One of my favourite dessert cafes has closed its doors last weekend at relatively short notice. Yolkin was famous for its delicious and cute ice cream macaron sandwiches. Yolkin originally started as a little kiosk at Brewer Street Market, where they often sold out. (You can read my post about their early days and see a few photographs here.)
Due to their success, they leased a shop on Rupert Street, just down the road from where Brewer Street market is. They were doing quite well, I thought, and I visited them almost every season. Then, the pandemic hit, and the lockdowns happened quickly without warning, so they would have had a lot of wastage. The nature of their products is also difficult to deliver as it melts quickly, so delivery services probably were not an option for them like it was with other places. Of course, tourism and footfall in London do influence on sales, so that took a hit. I think that with the cost of it all, the exhaustion the pandemic has put everyone through, and numbers not quite to what they once were, the owners decided to call it a day. It's very sad, because this treat was on London's food map.
The last day to purchase was on the last Saturday in February. I got to try their newest creation, the creme brulee cone. It was absolutely delicious. It is a custard put inside a waffle cone with carmelised sugar torched on top. I am sad that they won't be selling these or the delicious ice cream macarons anymore.
I personally think that they would have done better selling from Spitalfields Market or some other market or getting a smaller shop on a street with a higher footfall. There's not much happening on Rupert Street, which is located to the edge of Chinatown and on a road that not many use, so unless you were visiting Yolkin specifically, you would walk right by it. I also think they could sell fewer items - perhaps different flavours of ice cream and a couple different macaron options (seasonal ones) - and their fans would still flock to visit. I am just sad to see such a great place close.
At the time of publishing this post, it appears that they will be starting new business Boolay Crepes, and you can find them on Instagram. We should see the delicious creme brulee again coming to a market in London.
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