Caravan has been Kochi’s reigning ice cream institution since 1987, the kind of place where ’90s kids return for nostalgia. Originally located in Marine Drive’s CSI Shopping Complex, the family-run brand has since added outposts in Kakkanad and Kadavanthra, complete with a recent rebrand. The cult favourite is the Caravan Special: pineapple, strawberry, and vanilla scoops with orange jelly, dried fruits, and nuts. Open till midnight (or later), it’s Kochi’s unofficial spot for a family parking-lot hangout on a Sunday.
Paul’s Creamery started with one very 2017 plot twist: John Mathai Paul, a power-sector buyer at GE Bengaluru with zero culinary training, ate an ice cream, had a quiet epiphany, and promptly quit his job to train as a gelato chef in Italy. After roughly 18 months of eating his way across Europe, he opened a shop in Kowdiar, Trivandrum, before the Kakkanad and Kadavanthra outlets, after which came Dubai. The flavours at Paul’s Creamery are pages from his travel diary: Dates Fig and Honey, Biscotti Oreogasm, and Cheesecake, alongside the classics. Every dessert is still personally checked by John, who’s also been working sugar-free options into the lineup.
Gelato Pillai has become something of a ritual stop for anyone exploring Fort Kochi in the monsoons, where the light, small-batch Italian gelatos offer relief from the humidity. The gelato is crafted by chef Ruban Pillai using natural ingredients only, with a menu that spans classics such as pistachio, salted caramel ripple, and dark chocolate, and brighter, fruitier picks like mango, tender coconut, and mulberry. There are also dairy- and gluten-free and vegan options.
Peni Ice Candy has been part of millennial and Gen Z memories in Kerala since 1997, when it started out in Kottayam and built its reputation the old-fashioned way—bicycles, ringing bells, and kids racing outside to grab a stick of something sweet. That same factory still sends its candies out by bicycle today in Kottayam, even as the brand has expanded into Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Karnataka, with a flagship retail outlet now open in Kochi’s Ravipuram. The candies fall into three categories—water-, milk-, and cream-based—made without preservatives or artificial colour. Real fruit shows up often, in tender coconut, jackfruit, and mango varieties, alongside nostalgic picks like semiya and a creamy milk-based fruit salad flavour.
Kolkata
The Fat Little Penguin began life as a cloud kitchen before founder Jayatri Biswas opened an actual scoop shop on Palm Avenue, a cosy 10-seater with a plant-filled balcony. A pastry chef trained at Lavonne Academy who once worked under Dominique Ansel, inventor of the cronut, Biswas makes a point of maintaining real dairy content in her ice cream base. Bestsellers include After Dark, a dark and light chocolate mix layered with crispy feuilletine, and Lotsa Nutella, alongside ice cream sandwiches built on house-made cookies. The menu also includes flavours like baked Alaska, Black Forest, and salted caramel, and a sugar-free range. Word of mouth has already carried it to Hyderabad and Delhi even without a storefront there, with orders flooding in through the TFLP website.
Pabrai’s goes back to the 1980s, when Anuvrat Pabrai opened a mass-market ice cream brand called Tulika’s on Russell Street. Run down by labour issues and price wars, Tulika’s was forced to shut down in 2008. The family rebuilt almost immediately, renting a shuttered factory months later and relaunching it as Pabrai’s Fresh & Naturelle.
The flavours carry the same inventive streak that built the original business. Nalen gur remains the standout—inspired after tasting nolen gur sandesh, Anuvrat sourced 50 kilos of raw liquid jaggery from Sovabazar and carefully perfected the formula, eventually landing it on a 2015 shortlist for Asia-Pacific’s top seven sweet dishes. The rest of the lineup leans local too: Kolkata meetha paan, south Indian coffee, tender coconut, and mango alongside a sugar-free range. What started as one Kolkata parlour now also supplies five-star hotels and restaurant chains nationwide, and is run by three generations of the same family.
