Here’s where to find international ice cream in Philly

While ice cream reigns supreme on the list of summer sweets, there’s a whole world of frozen desserts perfect for hot days.

Philadelphia’s selection of creamy, cold treats goes beyond the ubiquitous Mr. Softee soft-serve and water ice. The city’s immigrant communities take your options to the next level with vibrant frozen favorites from their home countries. You’ll find rolled ice cream, Italian gelato, colorful Mexican helado, and luscious kulfi across the city — but that’s just scratching the surface of globe-trotting frozen treats in Philly.

Stamp your ice cream passport this summer with our guide to Philly’s international frozen sweets.

Taiwanese shaved ice is still a hit at Ice Cave. New owner Nazma Nipa took over the storefront on Baltimore Avenue on Feb. 26. “I [saw] lots of people [were] sad that [the store] would be closed, so I thought it would be really good for them and they would be happy if I continued the business,” said Nipa, who serves shaved ice made of Taiwanese-imported flavored powder and milk at the store. The base is boiled and then frozen for 24 hours. Nipa softens the batch over a hot bath to put in a machine that shaves it out in ribbons. Rather than the traditional icy texture of shaved ice, you get a mouthful of a lighter, softer feel in flavors like mango, watermelon, taro, chocolate, matcha, milk, and strawberry for $5.40 for a cup and $4.05 for a kid cup.

Water ice, ice cream in bubbled waffle cones, and bubble tea are on the menu, too.

📍 4520 Baltimore Ave., 📞 610-938-3629, 🌐 instagram.com/ice_cave_bubble_tea, 🕒 Monday to Thursday 2 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Friday 2 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Saturday 1 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Hear us out: H-Mart’s frozen food aisle is where it’s at. The wide selection of frozen treats at the mega Asian supermarket chain may feel overwhelming, but you can’t go wrong when the frozen aisle has a plethora of mochi flavors. Grab a box of the fun, bite-sized Japanese rice cakes for an explosion of melt-in-your-mouth matcha, chocolate, vanilla or sweet red bean paste, all hidden within a chewy, pillow-soft exterior.

But why stop there? Fruit-flavored ice pops, sweet red bean ice cream bars, mango sherbets, cookies-and-cream milk-based Korean shaved ice, milk tea ice cream, and more line the freezers at the store located on North Front Street, and in Elkins Park, Levittown, Upper Darby.

Desserts can range from 99 cents to $28, depending on what you choose.

📍Multiple locations, 🌐 hmart.com

You’ll find South Asian desserts galore at this University City market. There’s colorful kulfi pops up front in two box freezers. Prices run from $2.29 in flavors pistachio, chocolate, malai (clotted cream), almond, and coconut — mango is $2.50. In the back, find a freezer filled with more kulfi, ice cream cones, pints, and cassata (sponge cake) for a taste of alphonso mango, butterscotch, and other flavors.

📍 4203 Walnut St., 📞 215-222-4480, 🕒 Monday, Wednesday to Sunday 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Crates overflow with mangos at the Chinatown shop that’s all about the vibrant, juicy fruit. Velvety mango ice cream is served in a coupe-shaped cups topped with fresh mangoes, mango juice, sago pearls (made of edible starch), and pomelo fruit or with fresh strawberries and lychee jellies. There’s mango shaved ice, mochi and waffle ice cream sandwiches to try too. Desserts range from $5 to $10.

📍1013 Cherry St. and 6830 Bustleton Ave., 📞 215-922-2233 and 215-987-6762, 🌐 mangomangodessert.com, 🕒 Monday to Sunday noon to 11 p.m.; Monday to Thursday noon to 9 p.m. and Friday to Saturday noon to 10 p.m.

If matcha is what you crave, this Chinatown cafe has plenty of ways to enjoy the green tea imported from Uji, Japan. There’s the Uji Kintoki, a shaved ice dish served with matcha syrup, sweetened adzuki beans, shiratama or Japanese mochi balls, and condensed milk for $7 or a shaved ice and soft-serve combo for $8.75. Housemade matcha soft-serve is offered in freshly-made crispy cones for $6.

Matcha isn’t the only flavor here — find yuzu, ube, and jasmine tea on the menu too.

📍 923 Race St., 📞 267-861-0251, 🌐 matchacafe-maiko.com/eng, 🕚 Sunday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday to Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Across the street from beloved South Philly Barbacoa, the list of helado flavors is long at Paletas Y Helados Bambino — you get a taste of Mexican candies like mazapan (honey) and coco tostado (toasted coconut) or fresh fruits like mango and guava with the ice cream for $2.25. While there’s traditional mango chamoyada, a shaved ice drink made with tart chamoy, juicy mangos and a hint of chile pepper, you’ll also find a very pink chamoyada de pitaya (dragon fruit) for $7.50. There are other kinds of shaved iced drinks, known as raspados, plus frozen smoothies, and frozen chocolate-covered bananas.

📍1142 S 9th St., 🕚 Monday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

At both Chinatown to South Street locations, ice cream is shaped into creamy rolls on a cold slab. Pick flavors, including fresh mint, strawberry shortcake, and s’mores, and servers will mix and form the smooth base into rolls. With endless toppings at this local chain, your cup of rolled ice cream comes decorated with three toppings (including M&M, Nutella, and Pocky Sticks) for $7.50. If you’re a cheesecake lover, the cheesecake series is for you. For $8.50, get matcha, Oreo, strawberry, and chocolate cheesecake ice cream.

📍938 Arch St.; 511 South St., 📞 267-245-5118; 215-857-5751, 🌐 frozenrolledicecream.com, 🕒 Monday to Thursday noon to 11 p.m., Friday noon to midnight, Saturday 11 a.m. to midnight, Sunday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Monday to Thursday, Sunday noon to 10:30 p.m., Friday to Saturday noon to 11:30 p.m.

Pop into Ernesto Atrisco’s Mexican grocery in the Italian Market on 9th Street and grab La Michoacana ice cream. Packaged cups, cones, and popsicles of the popular Mexican ice cream brand sit in the freezer amongst plastic cups of mango chamoyadas near the cash register. For $1.75 to $3.50., buy ice cream in flavors like chocolate, pistachio, and vanilla.

📍1002 S 9th St., 📞 215-238-9552, 🕒 Monday to Sunday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.