If you’re heading for a day out in Manchester then I’ve found a fantastic place to grab a dairy free ice cream – Ginger’s Comfort Emporium in Afflecks Palace. The ice cream they serve up is also vegan.
The business started out as an ice cream van for grown-ups. It can still be found roaming the streets of South Manchester or you can hire them for events. If you’re just knocking about the city centre then you’re best heading to the Northern Quarter where you’ll find Ginger’s Comfort Emporium nestled into a corner on the first floor of Afflecks Palace.
I visited the shop last month with Gemma from The Fika Life. It was a very cold day and we weren’t planning on having any ice cream. However, once we’d arrived in Afflecks Palace and checked out the menu we knew we had to try it. It would’ve been rude not to.
There we 5 dairy free/vegan ice creams on the menu. That’s pretty good going and much more exciting than only ever having one option of sorbet. I went for the banana and coffee. Along with mint, coffee ice cream is one of my favourites so I had to try it.
It turned out to be an excellent choice. I could taste the banana and the coffee equally. It was a little more towards the sorbet scale of ice creams but still had a slight creamy consistency. It was not sorbet by the way, I just mean on a scale from sorbet to cream it was more in the direction of sorbet. The ice cream was very tasty and as I mentioned before, it was nice to have a good few options to pick from other than a lemon sorbet.
I’m looking forward to going back on a warmer day and trying another flavour. To be honest, I’d happily have the coffee and banana again but it would be a shame not to give the other flavours a try.
I’m not 100% sure if the ice cream cone is vegan. I don’t often eat the cone but simply use it as a way to hold my ice cream. The staff were really friendly so don’t be shy to check with them when you’re in the shop.
It’s a very casual and relaxed atmosphere in Ginger’s Comfort Emporium. The seats are comfy, you can look out of the big windows at the Manchester sky or simply watch as people stroll by and browse the world of Afflecks Palace.
Location: Afflecks, Church St, Manchester M4 1PW