Le Parfait

I visited this place for the ice cream festival. I also visited last year and really liked their rose water Lebanese ice cream, so I came back for their limited special for this year's ice cream festival.

What I tried:

Ashta Cloud Cone
Ashta ice cream topped with crunchy pistachios and delicately wrapped in a cotton candy cloud.

The sweet flavor of the cotton candy came first, and the Ashta ice cream was creamy and lighter than other ice creams. The sweetness was perfect to my liking. I really enjoyed the pistachio nuts on top of the ice cream.

They also offer interesting Lebanese ice cream items. During the ice cream festival, they offered two other special limited items. I'm looking forward to trying their other menu options on my next visit.

I went to Le Parfait and got the Ashta Cloud Cone which is one of their featured items for the Vancouver Ice Cream festival!
I've never had ashta before but it has a floral/milky taste and the pistachios gave the ice cream a nutty flavour as well as crunchy texture. I also liked that the overall flavour of the ice cream was subtle which the cotton candy giving it an extra bit of sweetness.
I do like fruit flavoured ice creams more but I really enjoyed the experience of trying ashta ice cream and I'd recommend it if you've never had it before!
The cafe was very well designed and had a salon vibe and the staff was also very nice and gave my friend and I two spoons to eat our ice cream with!

This was our first time getting Lebanese ice cream. It is stretchier and milkier than normal ice cream.

Don't be shy to ask for samples -- they are very welcoming and more than happy to share about their flavors!

＊Ashta and Pistachio in Traditional Biscuit
Ashta is a pistachio ice cream bursting with floral notes from orange blossom and dipped in crushed pistachios. Both flavors were fantastic. I picked the traditional biscuit as my cone. The flat rectangular shape made it easier to hold in hand. Very crunchy.

＊Lotus Biscoff, Coffee and Chocolate in Royal Cup
No explanation needed -- My mom devoured the three-scoop whole royal cup ALONE. Strongly recommend the lotus biscoff ice cream.

Really nice flavored rose & jallab (date syrup) gelato - not your traditional gelato but enjoyed it! It's more of a sorbetto because it's not creamy. The service was great and the cashier actually recommended the jallab to go with the rose and it was great. Generous portions and got the cone as well. Service was friendly. It's a small shop and I'd visit again when in Vancouver!

Interesting desserts in a cute cafe! My only complaint about the interior is that it's too warm. They allowed samples, and the staff were friendly. Unfortunately, they were sold out of both of the things that we really wanted to try.

We ended up ordering The Exotic specialty parfait, and it was okay. Avocado definitely didn't taste like what we expected.

Ambiance: 4/5
Service: 5/5
Food: 5/5

Big fan of this spot! I was having dinner in the area so decided to pop by here after learning it was Lebanese ice cream. They had a mix of classic flavours and traditional ones and the staff were so lovely about explaining the tradition flavours and allowing us to sample them before deciding. We got the Ashta, Rose Water, and Pistachio flavours and they were great - super creamy and the perfect amount of sweetness. Will definitely be going back!

A Lebanese twist on crepes and ice cream! They have sweet and savoury (featuring Mediterranean flavours) crepes and waffles, fruit parfaits, and ice cream specialties in a variety of Lebanese flavours. They have lots of unique stuff! All your standard espresso drinks plus Lebanese coffee and hot chocolate are also served.
There are no vegan crepe options, but a few of the fruit ice creams are vegan and they do have nondairy milk for drinks.
I got...
Halloumi crepe: I was wondering how this would work because I usually see halloumi served in large slices, but this was filled with gooey "mashed" halloumi which was distributed evenly. Presentation was slightly underwhelming with just a small handful of cherry tomato slices haphazardly thrown on top, but this was very tasty. The halloumi texture was nice and I loved the pop of flavour of the sun-dried tomato inside. The crepe batter was soft but not soggy. Could have used more of the fresh vegetables to take it to the next level for me, but nonetheless a solid crepe.
Ice cream on a traditional biscuit: They can mix up to 3 flavours for this, but the portion isn't as ridiculously large as what ordering 3 scoops at most ice cream shops would result in. I got a mix of the 3 specialty flavours: rose water, miske, and ashta. The texture was not really what I was expecting; the rose water is icy like a sorbet in texture, and the other 2 flavours were more like soft serve than hard ice cream or gelato, still a little icy. It wasn't a texture that I disliked at all, there was just a moment of cognitive dissonance when it didn't line up with what I was imagining. I liked the soft ice cream and that none of the flavours were too sweet. The rose water was the most intense flavour. I liked the flavour of the miske the most (very different; I don't know the words to describe it more precisely), but the overall experience of the ashta the most because of the pistachio coating, and this was also the creamiest. The biscuit was a fun replacement for the usual cone: the fellow serving did a good job getting the ice cream all the way in there, and it was like eating an ice cream sandwich. None of the flavours were too sweet which left me with less of that sticky aftertaste that usually follows ice cream for me.
The one staff member working up front was friendly and enthusiastic and made me feel very welcome, greeting everyone when they came in and thanking them as they left, checking how the food was. The cafe provides a nice and comfortable environment to enjoy your treats.

Great little place great ice cream and the Affogato was devine! A place that must try so a hot day

Despite having parfait in the name and only serving up fruit parfaits, this is one of the best ice cream places in Vancouver. The ice cream isn't quite as creamy as at Winter Bear, so it's not the creamiest ice cream you can get in Vancouver, but it's still very creamy and has a really rich combination of flavors. Their specialty flavors, Ashta, Miske, and Rose Water are all great (although Rose Water has a texture more like a sorbet than an ice cream, so don't get that if you want something creamy and smooth). Also, the ice cream was very smooth, with no ice crystals. You might think that goes without saying but, unfortunately, it doesn't -- the popular places like Earnest and Rain or Shine don't store their ice cream with good temperature control and give you ice-y ice cream.

Their savoury crepes are a bit hit or miss, e.g., while their halloumi crepe was tasty and I don't regret ordering it, the tomatoes were mediocre, flavorless, tomatoes and the halloumi wasn't fried or grilled and it was like eating raw halloumi out of the fridge, so the halloumi isn't quite what I expected and the quality of the produce didn't match the stellar quality of the ice cream here. If I was only rating the crepes, they're still good enough that I'd give this place 4 stars; it was just a bit of a disappointment by comparison to the amazing ice cream here, which absolutely blows away the tourist traps like Rain or Shine and is up there with the absolute best small speciality ice cream shops.

If you want some interesting Lebanese flavors and don't want the absolute creamiest ice cream, then I'd rate this as the best ice cream shop in Vancouver. And if you want the creamiest ice cream, then this is still top 3.

Also, the service is great. Super friendly, with customer oriented policies that let you sample a lot of flavors and let you mix three flavors into the smallest serving of ice cream (and as many as you want for the large serving). On top of having great ice cream, this place also has the most customer-focused service I've experienced. This is just an all around great place.

Lebanese Ice Cream...I didn't even know there was such a thing until Le Parfait opened up in Vancouver! You can have your ice cream in a cup, cone or a biscuit. In a cup is always my preference but I have to admit, I do love the look of the biscuit. It's just so different from the standard ice cream cones that you see everywhere else!

The people here are very friendly and helpful. You can sample different flavors before deciding on which to have. Loved every flavor we tried but if you're looking for something different then I'd highly recommend the Ashta. It was definitely my favourite flavor.

They also serve crepes at Le Parfait and I can't wait to go back sometime so I can try out their crepes!

Service: Excellent
Parking: Paid parking on the street
Location: 812 Home St., Vancouver