pastries — a breakfast institution

Two stars on the dessert side: the almond chia pudding you scoop up with a kouign-amann — a surprising pairing that ranks among the best desserts on the island — and the chocolate San Sebastián cake. There's a blueberry cheesecake too; skip the yeast cake, it isn't the strong suit.

⚠ Small portions; the hummus divides opinion

Thin-crust pizza, ice cream made on site, and a feta salad that's an institution

The ice cream is homemade, and the cone is made on site too and reaches the table still warm — the contrast with the cold scoop is the whole trick. The coconut ice cream can also be served inside a coconut.

ℹ Several places on the island go by a similar name; gluten-free pizzas available

The Reuben sandwich and the cheesecakes — this café's classics

The cheesecake — the mango version above all — is the reason to come from the sweet direction, with carrot cake, cinnamon rolls and the cookie-monster cookie alongside it. The cakes are made here with care, and everything is fresh.

⚠ Opinions are divided

Frozen yogurt with a spread of toppings, coconut ice cream and a cake fridge

As ice cream in its own right, the frozen yogurt here does the job honourably — you choose your toppings, and anyone avoiding dairy or sugar has a coconut base and a sugar-free version. The coconut ice cream is a good alternative, and at the cake fridge aim for the New York cheesecake and skip the cookies.

ℹ Has moved location — worth confirming the address in advance

The island's ice cream parlour, vegan flavours and sorbet, next to Yang Sun

The vegan corner here is serious — coconut ice cream, sorbet and vegan chocolate — plus a cold, refreshing take on mango sticky rice. Just don't save it for an after-dinner dessert: it shuts at six, and on Wednesdays it doesn't open at all.

⚠ Closes early; opinion is divided

The most indulgent sandwiches on the island, plus a lemon cookie in its own league

The cookies are a reason to visit in their own right — the lemon cookie is a serious candidate for cookie of the island, and around it sit more cookies in the same indulgent spirit. There are weed cookies too, where a quarter each is where you stop.

ℹ Closed on Mondays

Made-to-order cakes — Basque cheesecake, tiramisu and gluten-free baking

A home business of made-to-order cakes — whole cakes on request, gluten-free baking included. The Basque cheesecake is the flagship, and beyond it you can ask for almost anything; the result comes out looking as good as it tastes. This is the island's answer to a birthday cake — arranged in advance.

ℹ By advance order only

Macarons, lemon tart and pastries — a dedicated dessert address in Chaloklum

Macarons are the craft, but in practice this is an address for desserts in general: an excellent lemon tart, cakes and sweets that hold up nicely until dinner. The space itself is small — there is somewhere to sit, but the natural format is a box to carry out.

ℹ Small space, mostly for buying and taking away

Properly French pastry, plus cakes and tarts ordered ahead

Celebration cakes are the story: a cream tart under a pile of strawberries that looks the part on a birthday table, and a lemon tart made to order, family size included. Both need arranging in advance; for an immediate craving there is ice cream on site.

ℹ Whole cakes need ordering in advance

Fried challah with caramelised bananas and ice cream — reason enough for a night drive

The dessert that made the name is deep-fried Japanese challah with cinnamon, caramelised bananas, ice cream and whipped cream — it sounds excessive, and that is exactly why it works. There's a separate cinnamon dessert as well, and a schnitzel sandwich for anyone who needs savoury before sweet.

ℹ Their cannabis cookies are among the strongest on the island

A mango sticky rice stall in Srithanu, green rice version included

The green rice is the reason to pick this stall in particular — a less routine version alongside the classic mango sticky rice, which comes out consistently good here. In Srithanu, look for the yellow kiosk, with the gym across the road as your landmark.

Homemade coconut-milk ice cream, no sugar, with the texture of chocolate mousse

Frozen chocolate mousse is a more accurate description than 'ice cream' for the texture that coconut milk and dark chocolate produce here. The flavours are chocolate, Oreo and Lotus, all vegan and with no sugar at all. There's no shop — everything is arranged ahead and collected in person.

ℹ Pre-order and self-collection only

An ice cream shop at Yang San, plenty of flavours and a play corner outside

A relatively new sweet stop, easy to fold into a visit to Yang San. The interesting reason to come is the matcha ice cream — a flavour that is hard to find on the island — and the ice cream in general is genuinely good. You can leave the Belgian waffle aside and stay with the scoops.

ℹ The Belgian waffle is less worth it

Challah and chocolate babka from a home kitchen, pre-order only

You order a birthday cake here the way you would from a neighbourhood pastry chef — arranged personally in advance, with a pickup point agreed between you. To taste the level first, start with a chocolate babka for Friday, and you'll see quickly why it pays to order early.

ℹ Pre-order only, with pickup in Srithanu

Custom birthday cakes to order, at a price that won't break the bank

A cakes-to-order service rather than a shop — you get in touch, work out the details, and end up with a birthday cake that steals the party. Small warning: after one, it's hard to stop.

ℹ Advance orders only

Banana roti off the griddle — at the markets and outside Srithanu's 7-Eleven

A market dessert you locate by landmarks rather than by address. In the food court the stall stands opposite Jaffa; at the Sunday market it's right at the end of the route, across from the ice cream truck; and anyone wandering Srithanu will find the grandmother who sets up outside the 7-Eleven, next to Pure.

ℹ No fixed location — the stalls move between markets

Handmade ice cream — dark chocolate, Madagascar vanilla, apple cinnamon

Order online, careful packing, and a delivery that arrives fast without a drop melted — that's how it works here. One person makes all of it himself, and the dark chocolate has a vegan version too. Hours are 10am to 10pm, but it sometimes closes for a few days at a stretch — worth checking before you order.

ℹ collection or delivery only, no seating on site