Chaeban Ice Cream — Local services in Winnipeg

Heard about the place on the news, and one afternoon while we were in the area decided to give it a try. Will now go out of my way to visit!! The ice cream is wonderful. The ambiance is suitable, and the place is well run and worth the visit. Just a few blocks south of confusion corner on Osborne at Don, right across the street from the Transit Garage, just a few meters from a #16 bus stop. I mention the bus since there is limited parking, and you might want to visit during rush hour.

As well as a wide variety of flavours you're not likely to see else where they will serve a $9.00 flight, 4 small bowls of different flavors, so you can try them out.

We tried the basic vanilla cone and a Reese's pieces style cone. (That's not the name, but the style). There was a wide variation in texture. The vanilla approaching a soft serve texture, but still firm while the other was quite firm, almost hard the whole way through. The waffle cones are delicious and the serving size just right. They might be a bit more expensive than a Dickie-Dee fudgecicle but worth the money. The flavours hint at a non north American palette, slightly reminiscent of rose water confectionery and turkish delight but still "ice cream" .

I would cheerfully work a visit into my schedule to try a few more flavours. You can buy pint jars to take home (and we did) and if you wash them and return them, they'll give you a $1.00 discount on your next purchase.

Update - 2020-08 Covid confinement has kept us pretty much locked up and not going out. However, Chaeban started a subscription service and deliver door to door. We've been enjoying it a lot in this heat and hope it will keep up. We've fallen behind a bit on actually eating the ice cream though, and when a couple of friends from work called up to ask how we were doing, we decided to have an Covid-safe Chaeban Tasting party in our back yard. We set up a long trestle table (a ladder on saw horses with fence boards for a table top) and put out all the jars we had, which covered a fair number of flavours, and a few wafer cookies and ice tea and arranged chairs 6 feet apart. We used little ramekins for bowls and then sat around chatting while people tried a little of this and a little of that. It was a great way to spend an evening. A couple of days later a new batch of jars arrived and with it was a lovely thank-you of 2 sugar cones. So thank you, they...

On your recent comment I just wanted to add Mr. owner-Thanks for the lecture..I honestly came for ice cream, not a crash course in microbiology 😅. Funny thing though… if gloves are such a ‘false sense of security,’ why are they required in pretty much every other food handling place? And as for you personally stopping mid-shift to clean the washroom… I wasn’t really hoping for a manager’s diary entry, just some basic hygiene where food is served 🤷‍♀️. Anyway, I’ll save the science lessons ..and get my ice cream somewhere that doesn’t come with homework🍦😂

Experience- We visited Chaeban Ice Cream for the first time after hearing so much about it. The shop is charming and beautifully decorated. Definitely Instagram worthy and visually appealing. But sadly, the experience took a nosedive due to poor hygiene practices. None of the staff behind the counter were wearing gloves while serving ice cream. When I politely asked about it, cashier casually said, “We wash our hands.” Honestly, that response was more funny than reassuring. Washing hands is expected in every food environment ..it’s not a replacement for wearing gloves, especially when serving food directly to customers. A girl employee also said gloves “mix the flavours” …which made even less sense. You’re scooping the ice cream, not dipping your hands into it! Basic food safety should be common sense, especially at a popular spot. The worst part? Me and my mom noticed a fly inside the cookie counter. That was the final red flag for me. I couldn’t ignore the visible negligence, and as a result, I skipped buying the ice cream altogether..something I was genuinely excited about. No matter how good the ice cream might be, hygiene is non-negotiable. First impressions matter, and this one left me disappointed. I personally won’t recommend this place unless they improve their food safety standards. Cute decor can’t cover up a lack of...

Wow, very impressed. Most importantly the ice cream here is excellent with flavour combinations you won't find anywhere else in Winnipeg. We tried a four ice cream sampler and there were approximately 12 regular flavours and 2 specials to choose from. With the flavour options on hand you can get as adventurous or .... vanilla as you want. We tried a middle eastern flavour named abir al shab, which was amazing. Honestly if you don't try this you're mad. It's so good they should offer a money back guarantee. The second flavour was called Coconut Glenn, some kind of roasted coconut, coconut milk and fudge concoction that matched up against any other ice cream than Abir Al Shab would be a hands down winner. Our third choice was a natural mint chocolate chip ice cream, we played it safe with this one. It's very good and you can taste the difference of having actual mint as opposed to extract, but .... it's just mint chocolate chip and can't stack up against the competition but if mint chocolate chip is "Your thing", you won't be disappointed. Finally we had one of the specials, sour cream and rhubarb with graham crackers. Very good again, but you know exactly what your getting and the first two we're so good it's hard to compete. Still worth a try.

The decour is modern and very clean with seating for approximately 20. I think the only problem will be dealing with the crowds in the summer. This is going to be a popular spot! I can honestly say this is the best hard ice cream location in Winnipeg. I think it will cater to a slightly different crowd than the BDI or Sargeant Sundae. Hard to...