The frozen-treats scene in the city has exploded over the past two years, with options like liquid-nitrogen ice cream, Korean shaved ice, and artisanal ice-cream businesses consistently entering the market.

Gastown’s Soft Peaks was one of the first organic soft-serve ice cream shops to open in Vancouver—three years down the road, they’ve expanded to their second location in Burnaby (4603 Kingsway).

The locally owned establishment celebrated the opening of its new space by thanking their customers with a special deal. The line-up was massive, and some soft serve-lovers on social media claimed they waited for hours to get their hands on the sweet promo.

There’s a reason why people continue to flock to this soft-serve shop, even in a highly competitive market. “Our ice cream does not include too much sugar and syrup, and we focus on the true flavour of milk,” Amy Kim, general manager of Soft Peaks, explained to the Straight in a phone interview. “It is not too sweet, but still very delicious.”

Adjacent to mega shopping centre Metropolis at Metrotown, Soft Peaks’s new home covers a 1,560-square-foot space, almost double the size of its Gastown counterpart. Its expanded location offers 28 seats, and features a bright and modern atmosphere with plenty of white hues and lighting.

The spacious dessert spot also includes built-in benches, which is part of its vision to become an “ice-cream café”—guests will be able to take their time here when enjoying their ice cream.

Its handcrafted soft-serve menu primarily showcases three mainstay flavours (organic milk, dark chocolate, and twist), but kinako (roasted soybean) has recently been added to the roster. Seasonal and limited edition flavours are featured from time-to-time.

Some of its most popular signature soft-serve creations include the honeycomb peak (signature swirl with a local honeycomb), green forest (organic premium matcha powder, sweet red beans, and condensed milk), and rocky mountain (signature twist with toasted coconut and one choice of syrup). Guests can also choose to customize their sweet treats with various toppings and syrups.

Besides soft-serve ice cream, milk bars, milkshakes, and various hot and iced drinks are also on offer. But dessert-lovers should take note of its newest menu item: frissant ice-cream sandwiches—a fritter-and-doughnut combo created by Swiss Bakery, filled with your choice of soft-serve.

“There are already a lot of dessert shops in Burnaby, and it’s just as competitive as in downtown,” said Kim. “But they [customers] can be excited because our ice cream is a bit different from others.”

True ice cream-lovers will never be swayed by a long-distance trek for frozen treats, but this new opening should spare the lengthy travel time for sweet-tooths who live in the suburbs.