Boho Gelato on Ship Street: what to know before you queue
A small gelato shop on Ship Street in The Lanes, with 12 flavours at a time, four of them vegan, and a founder who swapped printing for ice cream.
By Only Brighton Editorial
Boho Gelato sells South Italian-style ice cream and sorbet from 31 Ship Street, The Lanes, a few steps from the seafront end of the Lanes. It is the smaller of the brand's two Brighton shops, which suits it fine. Less to choose from, less dithering at the counter.
What it is
Boho describes itself as an independent producer of award-winning artisan ice cream and sorbet, made with locally produced milk and cream. The gelatiere is Seb Cole, and the brand says it has created over 500 flavours since 2010. That is a lot of rose, pistachio and peanut butter.
Ship Street runs 12 ever-changing flavours, with four vegan options every day plus seasonal specials. The larger Pool Valley shop usually has 24, so if you want the full sprawl, that is where to go. If you are vegan and want the most choice, Brighton Up Your Day points you to Ship Street first.
A short history
Seb Cole left a career in printing, bought the machines and took the lease at 6 Pool Valley. Boho opened there in 2010, and a blog from that summer places the opening at the beginning of July. Companies House shows Boho Gelato Ltd incorporated on 22 April 2010 and still active.
Cole told Bite Sussex he opened a Weymouth shop in 2014, then Ship Street in 2015, and later a Worthing shop. The shop's own page says Ship Street has been open since 2016, so call it the mid-2010s and nobody can argue. Visit Brighton also says Boho appeared in Rose Prince's The Good Produce Guide 2011 as one of the best ice cream shops in the UK.
What to order
Flavours change daily, so do not set your heart on one. Reviewers have singled out salted caramel, white chocolate lemon cheesecake, pistachio, rose and pistachio, and peanut butter and caramel. The vegan sorbets are a speciality: an older HappyCow listing mentions chocolate rose, bakewell tart and elderflower, and says the cones and the hot fudge sauce are vegan too. Ask at the counter what is in, or check the shop's Instagram, @bohogelatobtn.
You can also get cups, cones, take-home boxes and ice cream cake.
When to go
The shop lists daily hours of 11:00 to 18:00, seven days a week, on its own site, on Apple Maps and elsewhere. Winter hours can differ from summer, so check before you set off on a cold November afternoon. Mid-afternoon on a sunny day is the sweet spot, though a sunny day is also when the queue builds. One Tripadvisor review mentions a 20-minute wait and a flavour that had run out, so go earlier in the day if you have your heart set on something.
Prices and booking
There is no booking system: it is a walk-in ice cream shop. Reviewers talk about good prices and say it is not too expensive, but check the board for the cost of a scoop rather than trusting a number from a listing site.
The gelato walk
Brighton Up Your Day suggests a gelato walk that starts at Boho in The Lanes and ends on Hove seafront at Marrocco's. It is a decent excuse to walk off the first scoop before starting on the second.
More details are on the shop's Ship Street page, and the Brighton Up Your Day ice cream guide puts it in context with the rest of the city. Seb Cole's story is told in full by Bite Sussex.
