London has no shortage of picture-perfect places to grab a tasty bite to eat. A particular sweet spot called Milk Train has just opened in Covent Garden; a dessert café that’s home to ice-cream cones wrapped in halos of candy-floss and dreamy interiors.
Milk Train is a stylish ice-cream cafe in London. Image by Paul Lewish Photography
Walking into Milk Train feels like stepping on to a train bound for the clouds. Anyone visiting will have as much as a soft spot for the interior as they have for the sweet treats on offer. Designed by Shoreditch firm FormRoom, the studio took cues from a more traditional Art Deco aesthetic with design, complemented with timeless British train design and a playful Milk Train angle, a style that will be repeated when the brand expands. “When creating any design blueprint, we believe that the beauty lies within the smaller details”, the studio told Lonely Planet Travel News.
The interior is a mix of Art Deco and traditional British train design. Image by Paul Lewis Photography
Looking at the Milk Train design, this can be seen through playful messaging ‘Mind the Melt’ (a play on the British underground ‘Mind the Gap’ messaging), alongside subtle nods to steam trains and station platforms in signage and surfaces like mosaic tiling and grand arch detailing. Orders are placed at a whimsical ticket booth and there’s even a bench where you can wait before boarding the Milk Train.
The location at 12 Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, is the brand’s first permanent location, having previously worked out of pop-up locations. Owners Kylie and Mike said they set up Milk Train simply to make customers happy and design a space where people of any age could experience joy and nostalgia.
Milk Train’s signature ice-cream cones wrapped in candy floss. Image by Milk Train
“We want our products and store to make people happy and to spark a sense of nostalgia and joy,” Kylie said. “That’s how we came up with the idea of combining cotton candy with ice cream – two childhood favourites which made us happy. When we started, we did not expect to receive such a huge and positive response locally as well as a spike in popularity from a global audience.”
A selection of toppings. Image by Paul Lewis Photography
Milk Train has a range of unique ice-cream and candy-floss flavours, including sweet and savoury, and are constantly updating their menu to reflect customer trends and interests. Some of the most exciting flavours are ones you don’t often associate with ice-cream such as black sesame, ube (a purple sweet potato), rose milk and custard tart.
Ice-cream flavours include sweet and savoury. Image by Milk Train
“We have a very diverse audience and are continually planning and coming up with new flavour offerings and creations for our customers, but believe it or not vanilla will always be the most popular ice cream flavour and is our bestseller,” said Kylie. “Most recently, we have been rolling out a dairy-free option so now our lactose-intolerant friends can enjoy a Milk Train too.”
Milk Train is located at 12 Tavistock Street and is open seven days a week.
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